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Colorado State basketball cracks AP Top 25 for first time since March 2022

Rich Kurtzman
Joel Scott sets a screen for Isaiah Stevens in the win against Creighton that put CSU in the AP Top 25.

Joel Scott sets a screen for Isaiah Stevens in the win against Creighton that put CSU in the AP Top 25. Credit: William Purnell, USA TODAY Sports.

For the first time since the 2021-22 season, Colorado State men’s basketball has earned an AP Top 25 ranking.

The Rams came in at No. 20 this week after their amazing win over No. 8 Creighton to win the Hall of Fame Classic on Thanksgiving Day.

A partial look at the AP Top 25 for this week. Colorado State comes in at No. 20.

Purdue is No. 1, Arizona is 2, and Marquette is 3. See the entire list at AP News.

A few things remain the same for the Rams compared to the last time they were in the Top 25: Niko Medved is still the head coach, and Isaiah Stevens was the point guard two years ago, too.

Isaiah Stevens named Mountain West Player of the Week

Stevens was straight-up sensational in the Hall of Fame Classic. He averaged 19 points and 7.5 assists in two wins over Boston College and No. 8 Creighton to help lead the Rams to the tournament win.

He did everything that a floor general needs to do. He dished and dimed his teammates with ease, including the first play out of halftime against Creighton, which set the tone for the rest of the game when he threaded an amazing pass between defenders to Josiah Strong.

Because of his great passing, which led to seven assists in the game, his Rams teammates scored easily. That led to a strong 47.6% shooting form the floor, which was vastly better than Creighton (27.9%).

But he wasn’t just a one-trick pony; Stevens scored in a variety of ways and led all scorers with 20 in the game. Stevens sank multiple turnaround jumpers and hit 2-3 from downtown, too. On top of all that, he snagged six rebounds as Colorado State out-boarded Creighton 43-34.

Jeff Borzello also named Stevens POW and Rams at No. 14

Borzello named Stevens his Player of the Week for the entire nation.

One of the elite point guards in the country, he has picked up where he left off for this campaign. He went for 18 points and eight assists in the Hall of Fame Classic semifinal against Boston College, then put on a show against a top-10 Creighton team, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the Rams’ stunning 69-48 victory.

He also put Colorado State in his Top 25 at No. 14 overall.

In fact, the Rams are in multiple Top 25 lists.

They are No. 14 in Jeff Goodman’s list, and Jon Rothstein has Medved’s Rams at No. 14 as well.

In fact, Rothstein also said Stevens is playing at an All-American level.

Isaiah Stevens is playing like an All-American

If you don’t believe me, ask Creighton. The 6-foot point guard was surgical in his dissection of the Bluejays on Thursday in Kansas City, tallying 20 points, seven assists, and six rebounds all while just committing one turnover in a 21-point win for Colorado State. The 69-48 rout was one of the more surprising results that we’ve seen so far this season and it firmly put the Rams on the national map.

Big week coming for No. 20 Colorado State

This week is basically just as big as last week for the Rams.

On Wednesday, they face the Colorado Buffaloes (5-1) who fell out of the Top 25 last week.

That game is a sellout already and should be one of the toughest opponents CSU plays this year.

The Buffs will no doubt want to upset the Rams, and Colorado State will want to hold home court against the intrastate rival. That game tips off at 7 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.

Then on Saturday CSU plays Washington (3-2) again at Moby Arena. That one tips off at 5 p.m. MT and will also be on CBS Sports Network.

Besides the superb Stevens, newcomers Joel Scott and Nique Clifford have each been great themselves. Scott averages 14.5 points and 6.8 boards while Clifford is right behind him with 13.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. As a team, their 21.3 assists per game are 5th-best in the nation, and they’re also 5th in 2-point field goal percentage (53.9).

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