Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Boise State
Rams, Broncos Clash in Moby Tuesday Night
2/5/2024 1:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Colorado State welcomes Boise State for a White Out
FORT COLLINS – Colorado State men's basketball opens up the second half of Mountain West play Tuesday night when Boise State visits Moby Arena. The 7 pm tip-off is White Out night as the Rams look to avenge an early loss to the Broncos and defend their home court.
Opening Tip
- Colorado State picked up its first road conference game of the year at Fresno State, 73-61 on Saturday.
- All five starters reached double figures scoring led by Patrick Cartier and Joel Scott's 14 points each.
- Head coach Niko Medved is in his sixth year leading Colorado State. He is 109-69 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.
- He sits in the top 5 for active players in both scoring (3rd) and assists (2nd).
- Stevens has three double-doubles on the year and already reset one of his own records when he posted 14 assists against Wright State. He is averaging 16.9 points, 7.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48.7% from the field and 44.0% 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 2,140.
- Newcomer Joel Scott continues to be a big presence inside for CSU averaging 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds.
- Scott tied for the team lead with 14 points and dished out a career-high tying six assists in the win against the Bulldogs.
- Nique Clifford has enjoyed his time in Fort Collins transferring to Colorado State from Colorado. He is shooting an impressive 59.2% from the field including 48.4% from behind the arc on his way to averaging 13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds.
- Clifford stuffed the stat sheet again for the Rams with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a block in the win at Fresno State.
- Patrick Cartier missed two games for Colorado State, but since returning has not missed a beat. He is averaging 12.0 points on 55.2% 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 (2,140), Patrick Cartier (2,281) and Joel Scott (2,732).
- The Rams lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.88. CSU turned the ball over just five times against Fresno State compared to their 16 assists.
- Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88), assists per game (19.1), effective field goal percentage (57.7%), field goal percentage (50.4%) and free throw percentage (75.9%).
Scouting the Broncos
Boise State comes to Fort Collins on Tuesday off an impressive week defeating New Mexico at the Pit and having a very efficient win over Air Force on Saturday.
Max Rice earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors averaging 23.5 points on 57.1% shooting including a career-high 35 points at New Mexico.
Rice along with three other Broncos are averaging double figures scoring. Tyson Degenhart leads the team with 15.7 ppg.
Boise State does a good job of crashing the glass outrebounding its opponents by 6.9 boards a game, the best mark in the conference and 23rd in the nation.
What's Ahead
Colorado State returns home for a White Out on Tuesday against Boise State at 7 pm. It's the first of two home games that week for the Rams.
