Colorado State University Athletics
Tuesday, February 27
Fort Collins, CO
8:30 PM
Colorado State
74
vs
77
Nevada
Improbable Finish Latest Gut-Punch for Rams
2/27/2024 11:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Nevada wins on banked, halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer
Niko Medved was asked to describe the Mountain West in one word.
What he produced was unforgiving. Make one mistake, leave the slightest of openings and it can cost a team.
That description came before Tuesday night's late tipoff with Nevada at Moby Arena, and it became eerily poetic in an Edgar Allan Poe style for his Colorado State men's basketball team.
Isaiah Stevens hit a jumper with 2.5 seconds left to tie a game the Rams had trailed almost all night, then Jarod Lucas, who had shockingly enough missed a pair of free throws to open the door for Stevens and the Rams, answered back with a running 3-pointer from just inside the halfcourt line – banked even – to give the Wolf Pack a wild 77-74 win.
It marked the third consecutive loss for the Rams (20-9, 8-8 Mountain West), a direction no team wants to be heading at the end of the regular season as an NCAA Tournament hopeful.
For the Rams, they have three remaining games to divert the course they're currently taking. All three losses have been within reach only to slip away. Medved said it's not as if anything is broken, there's just not the same polish.
Joel Scott believes they'll find some.
"I don't think we're really in a funk, I just think there's that one extra play we can make, somewhere we've got to find it," said Scott, who finished with 15 points. "I think we're playing some good basketball. I think most of the game we're there, doing the things we need to do. We'll find a way to work it out."
On a night when the Wolf Pack was playing without one of their best playmakers, Kenan Blackshear, the same night as Nick Davidson had no field goals in the game, Nevada was able to find offense with four in double figures.
Lucas makes free throws at better than a 90-percent clip, but he missed three of four late in the game after sinking his first seven.
As shocking as that was, his heave at the buzzer gave those misses a run for his Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not money.
"Both of them are pretty crazy," Stevens said. "He's a pretty high-level free throw shooter, one of the best in the country. Still, just running full speed from behind half court, banking it in, I mean … big time shot. You've got to give him credit."
The Rams made a game run at seizing a victory on a night when they were missing a bit of something throughout. Medved thought his team played out of character early. With that issue eliminated, a physical game took a turn toward the free throw line, with both teams in the double bonus the final 10 minutes of the game.
There were 45 whistles, 34 of which came in the second half. The teams combined to shoot 47 free throws the final 20 minutes. With Colorado State down 11 at the break and looking to find some rhythm, that quickly became an impossibility.
"It wasn't terribly fluid, right? A lot of fouls and really physical," Medved said. "My biggest thing at halftime to our guys is we were playing really frustrated I thought. If you play frustrated, it just goes south. You think about yourself, everyone's frustrated. I really thought we tried to pick our spirit up coming out of halftime – hey, let's pull together, let's pick our spirit up and we'll find a way. I thought they did that. Just a gut punch."
Colorado State led 3-0 early on a Stevens' 3 from the corner. It would be the only lead as Nevada went on an 8-0 run to answer. In the first half, Colorado State closed to within four late, only to have the Wolf Pack end on a 7-0 run.
In the second half, there were four occasions where the Rams closed to within five points, only to have Nevada build back the lead. In the final four minutes, the hosts were finally able to turn the corner.
For most of the 40 minutes, the Rams just could not connect the dots between the two ends of the court.
"They went on a few runs, but also I felt in the second half we did a pretty good job as far as defending their initial actions," Stevens said. "We just fouled way to much and put them on the line, so it kind of nipped a lot of our runs right there in the bud.
"It was a heck of a game; we kept fighting. I give our team a lot of credit. We just didn't make that last play."
Even then, the first time CSU cut the deficit to 2, the Wolf Pack pushed it back to seven. Back-to-back baskets by Stevens, who finished with 23 points, finally tied the game.
Only to have Lucas close the door he had seemingly left open.
On this night, Lucas was able to find forgiveness.
What he produced was unforgiving. Make one mistake, leave the slightest of openings and it can cost a team.
That description came before Tuesday night's late tipoff with Nevada at Moby Arena, and it became eerily poetic in an Edgar Allan Poe style for his Colorado State men's basketball team.
Isaiah Stevens hit a jumper with 2.5 seconds left to tie a game the Rams had trailed almost all night, then Jarod Lucas, who had shockingly enough missed a pair of free throws to open the door for Stevens and the Rams, answered back with a running 3-pointer from just inside the halfcourt line – banked even – to give the Wolf Pack a wild 77-74 win.
It marked the third consecutive loss for the Rams (20-9, 8-8 Mountain West), a direction no team wants to be heading at the end of the regular season as an NCAA Tournament hopeful.
For the Rams, they have three remaining games to divert the course they're currently taking. All three losses have been within reach only to slip away. Medved said it's not as if anything is broken, there's just not the same polish.
Joel Scott believes they'll find some.
"I don't think we're really in a funk, I just think there's that one extra play we can make, somewhere we've got to find it," said Scott, who finished with 15 points. "I think we're playing some good basketball. I think most of the game we're there, doing the things we need to do. We'll find a way to work it out."
On a night when the Wolf Pack was playing without one of their best playmakers, Kenan Blackshear, the same night as Nick Davidson had no field goals in the game, Nevada was able to find offense with four in double figures.
Lucas makes free throws at better than a 90-percent clip, but he missed three of four late in the game after sinking his first seven.
As shocking as that was, his heave at the buzzer gave those misses a run for his Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not money.
"Both of them are pretty crazy," Stevens said. "He's a pretty high-level free throw shooter, one of the best in the country. Still, just running full speed from behind half court, banking it in, I mean … big time shot. You've got to give him credit."
The Rams made a game run at seizing a victory on a night when they were missing a bit of something throughout. Medved thought his team played out of character early. With that issue eliminated, a physical game took a turn toward the free throw line, with both teams in the double bonus the final 10 minutes of the game.
There were 45 whistles, 34 of which came in the second half. The teams combined to shoot 47 free throws the final 20 minutes. With Colorado State down 11 at the break and looking to find some rhythm, that quickly became an impossibility.
"It wasn't terribly fluid, right? A lot of fouls and really physical," Medved said. "My biggest thing at halftime to our guys is we were playing really frustrated I thought. If you play frustrated, it just goes south. You think about yourself, everyone's frustrated. I really thought we tried to pick our spirit up coming out of halftime – hey, let's pull together, let's pick our spirit up and we'll find a way. I thought they did that. Just a gut punch."
Colorado State led 3-0 early on a Stevens' 3 from the corner. It would be the only lead as Nevada went on an 8-0 run to answer. In the first half, Colorado State closed to within four late, only to have the Wolf Pack end on a 7-0 run.
In the second half, there were four occasions where the Rams closed to within five points, only to have Nevada build back the lead. In the final four minutes, the hosts were finally able to turn the corner.
For most of the 40 minutes, the Rams just could not connect the dots between the two ends of the court.
"They went on a few runs, but also I felt in the second half we did a pretty good job as far as defending their initial actions," Stevens said. "We just fouled way to much and put them on the line, so it kind of nipped a lot of our runs right there in the bud.
"It was a heck of a game; we kept fighting. I give our team a lot of credit. We just didn't make that last play."
Even then, the first time CSU cut the deficit to 2, the Wolf Pack pushed it back to seven. Back-to-back baskets by Stevens, who finished with 23 points, finally tied the game.
Only to have Lucas close the door he had seemingly left open.
On this night, Lucas was able to find forgiveness.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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