Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, November 22
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
3-2,0-0Mountain West
75
vs
77
UC Riverside
3-3,0-0Big West
1
2
OT 1
F
UC Riverside
27
38
12
77
Colorado St.
26
39
10
75
300 Second to Win
11/22/2024 10:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Rams Lose Their Second Game in an Overtime
Five extra minutes; what to do with them is the real question.
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Hope can seem lost, but it only becomes so when people believe it truly is.
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Colorado State men's basketball played California Riverside ending in a disappointing loss of 77-75 after five-minutes of overtime.
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"A tough night at the office, a really disappointing loss tonight," coach Niko Medved said. "We can relive some of the close plays that we needed to make go our way. But, man, you hold the team to 40% in your gym, you have to find a way to win."
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The game ended went into after a buzzer-beater from UCR's Barrington Hargress tied the second half 65-65.
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Finding a way to win after that, highlighted the mass discrepancy the team has seen before in past games, rebounds.
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Getting 30 total compared to UCR's 51, the aggressive play seen from the Highlanders was working. Their team ended the night two players out because of personal fouls and two in trouble with four.
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"(I just) need to be a lot tougher," Jalen Lake said. "That's the point, period. We have to be able to be a lot tougher in those situations and be more connected. We have to set our mind and rebound. It's mostly a mentality issue."
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Though the loss came mostly from problems the team has been workshopping in practice, the presence of Rashaan Mbemba still missing from the court led to spacing issues as well.
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Getting through the defense and proved difficult too, as teams have started to pick and choose who they guard.
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"We had a lot of energy on defense to start, but we couldn't get anything going on offense," Medved said. "Right now, a lot of teams re choosing not to guard certain players and it's really creating some spacing issues for us. There's not a lot of space to dive and they're really clogging up the paint. They shot 31% in the first half when we were down one, that's crazy."
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However, with the absence of Mbemba and Bowen Born in the second half due to an injury, some other players could step up.
Â
Jorgensen and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had a career nights with Jorgenson tallying 13 points and Crocker-Johnson with 21 points throughout the game. The points, however, came mostly from the 25 free throws, 20 of which were in the second half.
Â
"We got a double bonus early," Crocker-Johnson said. "We already knew we couldn't settle so we tried to get to paint. Just get free throws and get easy points. They just add up."
Â
The easy points, unfortunately, didn't make up for the rebounding issues and offensive drive.
Â
Now on a loss streak of two, the problems ailing CSU are itching to get fixed.
Â
"I hate losing," Medved said. "I'm the most competitive person in the world and this one stings. We needed to find a way to win this game tonight and we didn't. I anticipated this was going to be a close game, I had that feeling going into it that they're a good team. They've played Oregon and BYU down to the wire. They got their butt kicked the other night and you knew they were going to respond."
Â
Taking this game into action, the next week is sure to be full of film, rebound practice and a fire to win the next game on Nov. 28.
Â
"All of us are pretty mad about the loss," Crocker-Johnson said. "What we always talked about for the past week, two weeks, is just rebounding and being more physical on that end. So, this definitely hurt us a lot and flipped the switch. Going forward, we need to walk in and have a better mentality going towards rebounding."
Â
Five minutes could be an eternity or go by in a blink of an eye, but as the Ram's learned on Friday, it can make all the difference.
Â
Hope can seem lost, but it only becomes so when people believe it truly is.
Â
Colorado State men's basketball played California Riverside ending in a disappointing loss of 77-75 after five-minutes of overtime.
Â
"A tough night at the office, a really disappointing loss tonight," coach Niko Medved said. "We can relive some of the close plays that we needed to make go our way. But, man, you hold the team to 40% in your gym, you have to find a way to win."
Â
The game ended went into after a buzzer-beater from UCR's Barrington Hargress tied the second half 65-65.
Â
Finding a way to win after that, highlighted the mass discrepancy the team has seen before in past games, rebounds.
Â
Getting 30 total compared to UCR's 51, the aggressive play seen from the Highlanders was working. Their team ended the night two players out because of personal fouls and two in trouble with four.
Â
"(I just) need to be a lot tougher," Jalen Lake said. "That's the point, period. We have to be able to be a lot tougher in those situations and be more connected. We have to set our mind and rebound. It's mostly a mentality issue."
Â
Though the loss came mostly from problems the team has been workshopping in practice, the presence of Rashaan Mbemba still missing from the court led to spacing issues as well.
Â
Getting through the defense and proved difficult too, as teams have started to pick and choose who they guard.
Â
"We had a lot of energy on defense to start, but we couldn't get anything going on offense," Medved said. "Right now, a lot of teams re choosing not to guard certain players and it's really creating some spacing issues for us. There's not a lot of space to dive and they're really clogging up the paint. They shot 31% in the first half when we were down one, that's crazy."
Â
However, with the absence of Mbemba and Bowen Born in the second half due to an injury, some other players could step up.
Â
Jorgensen and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had a career nights with Jorgenson tallying 13 points and Crocker-Johnson with 21 points throughout the game. The points, however, came mostly from the 25 free throws, 20 of which were in the second half.
Â
"We got a double bonus early," Crocker-Johnson said. "We already knew we couldn't settle so we tried to get to paint. Just get free throws and get easy points. They just add up."
Â
The easy points, unfortunately, didn't make up for the rebounding issues and offensive drive.
Â
Now on a loss streak of two, the problems ailing CSU are itching to get fixed.
Â
"I hate losing," Medved said. "I'm the most competitive person in the world and this one stings. We needed to find a way to win this game tonight and we didn't. I anticipated this was going to be a close game, I had that feeling going into it that they're a good team. They've played Oregon and BYU down to the wire. They got their butt kicked the other night and you knew they were going to respond."
Â
Taking this game into action, the next week is sure to be full of film, rebound practice and a fire to win the next game on Nov. 28.
Â
"All of us are pretty mad about the loss," Crocker-Johnson said. "What we always talked about for the past week, two weeks, is just rebounding and being more physical on that end. So, this definitely hurt us a lot and flipped the switch. Going forward, we need to walk in and have a better mentality going towards rebounding."
Â
Five minutes could be an eternity or go by in a blink of an eye, but as the Ram's learned on Friday, it can make all the difference.
Team Stats
UCR
CSU
FG%
.415
.403
3FG%
.417
.303
FT%
.722
.600
RB
51
30
TO
18
9
STL
2
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
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