Embrace the Pressure in Many Ways
Rams Out to win Mountain West and punch their ticket
Liv Sewell
Colorado State is no stranger to the pressure of March.
The Rams made the NCAA Tournament last season, but this time around, the stakes feel different. Sitting as the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West, CSU doesn’t have the luxury of an at-large bid. If the Rams want to go dancing again, the metrics suggest they must win the championship this weekend in Las Vegas.
Fifth-year transfer Ethan Morton understands that kind of pressure.
The veteran guard spent four seasons at Purdue, making March Madness each year while on the roster. His experience in high-stakes games is something he’s trying to pass along to his teammates while also reveling in it himself.
“You’re kind of an idiot if you don’t take something from every big game you’ve played in in your career,” Morton said. “I think the more experience you accumulate being in that situation, you just feel more comfortable when the stakes are high. So, it’s trying to not make the moment too big and impart that on the other guys as well.
“Now, we don’t have to do something crazy and change or not, we just have to keep trying to get better every day and trust our work.”
Nique Clifford, who transferred from Colorado, shares a similar perspective.
He’s been part of a team with tournament aspirations before, but this year, CSU faces a unique challenge: they’ve found success late in the season, surging upward into second place but still feeling overlooked.
The Mountain West itself is considered a mid-major league, which never ceases to amaze Clifford.
“I’ve been trying to figure out why the Mountain West doesn’t get as much national attention,” Clifford said. “I feel like there’s this notion behind the Mountain West being considered a mid-major conference. Just the term mid-major or low-major gives the connotation that you’re not as good of a league. But I think over the last few years, the Mountain West has been able to improve. They get teams into the tournament. We’re starting to earn more respect but there’s still a long way to go.”
After all, a record six teams from the conference made it to NCAAs last year.
Playing in such a deep conference has its own struggles, especially later in the season.
Having played each team in the conference twice, familiarity is bound to happen, but coach Niko Medved understands the nuance.
“You have to be so many things to win,” Medved said. “You have to be a really good team; you have to win close games and go into tough environments with huge crowds against teams that are well-coached. But you must have some breaks too. You have to stay healthy and play well at the right time. However, the hardest thing to do, is go through that gauntlet of a 20-game schedule and finish toward the top of your league.”
No matter what environment you’re in, lose yourself in the game. It’s doing your job and just enjoying the moment more than anything else.Ethan Morton
Morton has been through the gauntlet before, though in the Big10.
But he knows the Mountain West better than ever and has had a look inside a conference he was never completely familiar with in years past.
“This conference last year really put itself on the map,” Morton said. “(At Purdue) we played Utah State which I thought was a great team. Sometimes it’s weird, me being from the East Coast, you don’t hear much about out West until you play them later in the season. But we’ve got great players in this league, up and down the conference. So, I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
However, the opportunity is not easy, as Medved detailed.
The tournament is game-after-game, unrelenting until one team is crowned with the title. Knowing the stakes and learning each day continue to be paramount.
“It’s difficult,” Clifford said. “You’re going to have emotions and a lot of adrenaline going into those games cause that’s probably one of the biggest games you’ve ever played in as a younger player. It’s making sure they stay levelheaded regardless of who we’re playing. To remind them that this is what we’ve been doing all year, it’s the same game we’ve been playing. It’s basketball at the end of the day. It’s nothing bigger than what you make it.”
A statement which truly displays the theme of the season: play each game to win.
Standings don’t matter. All that matters in the moment is relying on those who have been there since the beginning, when championship titles were a far cry away.
Which doesn’t negate the itch to win, just puts in perspective all which has been accomplished throughout the season.
“I think the young guys have had so much room for growth this year,” Medved said. “Just the way that they’ve improved this year from November and December until March has been one of the biggest catalysts for this year we have had. I think it’s going to be great, them coming in young and hungry and with something to prove.”
The Rams understand the challenge ahead, but they aren’t letting the moment overwhelm them. They’re here because of a love for a game.
Both Clifford and Morton are in their last year. And with their years of experience in high-pressure games, know the key is to stay locked-in and play like there is no other game. Because for them, there might not be.
“I’ve been doing this for five years,” Clifford said. “I’ve gotten to see what helps teams win and see how important every single game is. This could be your last game once you get into the tournament. Everybody is going to be playing their hardest because that could be the end of their season.
End of season or not, CSU takes it game-by-game and point-by-point.
Because, escaping in it can be the most enjoyable part of the process.
“You have to lose yourself in the game,” Morton said. “No matter what environment you’re in, lose yourself in the game. It’s doing your job and just enjoying the moment more than anything else. Because when you get caught up in the atmosphere, you start to think too much about the pressure.”
That mindset is what CSU will need as it steps onto the court in Las Vegas on Thursday. The path to the NCAA Tournament is clear – win and they Rams are in. But beyond the pressure and expectations, the team knows what got them here is what will carry them through.
Trust the work. Play for each other. And when the moment comes, embrace it.
Because in March, the teams which play fearless are the ones dancing the longest.
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