Larry Eustachy: Winner, tough-nosed coach, a lover of defense, rebounding and Diet Coke.

Larry Eustachy: Dancer?

On Sunday evening, Eustachy’s Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team came back and defeated the New Mexico State Aggies, to start off the green and gold’s season 1-0. CSU’s head coach was impressed with the 64-61 victory, saying, “I don’t think we’ve ever played a team that good, early.”

Without a doubt, the NMSU Aggies took it to the Rams, leading for nearly the entire first half until Colorado State made a concerted effort to attack the rim relentlessly coming out of the break.

“We made that an emphasis at halftime, to get to the rim,” Che Bob, a JUCO transfer forward said after the ugly victory, which saw CSU shoot a mere 26 percent from the floor in the first half.

But that aggressive offense led to more scoring inside, more free throw makes after the break and a dominant rebounding performance (47-35).

After the win, the man in black said, “We were dancin’ in the locker room. I made them put Johnny Cash on. They said, ‘Coach, is it OK if we play music?’ I said, ‘Yeah, as long as it’s Johnny Cash.’ It’ll probably be on YouTube.”

Well, thanks to the head coach posting it and his forward Kimani Jackson for recording it, we now have visual evidence of these dance moves:

https://twitter.com/LarryEustachy/status/798198325371486208

“I feel like I can do that with these guys,” Eustachy continued. “And then bust their fannies tomorrow morning in practice.”

After the season-opening win, Eustachy was in mid-season form, joking with the media, and he was in a lighter-than-usual mood. He was so happy with the gritty, grind-it-out win that he talked of possibly expanding his defense to play some full-court press and even zone, things we haven’t seen since he came to Fort Collins in 2012.

This defensive-first team — which is devoid a superstar scorer with Gian Clavell’s suspension — is exactly what Eustachy loves from his players. Bob, Braden Koelliker and Nico Carvacho bruising opponents in the lane while rebounding the ball like they did Sunday night is exactly what the Rams must do all year long to win on a consistent basis.

The Rams’ next test comes Wednesday night as they host the Fort Lewis Skyhawks at 7 p.m. MT at Moby Arena.