Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Utah State
Rams Host League-Leading Utah State Saturday
2/16/2024 10:38:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday’s game is the annual Fight Like a Ram game
FORT COLLINS – Colorado State returns home to defend its home court against league-leading Utah State on Saturday at 3:30 pm.  The game is CSU's annual Fight Like a Ram game where the team and UCHealth partner in the fight against cancer honoring those who have been impacted by it.
Opening Tips
- Colorado State's four-game win streak was a snapped on Tuesday with a 71-55 loss at San Diego State
-Â The Rams are 13-1 inside Moby Arena this season. The lone loss coming to Saint Mary's in December.
- Saturday's game is the annual Fight Like a Ram game which the program stands with those who have been impacted by cancer. Instead of their names on the back of their uniforms, all CSU players will have the name of a cancer warrior.
- Isaiah Stevens will become the program's all-time leader in made 3s with a make on Saturday passing Andy Birley (1999-03)
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his sixth year leading Colorado State. He is 111-69 as the Rams' head coach. The win on December 2 against Washington was the 100th for him leading the Green & Gold. Medved is now one of five coaches in the program's history to reach the 100 wins mark.
- Isaiah Stevens returns for his final year of eligibility and the nation is taking notice of the guard. Stevens was named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year, Wooden Top 50 Preseason List and one of 20 players named to the Bob Cousy Preseason Watch List. He has added on the Wooden Midseason Top 25 and Lute Olson Midseason Watch List.
- He was named one of the 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. It's the second time in his career earning the honor.
- Stevens became the second Ram in three years to earn a spot on the Naismith Midseason team announced earlier this week.
- He sits in the top 5 for active players in both scoring (3rd) and assists (T1st).
- Stevens has four double-doubles on the year and already reset one of his own records when he posted 14 assists against Wright State. He is averaging 16.1 points, 7.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 48.0% from the field and 46.1% behind the arc.
- He became the program's all-time leading scorer against LMU (Dec. 22) when he passed Pat Durham (1985-89) and his 1,980 points.
- Stevens surpassed the 2,000 point mark with his first basket against New Mexico (Jan. 2) and currently sits at 2,176.
- Newcomer Joel Scott continues to be a big presence inside for CSU averaging 11.6 points and 5.7 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford has enjoyed his time in Fort Collins transferring to Colorado State from Colorado. He is shooting an impressive 56.8% from the field including 43.7% from behind the arc on his way to averaging 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds.
- Patrick Cartier missed two games for Colorado State, but since returning has not missed a beat. He is averaging 11.6 points on 55.6% shooting.
- CSU is the only program across all of collegiate men's basketball with not two, but three 2,000 point scorers on their roster. The trio is Isaiah Stevens (2,176), Patrick Cartier (2,307) and Joel Scott (2,761).
- Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.85), assists per game (1925), effective field goal percentage (57.1%), field goal percentage (50.0%) and free throw percentage (76.5%).
Scouting the Aggies
First-year head coach Danny Sprinkle has done an impressive job with his Utah State team that returned zero points from its roster last season. The Aggies are atop the Mountain West at 9-3 and 21-4 overall.
Like Sprinkle, USU's top two players Great Osobor and Darius Brown came to Logan from Montana State. Osobor is almost averaging a double-double scoring 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Brown is scoring 11.7 points and 6.6 assists with a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Aggies defense has done a good job limiting its opponents from behind the arc holding teams to just 28.6% shooting.
What's Ahead
CSU hits the road next week for a pair of games starting at New Mexico on Wednesday at 8 pm.
