This Thanksgiving, Colorado State basketball is thankful for being Hall of Fame Classic champions.
In one of the biggest wins in CSU basketball history—likely the biggest of Niko Medved’s tenure as head coach—the Rams defeated No. 8 Creighton 69-48 in the Hall of Fame Classic championship game.
Creighton was heavily favored to win, but the Rams played their best basketball of the year and on the second night of a back-to-back. Isaiah Stevens scored a game-high 22 points with 7 assists, while freshman Rashaan Mbemba scored 13 with 3 rebounds in relief of the injured Patrick Cartier.
Creighton was uncharacteristically cold shooting the ball, making only 27.9% of their attempts from the floor. Color commentator for CBS Sports Network Steve Lappas admitted it wasn’t just a poor shooting game for the Bluejays, the Rams made them shoot that badly, forcing Creighton into tough shots.
Meanwhile, the Rams made 46.7% of their attempts, which was still under their season average, but much better than the Bluejays effort. Both teams were ice cold from downtown, and CSU out-played Creighton in the paint.
That was surprising given starting forward Patrick Cartier was injured in the first half. He wouldn’t return, which left Mbemba in the game for a majority of the contest.
While both teams struggled shooting early, the Rams led 27-19 at half and enjoyed 18 points in paint.
In the second half, Stevens took over. He got CSU out on the break early, feeding Josiah Strong for an and-one. He hit a 3 and then followed it up with a turnaround bucket while the Rams went on an 11-1 run.
Colorado State enjoyed as much as a 23-point lead as they fought stalwartly and never let up. That was special for CSU because in the past they may have let up and floundered. But not this time.
Stevens scored 14 of his 22 in the second half and pushed the Rams to the win. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Biggest win in Niko Medved’s tenure at Colorado State
This was easily the biggest win of Niko Medved’s six years as Colorado State head coach.
The Rams beat No. 8 Creighton, and not only that, they increased their lead so much that Medved pulled Stevens and Joel Scott with nearly three minutes to go.
It was the first time Colorado State beat a top-10 team since January of 1984. And that win will do wonders to help this team come Selection Sunday time for March Madness.
The Rams are now a perfect 6-0 on the season and now will face the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes on Nov. 29 at Moby Arena. The Buffs lost to Florida State on Tuesday, so may not be ranked anymore when they match up in Fort Collins next week.
