LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Right on cue, they rallied.
After spending most of the second half stuck in the mud, Colorado State found a spark and were forced into some urgency by the clock. After spending the middle part of the half missing chances to cut into a six-point deficit numerous times, the Rams caught fire.
A bit on offense, some on defense. An offensive rebound, a few clutch 3s for dramatic effect and forcing a few turnovers.
It just wasn't enough at the end, where early mistakes proved to be too much to overcome in a 63-58 loss to San Diego State on Friday night at the Thomas and Mack Center.
The No. 23 Rams will now wait to find out where this season takes them next. It will definitely be the NCAA Tournament, with the seed, site and opponent to be announced 4 p.m. on Sunday.
That was the main target of the team this year, after just being left out a year ago and making a run in the NIT. It wasn't all they wanted, however, and that did leave a bit of a sting.
"There's a lot. We had two opportunities to win – the regular season and the tournament championship – we came up short," Roddy said. "That doesn't take away the fact that we're going to be seeing our banner on Sunday. Like coach said, we're just going to flush it and focus on whoever we have to play. This season has just been an amazing journey, ups and downs as well as so much growth, personally as well as with the team, so I couldn't be more proud of the way they played."
Colorado State had a few crucial keys to be followed, and most of them were focused on the defensive end. Make the Aztecs move with the ball; don't let them catch and shoot. At the very least, keep things even in paint, by keeping San Diego State's offensive rebounds to a minimum and don't give up easy buckets inside.
They missed on all of them at certain points, mostly in the first half, and not for long stretches, by any means. Just enough to where it left a mark.
"I thought early we had too many miscues on rotations, ball-screen coverages, appropriate help," CSU coach Niko Medved said. "Then you give them credit. Some of those guys, Aguek Arop made a 3 for them, Trey Pulliam made a big 3, but we made too many mistakes. We give up an offensive rebound on a free throw and leave Matt Bradley wide open. We came off of strong-side help on Adam Seiko and gave their shooters open 3s that way, and then too many easy baskets in the paint.
"I thought we tightened up as the game went on, but I thought maybe we let some of those guys get into a bit of a rhythm. All in all, we did a lot of good things tonight, we just didn't do them for long enough periods of time to get a win."
This wasn't a night where one player cut loose and had a career game. No, on a night when San Diego State's lone dynamic offensive player –Bradley – was limited to just five points, the Aztecs' offense was a sum of its parts.
Nine of them scored, two of them barely in double figures. Trey Pulliam first, finishing with 11, Adam Seiko late with 10, needing free throws at the end with the Rams in foul mode. But if they had an open, uncontested look, they took it and made it more often than not.
It was all enough against Colorado State, which had to rely on the two big guns, David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens for the majority of the game. Roddy scored 22, Stevens 21, combining to go 16-of-27 from the field, but the rest of the team was 6-of-19. For long stretch in the middle of the second half, the Rams were staring at a more-than-manageable deficit of six points.
The problem was they kept staring at it. Be it a turnover or a missed shot, the Rams couldn't follow a defensive stop with a basket. So the lead stayed between six and eight for what seemed like forever.
"You definitely start to feel it a little bit, but at the same time, man, if we have the ball in our possession, we have the ability to go make a play," Stevens said. "We just weren't able to make those at the clip we needed tonight, but we'll look at the film, we'll learn from it and we'll grow from it to see how to attack those situations better."
Then the Rams took it five with 2:23 to go, then again with 1:29 remaining. A 3 at 1:18 from Stevens made it four. Then it was 57-55 when Roddy threw down a second-chance dunk with :54 on the clock. Stevens again connected from 3 with 18 seconds left to make it 60-58, but Seiko made three free throws in the time remaining for the final margin as the Rams misfired from deep late.
Not the result they wanted from the night, nor the tournament. Not even the regular season. But the Rams will move past it, and they are definitely moving on toward a big goal they did reach.
The NCAA field of 68. March Madness.
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March 12, 2022 at 04:32PM
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