Boise State’s Physicality Stops CSU’s Surge

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Mar 11

Men's Basketball

vs Mountain West Tournament

Sometimes it all comes down to one thing.

Basketball has always been a game of runs, a rhythm of momentum swings where one small edge can tip the balance. For Colorado State in its 78-67 loss to Boise State, the edge came on the glass.

Rebounding told the story. Though the Broncos aren't known for heavy ball movement or prolific 3-point shooting, their physicality dictated the night. Boise State dominated the boards 37-21, turning second chances into separation.

"Boise, they did what they wanted to do tonight, and we saw the number one key was the rebounding, and you lose by 16 in the rebounding, you're going to lose to Boise," coach Ali Farokhmanesh said. "Whether we missed shots or not, we said from the very beginning it was going to be the rebounding. And I thought they, in general, won the game physically."

Those extra possessions matter even more this time of year. In March, consistency — especially in the little battles — often decides the outcome.

And though CSU's eight-game win streak came to an end, the Rams now head into the Mountain West tournament facing familiar opponents. It isn't a time to reinvent the game plan, but to recommit to the habits which carried them through February.

"In basketball, you have to have a next-play mentality," Kyle Jorgensen said. "It's a game of runs. We knew they were going to go on a run at some point. It's just that we let the run affect us, so we couldn't go on our own. It's like in boxing, if you throw a punch, usually someone's going to throw a punch back, but I feel like we just didn't throw a punch back this time."

The Rams had been riding momentum ever since their win over New Mexico at home, but every game brings its own fight. And against Boise State, the Broncos landed the first blows.

After CSU briefly grabbed its only lead during a small push midway through the first half, Boise State responded with an 8-0 run to close the period, stretching the margin and forcing the Rams to play catch-up the rest of the way.

"They got on that 6-0 and kind of controlled the game from the very jump, but then we made the run, and I thought we were in the right place," Farokhmanesh said. "But their 8-0 run to end the half kind of just separated it, and then it stayed between 10 and 15 the rest of the way through. But it's part of basketball. You're going to win eight games in a row at some point, but it's hard to sustain that for a long period of time."

Recovering from a loss like this requires as much mental adjustment as physical.

Teams must find a balance between learning from what slipped away and letting it go entirely — between remembering the lesson and resetting for the next possession.

"You can be upset, but at the end of the day, you've got to move on," Jorgensen said. "Now it's do or die, but after every game, you just have to reset and focus on whatever's next. No matter how high the emotion of the game was, we've reset."

Because zooming out, February did exactly what it needed to do: prepare the Rams for the most demanding stretch of the season.

While it's easy to focus on the most recent loss, Jevin Muniz — CSU's lone senior — pointed to the bigger picture.

"It's 8-1 in the last nine games," Muniz said. "We're not going to let one loss take us down the wrong road. We just come back together, stick back together, and we know we can be 8-1 in the league, so we're not stressed about none of that."

With the loss, CSU drops to the No. 7 seed and now waits to learn its tournament opponent, most likely Fresno State. After a much-needed rest day, the Rams will return to the gym.

Back to where everything starts.

Back to the identity which has guided the program since its last tournament run.

Do what you do — and do it right.

"It's trusting what you do," Farokhmanesh said. "It's not about tricking anybody, running a special play or doing a special defensive scheme at this point. There's some adjustments you've got to make going into your third game, but it isn't going to be a lot of tricks. It's just, can you do what you do better than what they do, and trust each other throughout that process."

Because basketball games — much like boxing matches — rarely hinge on one perfect swing. They're decided by who absorbs the hits, who stays standing, and who keeps answering when the other side throws a punch.

Against Boise State, the Rams took too many blows without delivering one of their own.

But tournaments don't remember the last round.

They only remember the next one.

And if CSU wants its season to keep moving forward, the message is simple: when the next punch comes, throw one back.

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