In the realm of college basketball, there is no place to play like Cameron Indoor Stadium. When the Rams walked in, they knew it was going to be a huge test for their second game of the season, and the sea of royal blue and white was just too much for Colorado State when they took on Duke Friday night.

Here are the highlights.

The Rams kept up with the Blue Devils through the first 10 minutes of play, keeping the game close at 14-17.

The biggest killer for the Rams was the number of turnovers they yielded on the court. CSU finished the game turning the ball over 18 times, and they struggled to hit shots from the 3-point line. 

“I still believe a lot of guys who have made shots … who proved that they can, did,” Head Coach Niko Medved said. “Isaiah Stevens, a freshman, went 4 for 6 tonight, but some of these guys like Adam (Thistlewood) and Kris (Martin) proved that they can make them, so eventually, I got to believe that we’re going to. … If you can’t make threes, it is really, really difficult to win.”

Coming out of the locker room for the second half, the Rams started to struggle.

The Blue Devils were able to capitalize off of CSU’s turnovers, scoring 26 points from those turnovers. Once CSU turned the ball over, it was lights out in Cameron Indoor as Duke dunked all over the Rams.

Tre Jones was one of Duke’s stand-out players, finishing the game with 15 points and eight assists, right behind Cassius Stanley, who tallied up 19 total points and went 8-11 on the field.

“If there is a better perimeter defender in college basketball, I’d love to see it,” Medved said. “Cause that kid (Tre Jones) has unbelievable instincts (and) plays his tail off. He’s gotten so much stronger, and he just knows exactly where the ball needs to go, and he’s a terrific kid and a terrific player.”

Stevens, David Roddy and Nico Carvacho are three Rams that showed out in the game. Stevens tied with Roddy on the Rams’ leaderboard with 12 total points. Roddy also finished with two assists. Carvacho came close to a double-double with 11 total points and nine rebounds.

Despite a loss, the head coach of the Duke men’s basketball team, Mike Krzyzewski, was impressed by the CSU team and their ability to play in Cameron Indoor.

“We beat a team that I thought … played really hard,” Krzyzewski said. “You know, (Medved) is a great coach, and they are lucky to have him, and they will build a very good program there, and I knew they would play hard. They have four guards that they start, so it is a different team to defend. Carvacho is such a good player and rebounder, and I thought overall, our kids played really hard.”

Through the craziness that comes along with Duke and Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Rams lost the game 89-55.

The Rams will hope to bounce back when they return to Moby Arena on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. to take on Omaha.

Sydney Wicker can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @sydney_wicker.