Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Wyoming
Men’s Basketball Hosts Border War Saturday
3/1/2024 11:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Colorado State hosts rival Wyoming for Senior Day
FORT COLLINS – The 2023-24 home schedule comes to an end on Saturday for CSU men's basketball when they host rival Wyoming. The second round of the Border War will tip off at 2 p.m. inside Moby Arena.
The game and parking are both sold out. Fans who do not have parking can park along Hughes Way just South of Moby Arena.
Opening Tip
- Colorado State aims to snap a three-game losing streak after falling to Nevada Tuesday night 77-74 on a half-court buzzer-beater.
- Before the game CSU will honor its five seniors Patrick Cartier, Joe Palmer, Joel Scott, Isaiah Stevens and Josiah Strong.
- CSU has won 20 games four times in the past five years.
- Head coach Niko Medved became the first coach in program history to win 20-plus games four times.
- The Rams are 14-2 inside Moby Arena this season. The loss on Tuesday snapped a nine-game home win streak.
- The 14 wins inside Moby this season tie for the second most in program history with the 2011-12 and 2021-22 seasons.
- 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 mid season team. He was also named one of the top 40 players in the nation by the USBWA.
- He sits in the top 5 for active players in scoring (3rd) and assists (1st).
- 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 16.6 points, 7.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 48.6% from the field and 45.8% 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 2,255.
- Stevens scored 23 points against Nevada tying the game with 2.3 seconds left to go with his six assists and five rebounds.
- Newcomer Joel Scott continues to be a big presence inside for CSU averaging 12.2 points and 6.1 rebounds.
- Nique Clifford has enjoyed his time in Fort Collins transferring to Colorado State from Colorado. He is shooting an impressive 53.7% from the field including 39.8% from behind the arc on his way to averaging 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds.
- Patrick Cartier missed two games for Colorado State, but since returning has not missed a beat. He is averaging 11.0 points on 52.9% 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 (2,255), Patrick Cartier (2,337) and Joel Scott (2,824).
- Colorado State leads the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84), assists per game (18.9), effective field goal percentage (55.9%) and free throw percentage (76.6%).
Scouting the Cowboys
Like CSU, Wyoming also suffered a close loss at home Tuesday night, falling in overtime to UNLV 75-69.
Sam Griffin continues to lead a quartet of Cowboys in double figures scoring with 17.2 points per game. Akuel Kot (13.7), Mason Kot (12.9) and Brendan Wenzel (11.2) all join Griffin.
Wyoming enters Saturday having lost six of their past seven games with the lone win coming at San Jose State.
What's Ahead
The Rams head south to Air Force next Saturday for the final regular season game at 2 p.m. inside Clune Arena.
