Colorado State University Athletics
Tuesday, November 12
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
3-0,0-0Mountain West
74
vs
65
Denver
1-2,0-0Summit League
1
2
F
Denver
34
31
65
Colorado St.
36
38
74
A Front Range Rivalry
11/12/2024 10:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CSU men’s basketball extend win streak to 3-0
Play with passion and get those juices flowing.
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On Tuesday, Colorado State men's basketball welcomed Front Range rivals Denver to Moby Arena with the game ending 74-65.
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This, however, was not the kind of performance expected by Coach Niko Medved due to the many different tactics the Pioneers threw at the Rams.
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"We found a way to win tonight," Medved said. "I don't think we played particularly well. We had some stretches where we did. I thought we had some good individual performances. Obviously, Jalen (Lake) has gone back-to-back now with great nights."
Â
Despite coming out with the win, the road was bumpy, oftentimes uncertain in outcome.
Â
With the first half concluding with the Rams having a two-point lead, they knew they needed to fix something in order to take the game.
Â
"I think we have just got to continue to step up," Lake said. "There's a little bit of adversity in playing really tough teams and just trying to figure things out. So, I think we just have to continue to prepare."
Â
With Denver targeting Nique Clifford and keeping the ball away from him, the usually heavy-scorer ended the game with 12 points, hitting 1-of-4 from deep.
Â
The highest-scorer ended up as Lake with 19 points at 3-of-6 from deep, something he wasn't always in the position to do.
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"I think he's always been a good shooter," Medved said. "Sometimes, I think maybe in the past, if he hadn't scored in a while he'd rush and then you miss that, and it gets in your head. (But now) the game has slowed down for him on offense and he's playing with great poise. I've always valued him so much and I'm not surprised to see him playing the way he is."
Â
Lake started the game with 12 points and continued to show how efficient he can be on the court.
Â
"I have to be a lot more efficient," Lake said. "I continue to work as hard as I can, try to be efficient, as consistent as possible and continue to try to be as aggressive on the offensive end."
Â
Playing with consistency and passion is something Medved calls "juice".
Â
Lacking in the first half, through locker room discussions and timeouts in the second half, the juice started to come back.
"At halftime, I told the guys, you can't play well when you're frustrated," Medved said. "Even though there was a lot of frustrating things going on, if you play frustrated it starts to get worse. I just talked about how you have to get a little bit of joy going. You have to get a little bit of juice going."
Â
A person who found the juice in the end was Jaylen Crocker-Johnson who ended the game with a dunk and a new outlook on their defensive strategy.
Â
"(I say we need to improve) our defensive standpoint," Crocker-Johnson said. "I mean, our offense is going to come fluently all the time. So, we just have to be more strongly connected, finishing possession's, being more physical and just communication. All that will help us be ready."
Â
The team is preparing to take on Ole Miss, a Top 25 team, on Saturday with the intention of learning more how the Rams click together. With their young roster and number of transfer student's, synergy is important.
Â
New faces combined with newer players leads the team into unknown territory where players are learning off of each other.
Â
"We try to always schedule these opportunities for our guys," Medved said. "It's going to be unique. It's a great opportunity for us to go down there and challenge ourselves against a team that I think looks like an NCAA tournament team. It'd be a great test for us early in the year to challenge ourselves and see where we're at."
Â
Out of the comfort of Moby Arena and cheering fans, getting those juices flowing continues to be important.
Â
Â
On Tuesday, Colorado State men's basketball welcomed Front Range rivals Denver to Moby Arena with the game ending 74-65.
Â
This, however, was not the kind of performance expected by Coach Niko Medved due to the many different tactics the Pioneers threw at the Rams.
Â
"We found a way to win tonight," Medved said. "I don't think we played particularly well. We had some stretches where we did. I thought we had some good individual performances. Obviously, Jalen (Lake) has gone back-to-back now with great nights."
Â
Despite coming out with the win, the road was bumpy, oftentimes uncertain in outcome.
Â
With the first half concluding with the Rams having a two-point lead, they knew they needed to fix something in order to take the game.
Â
"I think we have just got to continue to step up," Lake said. "There's a little bit of adversity in playing really tough teams and just trying to figure things out. So, I think we just have to continue to prepare."
Â
With Denver targeting Nique Clifford and keeping the ball away from him, the usually heavy-scorer ended the game with 12 points, hitting 1-of-4 from deep.
Â
The highest-scorer ended up as Lake with 19 points at 3-of-6 from deep, something he wasn't always in the position to do.
Â
"I think he's always been a good shooter," Medved said. "Sometimes, I think maybe in the past, if he hadn't scored in a while he'd rush and then you miss that, and it gets in your head. (But now) the game has slowed down for him on offense and he's playing with great poise. I've always valued him so much and I'm not surprised to see him playing the way he is."
Â
Lake started the game with 12 points and continued to show how efficient he can be on the court.
Â
"I have to be a lot more efficient," Lake said. "I continue to work as hard as I can, try to be efficient, as consistent as possible and continue to try to be as aggressive on the offensive end."
Â
Playing with consistency and passion is something Medved calls "juice".
Â
Lacking in the first half, through locker room discussions and timeouts in the second half, the juice started to come back.
"At halftime, I told the guys, you can't play well when you're frustrated," Medved said. "Even though there was a lot of frustrating things going on, if you play frustrated it starts to get worse. I just talked about how you have to get a little bit of joy going. You have to get a little bit of juice going."
Â
A person who found the juice in the end was Jaylen Crocker-Johnson who ended the game with a dunk and a new outlook on their defensive strategy.
Â
"(I say we need to improve) our defensive standpoint," Crocker-Johnson said. "I mean, our offense is going to come fluently all the time. So, we just have to be more strongly connected, finishing possession's, being more physical and just communication. All that will help us be ready."
Â
The team is preparing to take on Ole Miss, a Top 25 team, on Saturday with the intention of learning more how the Rams click together. With their young roster and number of transfer student's, synergy is important.
Â
New faces combined with newer players leads the team into unknown territory where players are learning off of each other.
Â
"We try to always schedule these opportunities for our guys," Medved said. "It's going to be unique. It's a great opportunity for us to go down there and challenge ourselves against a team that I think looks like an NCAA tournament team. It'd be a great test for us early in the year to challenge ourselves and see where we're at."
Â
Out of the comfort of Moby Arena and cheering fans, getting those juices flowing continues to be important.
Â
Team Stats
Denver
CSU
FG%
.393
.458
3FG%
.333
.250
FT%
.818
.867
RB
36
34
TO
17
12
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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