Colorado State University Athletics
Shootaround: Catching Up in the Tourney
3/20/2024 2:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Stevens, Abmas meet once again
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – They grew up about 20 miles apart in Texas, seeing each other often on the court.
They met once before in college, but now on the sport's biggest stage, Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens and Texas' Max Abmas will face off once again.
"Yeah, me and Max go way back. We played against each other in AAU as kids," Stevens said. "Our high schools are in the same conference, so we had a lot of matchups, even worked out with each other in the summertime over the past few years.
"He's an electric player. He's been that way since he was young. Can score at all three levels, makes plays for others, super quick and dynamic that way. It's going to be really cool just seeing him out here at this stage, at this level, and just kind of seeing how our journeys have crossed paths again. It's going to be really cool."
Stevens has built a legendary resume at Colorado State. He will leave as the program's all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals. He's guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament twice in his career. Coach Niko Medved has run out of adjectives to describe the player, noting there are fewer yet to put into complete context the person. As of late, Medved has leaned in on referring to him as "a unicorn."
Abmas played four years at Oral Roberts, earning various forms of All-American accolades as a point-producing guard, but is now with the Longhorns for his fifth and final season. Just like he did at ORU, he's leading Texas in scoring at a clip of 17.1 points per game.
The opening game of the 2020-21 season, Abmas and Oral Roberts came to Fort Collins with the Rams taking a 109-80 win. Abmas, who had led the nation in scoring the year prior, finished with 20 in the contest; Stevens countered with 13 and six assists.
This next meeting will carry a bit more weight, and Abmas has a bit more help, as he is one of four Longhorns averaging double figures. Texas ranks in the top 50 nationally in two categories – free throw percentage (41, 75.5) and field goal percentage (44, 47.4). Abmas ranks eighth nationally in free throw percentage, hitting at a 91.6 rate.
Medved believes it could be one of the most intriguing guard matchups in the tournament, complete with contrasting styles.
"They're obviously a little bit different players that way. Isaiah is maybe a little bit more of a passer, but they both can do everything at an elite level," Medved said. "I agree, it should be a treat for the fans. This could be one of the best guard matchups you'll see here in the NCAA Tournament. I know it's two just outstanding young men too who do it the right way. So it's going to be fun."
Big Fans
After spending the past few months beating up on each other, Colorado State has become fans of those they've battled most.
"Oh, absolutely. You'd like to see your league do well this time of year," Medved said. "You don't like playing against those guys because they're all so good and well coached and all those kinds of things, but, yeah, once we get to this time of year, we're pulling hard for all the other teams in the league.
"Last night some of the first texts I got were from the head coaches of the other teams in our league. That's kind of how it goes. It will be the same thing. We'll be tuned in cheering for them, and we want them to have success because that's good for all of us. Respect the heck out of those guys. Glad we could get a win, first of all, for our program, but it's great to represent the Mountain West as well."
The same goes for the players, though Nique Clifford naturally had a bit of mixed emotions. The Colorado transfer has friends on a team which will face Boise State tonight.
Outside of that, go league.
"I said this before, but you want to see the Mountain West teams do good," Clifford said. "It helps your status and your résumé and just proves what we've done this year, you know what I'm saying?
"We definitely want to see those guys do well. For me it's a little different. It's my homeys that I played with over there that they're playing against too. So that one is up in the air for me. I definitely want to see the Mountain West teams do well and just prove what our league is about."
Here and There
How impressive was the defensive performance against Virginia? The 25 percent shooting allowed matched the sixth-lowest figure allowed. … The Nique Clifford-Joel Scott double double-double was the second time the Rams have had one in program history, the first when both players used points and rebounds to do so. The first time came a few years back with David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens, Stevens naturally going the assist route with his scoring. … The Rams are now 5-12 in NCAA Tournament play. The last time they won an opening round game was in 2013 against Missouri. … The CSU game will be the third of four slated for the site Thursday. It opens with Mississippi State-Michigan State at 10:15 a.m. (MT), followed by North Carolina-Wagner (12:45 p.m.). Tennessee-St. Peter's closes the session at 7:20 p.m. … A picture of Jack Payne made the rounds on social media last night, making the redshirt freshman a bit of an instant star. Not that he knew. He said he avoids the app on purpose. He had no idea what was going on until his friends started sending him screenshots.
They met once before in college, but now on the sport's biggest stage, Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens and Texas' Max Abmas will face off once again.
"Yeah, me and Max go way back. We played against each other in AAU as kids," Stevens said. "Our high schools are in the same conference, so we had a lot of matchups, even worked out with each other in the summertime over the past few years.
"He's an electric player. He's been that way since he was young. Can score at all three levels, makes plays for others, super quick and dynamic that way. It's going to be really cool just seeing him out here at this stage, at this level, and just kind of seeing how our journeys have crossed paths again. It's going to be really cool."
Stevens has built a legendary resume at Colorado State. He will leave as the program's all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals. He's guided the Rams to the NCAA Tournament twice in his career. Coach Niko Medved has run out of adjectives to describe the player, noting there are fewer yet to put into complete context the person. As of late, Medved has leaned in on referring to him as "a unicorn."
Abmas played four years at Oral Roberts, earning various forms of All-American accolades as a point-producing guard, but is now with the Longhorns for his fifth and final season. Just like he did at ORU, he's leading Texas in scoring at a clip of 17.1 points per game.
The opening game of the 2020-21 season, Abmas and Oral Roberts came to Fort Collins with the Rams taking a 109-80 win. Abmas, who had led the nation in scoring the year prior, finished with 20 in the contest; Stevens countered with 13 and six assists.
This next meeting will carry a bit more weight, and Abmas has a bit more help, as he is one of four Longhorns averaging double figures. Texas ranks in the top 50 nationally in two categories – free throw percentage (41, 75.5) and field goal percentage (44, 47.4). Abmas ranks eighth nationally in free throw percentage, hitting at a 91.6 rate.
Medved believes it could be one of the most intriguing guard matchups in the tournament, complete with contrasting styles.
"They're obviously a little bit different players that way. Isaiah is maybe a little bit more of a passer, but they both can do everything at an elite level," Medved said. "I agree, it should be a treat for the fans. This could be one of the best guard matchups you'll see here in the NCAA Tournament. I know it's two just outstanding young men too who do it the right way. So it's going to be fun."
Big Fans
After spending the past few months beating up on each other, Colorado State has become fans of those they've battled most.
"Oh, absolutely. You'd like to see your league do well this time of year," Medved said. "You don't like playing against those guys because they're all so good and well coached and all those kinds of things, but, yeah, once we get to this time of year, we're pulling hard for all the other teams in the league.
"Last night some of the first texts I got were from the head coaches of the other teams in our league. That's kind of how it goes. It will be the same thing. We'll be tuned in cheering for them, and we want them to have success because that's good for all of us. Respect the heck out of those guys. Glad we could get a win, first of all, for our program, but it's great to represent the Mountain West as well."
The same goes for the players, though Nique Clifford naturally had a bit of mixed emotions. The Colorado transfer has friends on a team which will face Boise State tonight.
Outside of that, go league.
"I said this before, but you want to see the Mountain West teams do good," Clifford said. "It helps your status and your résumé and just proves what we've done this year, you know what I'm saying?
"We definitely want to see those guys do well. For me it's a little different. It's my homeys that I played with over there that they're playing against too. So that one is up in the air for me. I definitely want to see the Mountain West teams do well and just prove what our league is about."
Here and There
How impressive was the defensive performance against Virginia? The 25 percent shooting allowed matched the sixth-lowest figure allowed. … The Nique Clifford-Joel Scott double double-double was the second time the Rams have had one in program history, the first when both players used points and rebounds to do so. The first time came a few years back with David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens, Stevens naturally going the assist route with his scoring. … The Rams are now 5-12 in NCAA Tournament play. The last time they won an opening round game was in 2013 against Missouri. … The CSU game will be the third of four slated for the site Thursday. It opens with Mississippi State-Michigan State at 10:15 a.m. (MT), followed by North Carolina-Wagner (12:45 p.m.). Tennessee-St. Peter's closes the session at 7:20 p.m. … A picture of Jack Payne made the rounds on social media last night, making the redshirt freshman a bit of an instant star. Not that he knew. He said he avoids the app on purpose. He had no idea what was going on until his friends started sending him screenshots.
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