Colorado State University Athletics
Tuesday, February 6
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
18-5,6-4Mountain West
75
vs
62
Boise State
16-7,7-3Mountain West
1
2
F
Boise St.
30
32
62
Colorado St.
37
38
75
Rams Show Some Strength in Victory
2/6/2024 10:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Team moves to 12-1 at Moby Arena to tighten league race
The smart play always is to go with your strengths.
Colorado State men's basketball team can shoot with the best of them – ranked sixth in the country in field goal percentage. Turns out, the Rams can play a bit of defense, too.
Limiting Boise State to its lowest scoring output of the Mountain West season, the Rams limited the Broncos to just 41.1 percent shooting on the way to a 75-62 victory against the Mountain West co-leaders Tuesday night at Moby Arena. CSU improved to 18-5 on the season, 6-4 in conference in winning its 12th home game of the season.
"Everything felt great. The coaches put a good game plan out," CSU forward Joel Scott said. "I think we executed very well. We played physical, we were in the right places, and we did what we needed to do, and we rebounded, too. I think it was all those things combined that put us in position to win."
The Rams came out very hot, hitting at a rate which is unsustainable for an entire night. Still, they ended up in their accustomed neighborhood, hitting at a 56.3 percent clip from the floor, doing most of the damage inside by holding a 40-30 edge in the paint.
Boise State (16-7, 7-3) can do work inside, and Tyson Degenhart finished with 25 points on the night. But nobody else on the floor produced with any kind of consistency, not even with the Rams' reserves were on the floor,
They were just as bought in to the defensive plan.
"I thought we played with a lot of physicality. They're really good," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Tyson Degenhart is a terrific player, (O'Mar) Stanley, all these guys, but I thought we did a good job of fighting for real estate, not allowing those guys to set up where they wanted. I thought we did a great job of being stubborn, like getting over screens on (Chibuzo) Agbo and (Max) Rice and challenging. Rice got one in transition early off a turnover. I thought we did a terrific job of not being lazy and going under a screen on them. I thought we challenged shots, and when we did that, we were able to rebound, at least in the first half."
Patrick Cartier dealt with foul trouble, which became more troublesome when he picked up a third with 1.1 seconds remaining in the first half. That led to Rashaan Mbemba starting the second half, but he'd already shown we was up to the task and continued to be the final 20 minutes.
Not only did the bench contribute defensively – 10 rebounds, three blocks and a steal – but they contributed offensively, outscoring Boise State's bench 23-8.
"They really brought an edge to the game. They played confident, they played fast, they played sharp," CSU guard Isaiah Stevens said. "They played a way we know they can night in and night out. They really kind of gave us some extra umph late in the first half to make some runs, and definitely throughout the second half with different guys in the lineup. I thought they were big time for us."
To compliment the work, the perimeter defense was stellar, limiting the Broncos to just 5-of-20 behind the arc, a pretty good feat considering the way they – and particularly Rice – had been gunning. He was coming off a stellar week of 47 points in two games, including 11-of-21 from deep.
Not surprisingly, it was a major piece of the conversation in the defensive game plan, and Rice finished with just 11.
"We knew coming in he was coming off a really impressive game down at The Pit. Coach Medved made it very clear that he's capable of changing a game each and every night," Stevens said. "He's confident. Obviously, he's skilled as well, so he can make plays, which you have to respect. We just didn't want to give him anything easy."
Which the Rams were able to do offensively. Stevens produced another double-double (the 16th of his career, fourth this season), scoring 16 points to go with 11 assists. As the second figure would suggest, there was some balance, with Scott closing with 13, Cartier 10, while five other Rams had at least six.
Colorado State led for 37:35 minutes of the game, most of that time spent with at least a couple of possessions of cushion, a bit odd the way the conference has played out. It felt different.
It felt good.
"I think being able to keep them at a little arm's length gives us a little space to work with. At the same time, we knew they're going to have a punch at some point," Scott said. "They're going to start swinging back; every team in the Mountain West does. We knew they were going to come punch, but we've got to keep doing what we're doing, stay together, come together as a team and keep playing our brand of basketball."
At the end of the night, the league standings weren't all that different, though both co-leaders lost (Utah State fell at home to Nevada). Now there are three teams sitting at 7-3 (New Mexico is the other), and the Rams are just one game back of the group.
Which was news to Medved.
"People probably don't want to hear this – I don't even look at the league standings. I don't really care right now, I just want to win the next one," he said. "I just think for us, tomorrow there will be 32 days left in the regular season. What I do know is when we're playing well, we can beat anybody. We've just got to focus on ourselves and just take the next one."
A mentality which has always been a strength in his tenure.
Colorado State men's basketball team can shoot with the best of them – ranked sixth in the country in field goal percentage. Turns out, the Rams can play a bit of defense, too.
Limiting Boise State to its lowest scoring output of the Mountain West season, the Rams limited the Broncos to just 41.1 percent shooting on the way to a 75-62 victory against the Mountain West co-leaders Tuesday night at Moby Arena. CSU improved to 18-5 on the season, 6-4 in conference in winning its 12th home game of the season.
"Everything felt great. The coaches put a good game plan out," CSU forward Joel Scott said. "I think we executed very well. We played physical, we were in the right places, and we did what we needed to do, and we rebounded, too. I think it was all those things combined that put us in position to win."
The Rams came out very hot, hitting at a rate which is unsustainable for an entire night. Still, they ended up in their accustomed neighborhood, hitting at a 56.3 percent clip from the floor, doing most of the damage inside by holding a 40-30 edge in the paint.
Boise State (16-7, 7-3) can do work inside, and Tyson Degenhart finished with 25 points on the night. But nobody else on the floor produced with any kind of consistency, not even with the Rams' reserves were on the floor,
They were just as bought in to the defensive plan.
"I thought we played with a lot of physicality. They're really good," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Tyson Degenhart is a terrific player, (O'Mar) Stanley, all these guys, but I thought we did a good job of fighting for real estate, not allowing those guys to set up where they wanted. I thought we did a great job of being stubborn, like getting over screens on (Chibuzo) Agbo and (Max) Rice and challenging. Rice got one in transition early off a turnover. I thought we did a terrific job of not being lazy and going under a screen on them. I thought we challenged shots, and when we did that, we were able to rebound, at least in the first half."
Patrick Cartier dealt with foul trouble, which became more troublesome when he picked up a third with 1.1 seconds remaining in the first half. That led to Rashaan Mbemba starting the second half, but he'd already shown we was up to the task and continued to be the final 20 minutes.
Not only did the bench contribute defensively – 10 rebounds, three blocks and a steal – but they contributed offensively, outscoring Boise State's bench 23-8.
"They really brought an edge to the game. They played confident, they played fast, they played sharp," CSU guard Isaiah Stevens said. "They played a way we know they can night in and night out. They really kind of gave us some extra umph late in the first half to make some runs, and definitely throughout the second half with different guys in the lineup. I thought they were big time for us."
To compliment the work, the perimeter defense was stellar, limiting the Broncos to just 5-of-20 behind the arc, a pretty good feat considering the way they – and particularly Rice – had been gunning. He was coming off a stellar week of 47 points in two games, including 11-of-21 from deep.
Not surprisingly, it was a major piece of the conversation in the defensive game plan, and Rice finished with just 11.
"We knew coming in he was coming off a really impressive game down at The Pit. Coach Medved made it very clear that he's capable of changing a game each and every night," Stevens said. "He's confident. Obviously, he's skilled as well, so he can make plays, which you have to respect. We just didn't want to give him anything easy."
Which the Rams were able to do offensively. Stevens produced another double-double (the 16th of his career, fourth this season), scoring 16 points to go with 11 assists. As the second figure would suggest, there was some balance, with Scott closing with 13, Cartier 10, while five other Rams had at least six.
Colorado State led for 37:35 minutes of the game, most of that time spent with at least a couple of possessions of cushion, a bit odd the way the conference has played out. It felt different.
It felt good.
"I think being able to keep them at a little arm's length gives us a little space to work with. At the same time, we knew they're going to have a punch at some point," Scott said. "They're going to start swinging back; every team in the Mountain West does. We knew they were going to come punch, but we've got to keep doing what we're doing, stay together, come together as a team and keep playing our brand of basketball."
At the end of the night, the league standings weren't all that different, though both co-leaders lost (Utah State fell at home to Nevada). Now there are three teams sitting at 7-3 (New Mexico is the other), and the Rams are just one game back of the group.
Which was news to Medved.
"People probably don't want to hear this – I don't even look at the league standings. I don't really care right now, I just want to win the next one," he said. "I just think for us, tomorrow there will be 32 days left in the regular season. What I do know is when we're playing well, we can beat anybody. We've just got to focus on ourselves and just take the next one."
A mentality which has always been a strength in his tenure.
Team Stats
Boise
CSU
FG%
.411
.563
3FG%
.250
.267
FT%
.647
.895
RB
29
29
TO
8
11
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballColorado State Basketball (M): Season 1 - Ep. 1
Sunday, August 10
Ramily - CSU Men's Basketball
Tuesday, August 05
Ram Line - Shoot Around with Josh Pascarelli & Darnez Slater (MBB)
Monday, August 04
Behind the White Board - Ken DeWeese
Monday, August 04