LAS VEGAS — A rocky start doesn’t always mean a bad finish.
For Colorado State men’s basketball, that’s been one of the main themes throughout the season as the Rams have had their fair share of bumpy starts. But as they showed in Wednesday’s match, they can find a way through.
Although they brought the game down to the wire, CSU came out with a 67-63 victory against No. 10 Fresno State, and in the process, sent the Bulldogs to the dog house.
But for a good part of the first half, FSU had a big control over the game. Consistent players for the Rams were missing even with open looks or had difficulty holding onto the ball, which evidently led to turnovers. But with some grit and some Jase Butler talent, CSU had its ingredients to win.
Slow first half provides hard bump to overcome
CSU had a very high-quality run in February, winning all seven of its games.
But as FSU took the lead, it looked as if the Rams had reverted to their past inconsistencies that took over the team in late January.
By the end of the first half, the stats weren’t too different between the Bulldogs and CSU, but its shooting percentage was less than ideal.
The Rams were making 31% of their shots — 30.8% from deep — and even missed a couple of free throws.
Carey Booth had a few flashes of power and led CSU with nine points. It wasn’t till the second half that he became more comfortable at the rim and made three dunks that Ram fans have grown to know and love.
Jase Butler excels from deep
Going into halftime, Butler only had three points on the board, not having produced anything special as the best was yet to come.
He flipped the switch a little into the second half and found success in his 3-pointers. When the Rams were struggling to bridge the gap, he was right there to pick up the pieces and push CSU to victory.
He not only stacked up several 3’s, but emerged from the game with the most points for the Rams with 20, shooting 6-of-9 from deep.
Butler was the only CSU player to score more than one 3-pointer.
With just a few minutes left in the game, he found himself in foul trouble. But one minute after his fourth foul, Butler managed to tack on the last layup for the Rams of the game.
Scrappiness pushes the Rams to the win
CSU embraced the chaos and found ways to thrive in it.
Jevin Muniz stole the ball from FSU, and on the fastbreak it seemed as if the Bulldogs’ defense would shut down the Rams once again. But Muniz was ready and passed it off, resulting in the start of the momentum shift for CSU.
On the next play, Jojo McIver pumped the gas even more as he stole the ball from FSU’s side of the court. The possession resulted in Muniz making his only 3-pointer of the night, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.
From then, CSU rode the wave and finished with the win.
Up next
The Rams will advance to the next round of the MW Tournament and face off in the quarterfinals against No. 2 San Diego State at 6:30 p.m. PT Wednesday.
Read the full story herehere.
Reach Sophie Webb at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophgwebb.
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