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Colorado State trailed from start to finish and lost its Mountain West opener at Boise State, 93-71, Wednesday Dec. 27. With the loss, the Rams fell to 7-7 on the year and 0-1 in the league, while the Broncos improved to 11-2 and 1-0 in the conference.
Boise State took the opening tip and scored the first five points of the game to take a lead it would never relinquish. The Rams got it down to a one-point margin but the lead grew to as many as 13 in the opening period before the host Broncos went to the locker room with a 43-33 halftime lead. CSU got it down to a five-point margin at 49-44 with 15:31 to play in the game and held close until a 6-0 spurt blew it back to a 12-point lead that would shrink to no fewer than nine the rest of the contest.
For the game, CSU shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from the floor and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from the three-point line. Boise State was hot, shooting 54.0 percent (34-of-63) from the field and 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from the arc. The Broncos won the battle of the boards 36-28 and gave up just 11 turnovers (two in the second half) as compared to 13 for the Rams.
Colorado State was led by junior guard Prentiss Nixon and redshirt-sophomore guard Anthony Bonner, who had 16 points each. Redshirt-sophomore center Nico Carvacho added 15 and six rebounds, while junior forward Deion James chipped in 12. For Boise State, Chandler Hutchison led five Broncos in double figures with 24 points, 16 of them in the second half. Marcus Dickinson tallied a new career high with 16 points for the Broncos.
Next Colorado State continues on the road in Mountain West play, traveling to San Jose State, Sat., Dec. 30 at 3 p.m. MT. The contest between the Rams and Spartans will be televised on the Mountain West Network. The game will air across the Colorado State Sports Network (along with online at CSURams.com), with Brian Roth and Adam Nigon on the call.