The end of the season is rapidly approaching, and with it comes the need to stay strong and keep stacking wins.

And that’s exactly what Colorado State men’s basketball brought to the table in its game against San Diego State, which sat at second in the Mountain West with a 12-3 conference record. Meanwhile, the Rams have been working to rewrite their record and are on a four — now five — game win streak.

CSU fed off the energy from its fans decked out in orange and pulled away with a 83-74 win Saturday, boosting its record of Orange Out games to 15-2.

Carey Booth brings heat to start off the Rams

Carey Booth came to Moby Arena ready to play.

After a strong showing against Wyoming, in which Booth produced six major blocks, he brought that same energy against the Aztecs.

Before points were ever on the board, Booth shut down one of SDSU’s players with a block that sent CSU fans into an ecstatic frenzy. And just a few moments later, he kept his flashy start going with a dunk, showing his confidence at the rim.

His power extended to his 3’s, and he had the second-highest completion percentage from deep by the end of the first with 50%. Booth carried his team into the second half leading in points with 14.

It carried over as he made the first points for the Rams going into the second half. Booth managed to tack on eight more points, and had one last big play at the end of the game in which SDSU left him open, giving him the perfect opportunity for a dunk.

Booth ended the game with a career-high of 22 points.

The Rams find balance, sustain the lead

Slow starts aren’t a stranger to CSU, as it’s cost them multiple games before.

But the Rams found a way to turn a five-minute scoring drought into a 15-point lead. With just over seven minutes to go in the first half, it had been a relatively low-production game with the score being at 16-16.

Kyle Jorgensen turned an SDSU turnover into points for CSU, and from then on, the Rams held the lead. In the second half, the Aztecs managed to keep the lead around 10 points, but could never close it more than that.

Although the bench wasn’t producing as much as usual and Josh Pascarelli still out on injury, CSU still found its success through scoring power — especially from Jase Butler’s career-high of 25 points.

Butler has recently hit his stride with the Rams after starting the season coming off the bench, now working his way to being one of the highest-producing players on the team.

Brandon Rechsteiner pops off in second half

Like several players to start the game, Brandon Rechsteiner was having trouble making his shots and missed all 3’s that he had attempted. But as the energy picked up for the Rams, so did Rechsteiner.

The guard sank back-to-back 3-pointers and gave fans a glimpse of what he was about to produce in the second half.

Rechsteiner found the majority of his points in the back half of the game, and for the entirety of the matchup, his points came from 3’s. He ended the game shooting a 45% from deep with a total of 16 points.

Up Next

The Rams will stay at home for their next game against Fresno State Feb. 24.

CSU will be looking for redemption after its 79-69 loss just over a month ago. Rechsteiner was an early spark for the Rams, but they struggled to sustain it and couldn’t find their way back after starting the second half 14 points down.

After taking on FSU, CSU will only have three more games left until the Mountain West Tournament.

For the full story, read here.