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Colorado State never trailed against visiting Utah State, earning the 69-52 Mountain West victory, Feb. 7. The Rams advanced to 16-9 overall and 8-4 in Mountain West action, while the Aggies slid to 10-13 and 4-8 in conference play.
The decisive section of the game occurred in a seven-minute span ending the first half and starting the second as the Rams went on a 19-2 run to break open a tie game. Utah State battled back and got the margin down to nine, but CSU pulled away in the late stages on the strength of 14 straight points from senior guard Gian Clavell.
Both teams had a slow start to the game, with the Rams opening the scoring on a dunk by senior forward Emmanuel Omogbo off a dish from redshirt-freshman center Nico Carvacho. The Rams scored the first seven points of the contest while holding Utah State scoreless for almost six minutes to open the game. The Aggies rallied to tie the game at 23 at the final media timeout of the opening period, but Colorado State started their breakout run by scoring the final 10 points of the first half to lead 33-23 at the break.
The Rams finished the game shooting 40 percent (24-of-60) from the floor while limiting Utah State to just 36 percent (21-59) shooting. Colorado State was even better from the 3-point line, connecting on 43.3 percent (13-of-30) while USU was only able to muster 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from behind the arc. CSU also was able to convert 12 Utah State turnovers into 11 points.
Clavell led all scorers with 24 points, while Omogbo posted his third straight double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Prentiss Nixon had career highs with seven assists and seven rebounds along with his 11 points. Carvacho also contributed 11 points and eight rebounds in the victory. Quinn Taylor came off the bench for Utah State to lead them with 11 points.
Featured Video Credit: Colorado State Rams, YouTube