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Colorado State rallied from a 15-point deficit and escaped with a 59-52 victory at San Jose State, Dec. 30. With their first road win of the season, the Rams improved to 8-7 on the year and 1-1 in Mountain West action while the Spartans fell to 3-10 and 0-2 in the league.
Trailing by 11 at the break and by 14 after the opening possession of the second half, CSU kept the gap from growing during the first 11 minutes of the second half. Down 10 with just under nine to play, the Rams finally caught fire from the three-point arc, with three pointers on three straight possessions, with sophomore guard Lorenzo Jenkins kicking it off on a feed from junior guard Prentiss Nixon, followed by a Nixon triple from redshirt-sophomore guard Robbie Berwick and then Jenkins again to make it a one-point game. After a SJSU layup, CSU finally tied it on a Nixon triple and then took the lead for good on a pair of Berwick free throws with 5:31 to play, capping a 14-2 run over a 3:23 span. While the margin shrunk to one, CSU finished off the win with four made free throws in the final minute of play.
San Jose State took the lead from the outset on a three by Noah Baumann and built the lead to as many as 15 in the opening half. CSU struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes, going just 6-of-27 from the field and 1-of-11 from the three-point line, including not hitting a field goal for the final 9:34 of the opening stanza. The Rams hung in the game by forcing nine Spartan turnovers, though the hosts still built their 11-point halftime lead by shooting 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from the field in the first half.
Colorado State finished the game at 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from the three-point line. CSU was also 76.5 percent (13-of-17) at the free throw line. San Jose State finished at 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the field and 35.0 percent (7-of-20) behind the arc. The Spartans won the battle of the boards 37-29, but CSU held a slight advantage in second chance points, 9-3. The Rams also forced 23 Spartan turnovers and turned them into a 26-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
Nixon led all scorers with 19 points while adding two assists and two steals. Redshirt-sophomore center Nico Carvacho was the other Ram in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds and three steals. SJSU was led by Ryan Welage with 16 points, while Baumann chipped in 14.