The Dish: Rams Stare Down Another Deficit in Victory - CSURams.com

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By: Mike Brohard

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Maybe this is their thing.
 
Comebacks. Home, road, doesn't matter. Double-digit deficits do not scare Colorado State.
 
Actually, Isaiah Stevens would prefer an alternate method.
 
"I would like it not to be," Stevens said. "I would much rather get the lead and put it away, but teams at this level are really good, and sometimes it's just going to be going their way a little bit, so we just have to buckle down on the defensive end and find a way. We have a lot of good teams in this conference. That probably won't be the last time we see a game like this."
 
UNLV held a 13-point lead with 8:52 remaining in Thursday's game at Moby Arena, but the Rams didn't sulk. They were down seven with 4:01 remaining, but wouldn't cave. Not after winning at San Diego State down 26 in the first half, down seven with time winding down.
 
Again, they didn't flinch. Stevens wouldn't let them. Neither would David Roddy.
 
Colorado State coach Niko Medved was clear, you don't give back wins in college basketball, and for the Rams, the 74-71 victory in Mountain West play was definitely a keeper. For whatever reason, the Rams have been slow to develop early in game. On this particular evening, Medved was quick to credit a UNLV team which hadn't played in a month and came out with some surprising looks.
 
Also, credit the Rams. They do know how to finish with flair.
 
"I mean, if we start digging holes and trying to come back … Again, you have to give UNLV a lot of credit," Medved said, his team now 7-2, 3-1 in conference. "They've been off, and they came back and I thought they played really, really determined.
 
"We found a way to get it done, but this was a battle. This is what we expected."
 
Roddy, who struggled to get anything to fall inside early, made two key bucks in the paint late. The first – an old-fashioned three-point play – gave the Rams their first lead since early in the first half. The second gave the Rams the lead for good at 72-71, then Stevens capped off a tremendous final 20 minutes by hitting a pair of free throws to ice the 74-71 Mountain West win.
 
Roddy can muscle with anybody, and he's used to drawing traffic. Early on, he was outside the arc making three of his first four 3-point attempts to get the team off to a good start. In fact, the Rams shot great behind the arc in the first half, it was the paint where they struggled. They didn't' make their first shot inside the arc until just 4:25 remained in the first half;  hit their second off a circus drive to the hoop by Stevens with 1 tick remaining in the half.
 
But Roddy is also used to making those tough, physical baskets close to the paint. Those that didn't fall early didn't affect him late.
 
Not a bit.
 
"It's just sticking to being true to who I am," he said.
 
Stevens took a similar approach. He left the court at the break knowing he could do more, so he did. It was a mindset, as much as anything, and he stepped on the clutch and put his game into high gear. It wasn't always driving the lane, though he did that well. It was also hitting the occasional 3-pointer to provide a spark.
 
The sophomore point guard scored 18 of his game-best 25 points in the second half, the result of that quality pep talk.
 
"I personally felt that their coverages on me were a little bit different than anticipated, based off the film we had watched," Stevens said. "Because they hadn't played in so long, they were able to make a lot of adjustments. They did that. They kinda had me a little stagnant there for a while. The second half, just talking to my coaches, asking them what they see, they're asking me what I see. At the end of the day, just be more aggressive. Whether that's creating for myself or somebody else."
 
Roddy finished with 18, but the duo had plenty of help, some of which was obvious to the casual eye.
 
Take for instance the return of Kendle Moore. He missed the back end of the San Diego State doubleheader, but came back energized just when the Rams needed him. He scored 15, hitting 5-of-8 from deep. He hit one right after Stevens hit a pair. He hit another when he stole an inbound pass, lost the handle and said "oh well" when he stroked another from deep.
 
There was Dischon Thomas, who scored 10 off the bench. There was John Tonje, who while he didn't score, made life tough on UNLV's Bryce Hamilton late, forcing him into tough shots. He made a bunch early – he did score 23 – but he missed them late as the Rebels misfired on six of their final seven attempts.
 
If you need a comeback, it all matters. The big stuff and the little stuff.
 
But mostly the heart. Medved's is taking a beating right now. Really, the Rams don't want to make comebacks "their thing." No, their thing is all about winning, and right now, comebacks are just a necessary evil.
 
"We've been through it a lot. We've had that experience, and we have great kids and great coaches," Roddy said. "They keep us in the game all the time, tell us just to play possession by possession. It's not a 25- or 30-minute game, it's a 40- minute game. We just can't count ourselves out until that final buzzer."
 

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