Colorado State men’s basketball is looking like a team that understands how it wins again.
The Rams’ 83-74 win over San Diego State Saturday extended their streak to five games, but the shift felt less about the number and more about the significance of the matchup. There was a steadiness to how they handled pressure, how they absorbed runs and how they kept returning to the same things that have slowly shaped this stretch.
Early on, though, the game didn’t suggest separation.
Shots weren’t falling, open looks stayed open a little too long and SDSU traps forced CSU into the kind of possessions that had defined parts of conference play. The difference was that the Rams did not drift away from what they were trying to do but instead stayed inside it long enough for the game to meet them there.
By the second half, that patience showed up in the places it usually does when CSU is playing well.
Carey Booth attacked space instead of waiting for it, realizing the growth the journeyed forward has gained. Brandon Rechsteiner’s shooting loosened the floor after a somewhat inconsistent start. And Jase Butler moved through late possessions like someone who’s been given responsibility for a while now.
“We told them that you (have) got to be the aggressor coming into this game,” head coach Ali Farokhmanesh said. “And I thought from the very jump we were the aggressors. And I thought Carey Booth kind of set that tone. The last time we played, we were running away from the traps and kind of leaving each other on islands. And tonight, I thought we really ran to the fight.”
The idea of running toward pressure instead of away from it has followed this team through the second half of conference play. It surfaced after the stretch where the Rams sat near the bottom of the standings and needed something that felt repeatable instead of reactive.
And it seemed like simplifying the focus created clarity.
Physicality showed up first, then confidence, then the trust in teammates when things got hectic. Saturday reflected that progression in a game where Josh Pascarelli remained out and Kyle Jorgensen took a backseat with seven points.
CSU finished shooting 42% from deep after starting the game 1-of-10 beyond the arc while getting to the free throw line 29 times against the No. 1 defense in the Mountain West. The numbers mattered, as the team outperformed SDSU in a number of ways, but the manner felt more telling. The Rams were moving through their offense in the first half rather than still searching for it after the break
“It’s obviously great, like you said, they said we don’t lose an orange and having that to live up to,” Booth said. “And even if shots weren’t falling at the beginning, we stay with the same mindset. And it helped out. It helped us out, and it paid out in the end.”
Booth’s performance fit the broader theme.
His career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shots came within the flow of the offense rather than outside of it, which has been one of the more noticeable changes in his season. At 6-foot-10, the physical tools have always been visible for him. The definition of his place in the offense has taken longer to settle.
But that comfort showed outside of his first-half highlight jam, too.
Quick decisions against traps, cuts that arrived a beat earlier, rebounds that extended possessions. The fast break dunk that lifted the arena was loud, but the quieter possessions around it were also important.
“I always believed in myself, and I didn’t really care what anyone had to say, like whether I was playing or not,” Booth said. “So I knew once I got the opportunity, I was going to be able to prove myself, as you said. So it’s just great, like having a staff that believes in me, being with teammates that trust me.”
Butler’s night carried a different type of tone but significant impact all the same.
His own career-high 25 points leaned heavily on the free throw line, which has become one of the clearest indicators of how CSU is playing. When the Rams are aggressive, Butler’s game stretches naturally toward those moments, but he also shot 4-of-6 from deep as well.
That aggression hasn’t always been constant this season, which makes the recent stretch feel notable. CSU is not relying solely on perimeter shotmaking to sustain offense, and that shift changes how games look late.
“I think honestly, we’re just figuring out how to kind of take advantage of that,” Butler said. “Like, as you can see, our flow is getting a lot better with teams that are pressuring us, and I think it was evident today. So I think (we will) just keep sharing the ball (to) like whoever’s night it is, like we’re all happy for. So I think that’s the best part about this team.”
SDSU made its runs, because it always does.
The Rams responded without the hurried possessions that have defined some earlier losses, and that emotional steadiness felt like the real separator. Possessions stretched longer, decisions slowed down and the game never fully tilted.
Those moments have been learning points throughout conference play. Ball pressure has exposed them, the first matchup with SDSU did too and even in the UNLV win, the ending felt fragile before Butler’s free throws settled it.
Now the responses feel more familiar to the group itself.
“I think honestly, it was probably a blessing in disguise for us, facing a lot of that early and kind of going through the lumps,” Butler said. “And we always kind of kept saying in all the interviews, like, I’m gonna be playing our best basketball (at the) end of the season. So it’s nice to see we’re kind of all figuring out right now.”
What that means in March remains open.
The MW rarely allows momentum to hold for long, but still, the identity looks clearer than it did a month ago.
The Rams are attacking more consistently. They are handling pressure with fewer empty possessions. Different players are setting the tone on different nights, which was always the roster’s promise even when the results lagged behind it.
CSU looks like a team that knows what it is trying to be, and lately that has been enough to keep moving forward.
The Rams will take their next step at 7 p.m. Tuesday back in Moby against Fresno State.
“To me, you always have some doubts creep in your head,” Farokhmanesh said. “And for them to fight that off and stay together and really figure out, like, ‘No, this, this is we’re going in the right direction.’ The wins and losses might not be there quite yet, but the way we’re going about things is in the right direction. It just takes time.”
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Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.
