- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 370,777
- Reaction score
- 43
LAS VEGAS — Nique Clifford turned to the Colorado State fan section and threw both arms up in a flex.
The crowd roared back at their star player.
It was a Colorado State men’s basketball party at Thomas & Mack Center for the first 30 minutes as the Rams put on a big Mountain West semifinal start before holding on for a win.
The Aggies made a late push, but the Rams won 83-72 to advance to Saturday’s Mountain West title game.
Here are takeaways from the game.
The first matchup between these two teams saw Utah State (26-7) blitz the Rams (24-9) to go up by 20 points within the first 10 minutes in Logan. That bolstered the Aggies to a win, but CSU made it a game with a big second-half.
CSU then won by 27 points (93-66) when the teams met in Fort Collins.
The Rams had Utah State discombobulated early again in this one as CSU’s defense dominated and the offense was flying.
CSU shot 64% in the first half and poured in 49 points to take a 19-point lead (49-30) to half.
That meant over a stretch of 80 minutes (second half in Logan, full game in Fort Collins and first half in Las Vegas) the Rams scored 197 points on Utah State. It’s split over parts of three games, but that’s a pace of 98.5 points per game.
Clifford’s flex early in the second half was part of an 8-0 push to further grow the lead.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw the Rams continue to dominant as the lead grew to as many as 28 points (64-36). With 10 minutes to go it was a 27-point lead.
But whistles were coming with frequency, the game lost flow and Utah State made its big push. The Aggies had a 13-0 run and the huge Utah State student section came down from its perch in the second deck to the first to make a din of noise.
Utah State was able to cut the lead down to 11 (75-64) with 3 minutes to go.
Then after a couple CSU turnovers it was trimmed all the way to seven (76-69) but Utah State never got closer.
An ugly finish, but no one apologizes for semifinal wins and it's now nine wins in a row for the Rams and victories in 13 of their last 15 games.
Clifford has an argument to be the playing the best individual basketball of anyone in the country.
He's simply dominant and Friday was no different. Clifford shot 7-13 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range. Clifford scored 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished six assists.
Kyan Evans tied a career-high with four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
Jalen Lake starter Thursday's quarterfinal 0-7 from the floor but had a huge bounce-back. The senior was hot early with a 3-3 start and he scored 14 points.
It wasn't just the stars, though. All 10 Rams who played scored. Ethan Morton scored seven. Nikola Djapa played 13 minutes (even starting the second half in place of Rashaan Mbemba) and scored six points.
The 20 points from the bench was more than enough to augment the stars.
Next up is a chance at a championship and an automatic ticket into March Madness.
No. 5 seed Boise State stunned No. 1 New Mexico in a dramatic first semifinal Friday night.
Now the No. 2 Rams join the Broncos in the title match, making their first conference title game appearance since 2017. CSU's only Mountain West title is the 2003 tournament title.
Those two just played in the final game of the regular season, with Clifford scoring 36 points in a road win at Boise.
The title game is at 3 p.m. Pacific/4 p.m. Mountain on Saturday, March 16 on CBS.
Saturday's winner is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State beats Utah State to make Mountain West title game
Continue reading...
The crowd roared back at their star player.
It was a Colorado State men’s basketball party at Thomas & Mack Center for the first 30 minutes as the Rams put on a big Mountain West semifinal start before holding on for a win.
The Aggies made a late push, but the Rams won 83-72 to advance to Saturday’s Mountain West title game.
Here are takeaways from the game.
Colorado State with another dominant half over Utah State
The first matchup between these two teams saw Utah State (26-7) blitz the Rams (24-9) to go up by 20 points within the first 10 minutes in Logan. That bolstered the Aggies to a win, but CSU made it a game with a big second-half.
CSU then won by 27 points (93-66) when the teams met in Fort Collins.
The Rams had Utah State discombobulated early again in this one as CSU’s defense dominated and the offense was flying.
CSU shot 64% in the first half and poured in 49 points to take a 19-point lead (49-30) to half.
That meant over a stretch of 80 minutes (second half in Logan, full game in Fort Collins and first half in Las Vegas) the Rams scored 197 points on Utah State. It’s split over parts of three games, but that’s a pace of 98.5 points per game.
Utah State’s late comeback bid
Clifford’s flex early in the second half was part of an 8-0 push to further grow the lead.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw the Rams continue to dominant as the lead grew to as many as 28 points (64-36). With 10 minutes to go it was a 27-point lead.
But whistles were coming with frequency, the game lost flow and Utah State made its big push. The Aggies had a 13-0 run and the huge Utah State student section came down from its perch in the second deck to the first to make a din of noise.
Utah State was able to cut the lead down to 11 (75-64) with 3 minutes to go.
Then after a couple CSU turnovers it was trimmed all the way to seven (76-69) but Utah State never got closer.
An ugly finish, but no one apologizes for semifinal wins and it's now nine wins in a row for the Rams and victories in 13 of their last 15 games.
Nique Clifford stars, depth shines
Clifford has an argument to be the playing the best individual basketball of anyone in the country.
He's simply dominant and Friday was no different. Clifford shot 7-13 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range. Clifford scored 26 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished six assists.
Kyan Evans tied a career-high with four 3-pointers and scored 14 points.
Jalen Lake starter Thursday's quarterfinal 0-7 from the floor but had a huge bounce-back. The senior was hot early with a 3-3 start and he scored 14 points.
It wasn't just the stars, though. All 10 Rams who played scored. Ethan Morton scored seven. Nikola Djapa played 13 minutes (even starting the second half in place of Rashaan Mbemba) and scored six points.
The 20 points from the bench was more than enough to augment the stars.
Mountain West championship and NCAA Tournament berth on the line
Next up is a chance at a championship and an automatic ticket into March Madness.
No. 5 seed Boise State stunned No. 1 New Mexico in a dramatic first semifinal Friday night.
Now the No. 2 Rams join the Broncos in the title match, making their first conference title game appearance since 2017. CSU's only Mountain West title is the 2003 tournament title.
Those two just played in the final game of the regular season, with Clifford scoring 36 points in a road win at Boise.
The title game is at 3 p.m. Pacific/4 p.m. Mountain on Saturday, March 16 on CBS.
Saturday's winner is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State beats Utah State to make Mountain West title game
Continue reading...
