Kyle Jorgensen’s breakout lifts CSU men’s basketball past Omaha

When Kyle Jorgensen arrived at Colorado State’s men’s basketball’s program, he was still adjusting as a first-year, learning the next level of the game and playing in a system with Nique Clifford, one of the best Rams to ever do it.

But he spent that year developing under former head coach Niko Medved and current head coach Ali Farokhmanesh to learn how to get to the right spots and how to discern touch from physicality.

“I’ve always been a pretty good finisher, but, you know, it was kind of that strength aspect that hasn’t been there,” Jorgensen said. “That offseason really helped with just my confidence overall too, being able to go to work every day and just trust myself.”

And Jorgensen put it all together in a career game against Omaha Sunday, helping his team to a 97-74 victory. Combining smooth post moves with nine rebounds and seven free throws, he was the beneficiary of what Farokhmanesh said he believes is a strength of this year’s team.

“Last year, we kind of got stuck in the situation, kind of, if Nique or Jalen Lake didn’t play well, it was going to be tough for us to win,” Farokhmanesh said. “We don’t necessarily have to rely on one person to carry us through a game. And that’s the beauty of this team. Every night, (it is) going to be someone different. And those teams are harder to guard. That was the team that I played for in Northern Iowa.”

That beauty was on full display near halftime when Jorgensen brought up the ball and motioned Jase Butler around a screen to set himself up for an easy switch and pop for just one of his two 3-pointers of the night.

The team looked bought into the idea of sharing the wealth, and guard Josh Pascarelli was also key in downshifting to allow others to succeed against the Mavericks.

After the Mavericks and Rams exchanged blows and Pascarelli cashed in on three back-to-back 3’s in the first two minutes of the contest, it looked like the transfer guard was in for a big game.

But he made the right reads and finished the rest of the game with just six more attempts.

“Josh is the ultimate team guy,” Farokhmanesh said. “I’m actually trying to get him to be more of a killer, because he is. He’s talented, but it’s very similar to Nique when he first got here. Where Nique was, at times (during) that first year … (he would) just not bet in any bad way, but just make the right play, make the right decision, make the next read. And that’s how Josh plays.”

That mindset seems to have embodied the Rams so far, which is a credit to Farokhmanesh’s recruiting, as CSU brought in a mix of physical talent and players flexible enough to adopt that mentality. Notably, this year’s roster boasts six players standing at 6-foot-8 or taller, adding height compared to the 2024-2025 season.

And while Jorgensen popped Sunday, it was Brandon Rechsteiner and Pascarelli topping the scoring charts for the Rams in their first game of the season against Incarnate Word.

With so much production coming from different spots, CSU separated itself from UNO as the game wore on.

The Rams finished at 55% from the field, hit 11 3’s off 38% shooting and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points. They doubled the Mavericks on the glass, 43 to 21, and lived at the free throw line with 33 attempts.

“I guess everyone (is) involved,” Pascarelli said. “It’s not just one person trying to iso or anything. And when we’re all pretty unselfish, you see how we scored 98 (points in) the first game, and 94 (points) today, like when you just share the ball and spread like that, this offense is so great, and everyone gets to touch the ball, gets great shots, quality shots.”

Even so, UNO kept pace early behind Tony Osburn bombing away from deep, including 6-of-12 3’s on his way to a team-high 24 points. The UNO guard hit tough shots but didn’t do enough to keep the game within Maverick control.

“Osburn in the first half, we lost him,” Farokhmanesh said. “We lost him probably two or three times, and gave him some good looks. And then he made some two other ones that, like you (have) got to tip your hat to him on some of those.”

Lance Waddles also added 18 and Julian Margrave chipped in 10 off the bench, but the Mavericks could not match CSU’s depth or physicality as the night settled in, as 3 UNO players got into foul trouble.

For Jorgensen, it was a night that showed how far he has come. For the Rams, it was another look at what this roster can be when the ball keeps moving and the rebounding margin tilts in their favor. And for Farokhmanesh, it was the kind of early season performance that reinforces the identity he has tried to build through the first week.

“When your best players play that way, and they only care about what the best thing is for the team, it’s hard for anybody else to complain about anything,” Farokhmanesh said. “I think they’ve all kind of passed the buck to each other when they feel the other person’s playing well.”

But they won’t have long to sit with it until having to prove this early success can be sustained, as CSU turns around Wednesday for a matchup with Cal Poly, a team which displayed its 3-point shooting capability in a recent win over Seattle.

It also gives players like Rechsteiner and Pascarelli another chance to find rhythm against a different defensive look, and it offers another test for a frontcourt that just powered the Rams to a plus-22 rebounding night.

If CSU carries over the traits that have defined their first two wins, balance; commitment to the glass; and a scoring load that shifts from game to game, they should give themselves another chance to control the tempo before the schedule ramps up.

“I feel like they’ve all bought into a role,” Farokhmanesh said. “They’re all sacrificing something, and we talk about that a lot at the end of the day, for this team to reach its ceiling, they’re all going to have to sacrifice something. … That’s going to determine how far we go as a team.”

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Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on social media @michaelfhovey.