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For the first time in the last five meetings, the home team got the victory in the hoops version of the Rocky Mountain Showdown as Colorado State picked up its second straight win over Colorado, 72-63. With the victory, the Rams improved to 4-4 on the year while giving the visiting Buffaloes their first loss of the year, dropping CU to 6-1.
Leading 38-35 at the halftime break, the home Rams gave up the first bucket of the half but then went on a 9-2 run to build the lead to 47-39 five minutes into the final period. Colorado State continued to build on that advantage over the next seven-plus minutes, capped by redshirt-sophomore guard Anthony Bonner‘s three, to go up 63-46 with 7:40 remaining. CU would not go away, cutting it down to just a four-point margin in the final minute, but the Rams connected on five of six free-throw attempts in that span to seal the win.
The opening 20 minutes of the game was a battle, as the game was tied five times and the lead changed hands nine times. CSU built as much as a seven-point lead but CU chipped back into it and took a 33-32 lead with 1:38 to play in the half. A conventional three-point play by redshirt-sophomore Lorenzo Jenkins put the Rams up two. The Buffs tied it on a pair of Tyler Bey free throws, but junior guard Prentiss Nixon canned a deep triple with just a few ticks on the clock to put the Rams up 38-35 at the intermission, a lead they would never relinquish.
“We had better shot selections,” Nixon said, “and for the most part, I feel like we have had pretty good shot selections, but just did’t make them. Tonight, they fell early enough. Today was the most physical [on the defensive end] we’ve played all season. I think the stats show it, as I think we out rebounded them, had more steals, had more blocks, got to the 50-50 ball on the ground first. We just had to out-physical them.”
For the game, Colorado State shot 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor, including 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from the three-point line. Colorado was 39.3 percent (24-of-61) on field goal attempts and just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) on threes. One difference was the charity stripe, as the Rams were 21-of-29 (72.4 percent), with the Buffs going to the line just 13 times, hitting seven (53.8 percent).
“We agreed this is how we have to play,” head coach Larry Eustachy said postgame. “We have to push the ball up the court. We have to get it reversed a few times and make the opponent guard us, and we did that for the most part. But we said we weren’t going to come off certain guys on one side. We’re figuring it out. We need to get the ball down low, we don’t need to settle for jump shots.
The Rams were led by Nixon and redshirt-junior J.D. Paige with 16 points each, with Nixon hitting four threes and Paige going 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Senior Che Bob chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while junior Deion James added eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Redshirt-sophomore Nico Carvacho also had eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots. The Buffs had two players in double figures, as McKinley Wright IV had a game-high 19 points and Dominque Collier tallied 10.
Next Colorado State will go back on the road to conclude its toughest four-game stretch of the season with a pair of games, starting at Arkansas, Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. MT.
Featured Image Credit: Javon Harris