FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Two teams with varied preferred methods of play.
Colorado State opts for some tempo, while Saint Mary's takes a more physical, half-court approach. While the majority of Saturday was in the Gaels' favor, the Rams just did it better. Better defense. Better half-court offense.
And what the Rams preferred most of all, a 74-58 victory in front of a crowd of 7,004 at Moby Arena and a 9-0 start to the season. It was the type of game which the team had circled on the schedule when the date was released.
It was the type of win which leads a coach to step into the hallway, give a triple fist pump and shout, 'heck yeah,' or something to that effect.
"I thought we'd play well. I wasn't concerned about our guys being ready to compete, but that's a heck of an outfit over there now," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Look at who they've beat and who they've competed with. They're used to playing in these kind of games and environments, so I was expecting a game that was going to do down to the last couple of possessions. That's what it is.
"Guys, it was just one of those games. Our guys were ready to play and I thought we were the aggressors the entire game. I thought early in the game we matched their physicality, too. I thought early in the game we were ready to meet that and we stuck our nose in there, and I thought that set the tone for our group."
The moment was one the Rams have wanted for a while. Part of it was knowing how good the Gaels were. They came in 8-1 and did it not against a soft schedule, but with wins over Notre Dame and Oregon and a tough loss to Wisconsin. SMC was not a soft team.
And while the Rams tried not to look back, they did remember an awful shooting night at Saint Mary's a year ago, hitting just 25 percent from the field and making only two of 15 3-point attempts.
They approached the moment perfectly, too.
Adam Thistlewood opened with a 3, then David Roddy followed with one and the Rams would never trail in the game. There were a few good spurts throughout the game, which helped them build a double-digit lead in the first half, energizing a crowd which was lined up 90 minutes prior to tip to get inside.
"It was a little bit tough, for sure, but we knew if we wanted to perform our best, we needed to kind of calm the nerves a little bit, and there was going to be enough energy in the gym, you didn't need to juice yourself up or anything like that," guard Isaiah Stevens said. "I feel we had the right mindset going in. We were calm, but we were really motivated to go out there and perform that, and we did that."
The Rams did it grinding out sets in the half court and smartly moving in transition when they could. Nothing was forced, and some things were simply spectacular.
Take the Stevens move, where in traffic he went behind his back, stepped back on the wing and put up a shot which bounced off the rim three times. After such a spectacular ball-handling display, it just had to fall.
"Had to. Man, I honestly don't know exactly what I did," Stevens said. "I heard it looked pretty cool from my teammates, but that's definitely something I'm going to want to go see when I get out of here."
This is a team which deserves attention, and the impressive win over a quality opponent puts a bigger stamp on the notion. The Rams shared the ball very well and shot 53 percent in the game. They were active on defense, forcing 15 turnovers and creating nine steals, a mixture of on-ball pressure and great hands. They defended the arc, allowing very few clean looks from deep as the Gaels' were just 4-of-21 from long range.
The second half was just an extension, as the Rams came out quick with Dischon Thomas scoring the first six points, first on a traditional three-point play, then hitting a 3-pointer. Roddy, who struggled early, took over late to finish with a game-best 19 points, 14 of which came in the final 20 minutes.
"It's a testament to our team. We really don't focus too much on what they do, we just try to do what we do at a great level," he said, now sitting four points shy of 1,000 in his career. "That's just our main focus. They're a great defensive team, I think top five in the country. To get out in transition the way we did and to share the ball and score the way we did, everybody was getting scores. I'm really proud of the team by the way we played."
Stevens had 12 of his 14 by the break, John Tonje added 12 and four other Rams had at least six points. Normally on the surface, in a game between two talented teams, Medved would have been concerned with his point guard was in foul trouble in the second half, and he had to put him on the bench to protect him.
Not that it mattered. The Gaels never made a run, and the Ram continued to push the advantage, building it up to as much as 21 with 2:50 remaining.
"Man, it would have been hard for me to ask our guys to play much better than they did today," Medved said. "The crowd was unbelievable, and I thought they had a huge impact as well."
Definitely a performance worthy of a quick wail and a round of fist pumps.
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December 05, 2021 at 07:18AM
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The Dish: Rams Live Up to the Moment - Colorado State University Athletics - CSURams.com
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