CSU was awful offensively in San Jose, CA Tuesday night, and the 9 p.m. MT tipoff may have affected the Rams.

For the first time all season, Colorado State failed to score 50 points and shot a sad 37% from the floor, well below their average. All of that amounted to a 63-46 drubbing at the hands of the San Jose State Spartans and former CSU head coach Tim Miles.

The Rams actually stormed out of the gate early, led by a layup and 3-pointer by Patrick Cartier to lead 5-0. But the Spartans pushed back and went on a 13-3 run to lead 25-16 with 5:53 to go in the first half. CSU went on a 6-0 run of their own, including a 3-pointer by John Tonje which brought the game to within three points with 1:29 left in the first half. A last-minute Spartans layup left the Rams down five at the break, 27-22.

After one of their worst halves of the season — scoring a mere 22 points — CSU managed to put only 24 more points on the board after halftime.

However, an early layup by Cartier cut the Spartans lead to four, and then with 14:07 to play, a Tonje layup brought the game to within one point, at 35-34. In fact, the Rams were able to keep the game within four points up until the 6:07 mark.

That’s when San Jose State went on a wild, 15-2 run to close out the Rams after 11 p.m. MT. Colorado State went 1-13 from the floor and 0-2 from the line, turned the ball over twice and committed an offensive foul during that lousy stretch.

Cartier finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds, each to lead CSU, but seniors Tonje and Isaiah Stevens weren’t their normal selves, combining for only 17 points on 7-23 (30.4%) shooting. San Jose State didn’t shoot much better than CSU in the game (39-37%) but they were on fire when it mattered most in the final minutes of the game.

After going 8-23 last year, former CSU head coach Tim Miles has the Spartans at 18-12, 9-8 MW this season.

Meanwhile, Niko Medved’s Rams are now 13-17, 5-12 on the season after making the NCAA Tournament last year. Of course, losing star David Roddy left CSU in a bit of a rebuilding year.

Colorado State finishes out the regular season this Friday night (9 p.m. MT tipoff) against the New Mexico Lobos (21-9, 8-9 MW) before the Mountain West Tournament tips off next Wednesday in Las Vegas. The Rams are currently in 11th place and could move up to 10th, but will likely face the 6 seeded Lobos in the first round.

So, it looks like Friday’s game is a warmup for next week. Hopefully CSU can find some cracks to exploit in New Mexico’s strong team.