After their amazing, 2-0 start, something was different with Colorado State on Wednesday night. They began their game against Montana State slowly, missing a ton of 3-pointers and failing to move the ball well.

Those themes continued throughout the game as CSU hit a mere 20 percent of their shots from beyond the arc and tallied only nine assists, but still found a way to beat the hungry Bobcats 81-77 and improve to 3-0.

And, unlike the blowouts in their first two games in the Niko Medved Era, CSU found themselves in a back-and-forth battle, partly because they didn’t share the ball very well and partly because they weren’t nearly as deadly from downtown. In the first half, Colorado State shot a mere 23.5 percent from outside the arc and had only six assists, leading narrowly 34-32.

The Rams found themselves in a battle, gaining the lead at the break with the help of a 10-2 run late in the first half, and that fight continued and intensified in the second half.

Montana State pushed their lead to six, at 52-46, thanks to all-out effort and great shooting by Tyler Hall. But the Rams stormed back to tie it up at 53-53 with grit, and Adam Thistlewood’s euro step on a fast break created “Moby Madness” for the first time all year long.

But the Bobcats fought back, with the help of Hall, who knocked down three straight 3-pointers to push the road team back ahead 62-57 with 8:15 to go. The Rams trailed for most of the second half, as they were not only out-shot but out-rebounded by the Bobcats.

Finally, J.D. Paige, who led the Rams in scoring with 23 in the game, carried CSU and drove the rack for an explosive and-one to tie the game up at 69-69 with just under three minutes to play. Down the stretch, Anthony Masinton-Bonner’s huge 3-pointer pushed the Rams ahead at 74-71 with 1:21 to go and never trailed again.

Colorado State out-lasted the hungry Bobcats, earning their third straight win in a needed test early in the new Era.

“I thought they showed fight,” Medved said of his team. “Fought their way through some adversity tonight against a team that was ready to play. You could tell Montana State was starting to get a lot of confidence and really feeling like they could beat us. I think you really learn from these situations.”

“We’re a young team,” Nico Carvacho said of the win. “Me, Jeremiah (Paige) and AB (Bonner) had to step up…We fought through it.”

Paige finished with a team-high 23 points which tied his career-high and Nico Carvacho had his third straight double-double of 15 and 13. The Rams were terrible from downtown,  making only 6-30 attempts and were tied 33-33 in rebounding against a smaller Montana State team.

Notes:

Bonner was injured just before halftime, twisting his ankle and he was helped off the court and into the locker room. Bonner started the second half, though, and gave his teammates an emotional lift.

Hall played lights-out for Montana State, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-20 shooting, though he fouled out late.

After enjoying 21 assists in their first two games, the Rams only had nine in Wednesday’s win.