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In a game that came down to the closing minutes, Colorado State put up an energetic effort but came up just short at No. 20/22 Nevada, 92-83. With the loss, the Rams fell to 11-19 and 4-13 in Mountain West, while the Wolf Pack improved to 25-5 and 14-2 in league play.
Nevada led by two at the halftime break, but this one became a back-and-forth game in the second half. CSU grabbed the lead twice and tied it three times, however, the Wolf Pack used a 10-0 run over 2:02 to push the margin to 12 with 6:03 remaining in the contest. CSU got it back down to six in the final two minutes of the game but Caleb Martin’s triple with 1:33 to play put the game out of reach.
The Rams came out with a much higher energy level, battling in the opening 20 minutes, with one tie and six lead changes. Nevada built as much as an eight-point lead twice in the first half but CSU got it down to as few as one twice in the final minutes before going into the locker room down two at 40-38. CSU shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the first half, including connecting on six three pointers, and led the battle of the boards 21-12. Nevada’s slim two-point lead at the break was from the charity stripe, as the Wolf Pack were 6-of-7 while the Rams hit all four attempts.
CSU shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the floor including 40.6 percent 13-of-32) from the three-point line. Nevada finished at 42.9 percent (33-of-77) on field goal attempts and 37.0 percent (10-of-27) outside the arc. CSU was solid at the line at 85.7 percent (12-of-14) at the free throw line. CSU held a slight advantage on the boards, 43-42, but turned it over 17 times as compared to seven for the Wolf Pack.
The Rams were led by junior guard Prentiss Nixon with 27 points, his second double-figure scoring and first 20-point game since his returning from injury seven games ago, and a career-high 10 rebounds for his first CSU double-double. Redshirt-sophomore Anthony Bonner had 19 points, while redshirt-sophomore center Nico Carvacho recorded a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds along with seven assists. Nevada was led by Caleb Martin’s 25 points, with Jordan Caroline adding 19 and Cody Martin chipping in 17.
Next up, Colorado State plays its final regular season contest against New Mexico, Wed., Feb. 28 at 7 pm MT, recognizing Che Bob on Senior Night before the game. The contest between the Rams and Lobos will be televised on AT&T SportsNet, with Drew Goodman on the play-by-play and Sed Bonner handling analysis. The game will air across the Colorado State Sports Network (along with online at CSURams.com), with Brian Roth and Adam Nigon on the call. The game will also have live audio on CSURams.com in partnership with SIDEARM Sports and live stats on CSURams.com. The audio broadcast of the game is also available through the TuneIn app, available on all platforms.
