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In a battle for the regular season Mountain West title, Colorado State could not hold off host Nevada and fell to the Wolf Pack, 85-72, March 4. With the loss snapping a seven-game winning streak and five straight on the road, the Rams fell to 21-10 and 13-5 in MW play to get the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament, while the Wolf Pack took the top seed and advanced to 25-6 and 14-4 in conference.
In the second half, CSU led by as many as four on two occasions, with the last a 48-44 advantage with 16:56 to play. From there, the Wolf Pack used a 14-1 run over 4:34 to take a 58-49 advantage with 11:47 to go in the contest, a lead it would never relinquish. The hosts pushed it to as many as 14 points at 71-58, as the Rams could get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
CSU grabbed the early lead on its first possession on a layup by senior forward Emmanuel Omogbo and never trailed in the opening stanza. The Rams built it to 19-11 before a 7-0 Wolf Pack run cut it down to one at 19-18 with 9:43 to go in the period. However, the Rams had answers and eventually got it to double digits at 39-29 with 3:40 to go. The hosts then closed the half on a 11-3 surge to make it a two-point CSU lead at the break, 42-40.
CSU shot just 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the field, including a slim 25.8 percent (8-of-31) in the second half. Nevada was 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the floor in the game, improving in the final period with 45.5 percent (15-of-33) . Nevada took over the boards in the second half, getting a 44-36 advantage overall and 25-18 in the final period.
Senior guard Gian Clavell led the Rams with 33 points, including 18 in the first half, and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Prentiss Nixon had 12 points, while Omogbo and redshirt-sophomore guard J.D. Paige added 10 and 9, respectively. Cameron Oliver led the Wolf Pack with 29 points and 17 boards, with Jordan Caroline and Marcus Marshall adding 18 points each.
Featured Image Credit: CSU Men’s Basketball, Twitter