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Colorado State couldn’t rebound from a slow start and dropped its final regular season game in Moby Arena to New Mexico, 108-87, Feb. 28. The loss drops the Rams to an 11-20 record overall, including a 4-14 record in Mountain West play, while the Lobos improved to 16-14 overall, and 11-6 in league action.
New Mexico started quick with two straight triples and never trailed in the contest, taking a 21-5 lead with less than six minutes gone in the game. Behind a stellar 71.4 percent field goal percentage (20-of-28) in the opening 20 minutes, the Lobos built as much as a 30-point advantage and entered the break with a 58-32 lead. Colorado State battled back in the second half, eventually outscoring the visitors, 55-50, but could never get the difference under 15 the remainder of the contest.
On the night, Colorado State shot 50.0 percent (31-of-62) from the field but just 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the three-point line. New Mexico finished with an impressive 60.7 percent (37-of-61) from the floor, with 30 points from beyond the arc on 33.3 percent shooting (10-of-30). The Lobos would hold the rebounding advantage at 37-27 and outscored CSU in bench points, 54-24.
Colorado State had four players reach double-digit scoring figures, led by junior guard Prentiss Nixon‘s 27 to go along with a career-high five steals. Redshirt-sophomore guard Raquan Mitchell tallied a career-best 21 points off the bench on 7-of-12 field goals and 6-of-7 at the free throw line. Junior forward Deion James chipped in 12 points, while redshirt-sophomore center Nico Carvacho added a game-high 11 boards. New Mexico had seven players reach double-digit points, with forward Joe Furstinger leading the way with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Colorado State will enter the upcoming Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship as the No. 10 seed and play in the first round against the No. 7 seed (TBD) on Wed., March 6 at 2:30 p.m. MT at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The contest will be televised on the Mountain West Network. 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. CSU Sports Network Broadcasts can be also accessed on mobile devices through the Tune In app (free app – available on all Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry and Amazon Kindle devices) – once app has downloaded, then search “Colorado St. Rams Sports Network” in the app for the games and coaches’ show broadcasts.