A feel-good win: something Colorado State men’s basketball was in need of.
The short-handed Rams have been in hard-fought battle after hard-fought battle in each of their first 10 games. But Sunday night was a different story in their 86-54 win over Colorado State University, Pueblo.
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In the 11th episode of the 121st season of CSU men’s basketball, it was yet again another team effort as all five starters found their way into double-digit scoring.
“Got off to a little bit of a slow start,” coach Niko Medved said. “Which maybe you can anticipate after being off. We kind of found a groove there a little bit (the game) wasn’t a work of art, but we also did some good things.”
While Medved might not describe the game as a work of art, CSU guard Isaiah Stevens painted himself 18 points closer to Pat Durham’s record of 1980 career points scored.
A record Stevens now sits just 14 points away from breaking. Medved has watched Stevens blossom into the elite player that he is at CSU and the emotions of watching him break a record — as sought after as the career scoring one — are indescribable.
“That’s a hard one to put into words when it happens,” Medved said. “But just when I thought there wouldn’t be another record that he could break here, there’s more. He hasn’t done it yet, right? So he’s got to go and do it.”
While the Rams continued to ball, it’s no secret that the injuries have been a big part of their season. CSU guard Rashaan Mbemba was just another name to add to the list as he didn’t suit up Sunday night.
Because of the extensive list of injuries, several Rams have seen extended minutes. CSU forward Kyle Evans and CSU guard Kyan Evans were just two names who have made impacts beyond what was expected at the beginning of the season.
“Unfortunately some injuries made this happen,” Kyan Evans said. “But I was just ready to step up, it’s been extremely fun though.”
In his 26 minutes, Kyan Evans put up six points on 2-of-4 shooting and added five assists which set his season and career highs.
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Kyle Evans also had himself a career day, ending with a new career-high of nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, also adding five rebounds to his stat-line.
“Kyle Evans is a guy (who) hasn’t had really an opportunity yet this year just based on who’s been in front of him,” Medved said. “But he’s kept a phenomenal attitude, he’s kept working and I always say when opportunity comes it’s too late to prepare. And so he knew today he was going to get an opportunity and I thought he did some really good things.”
With CSU ranked as the No. 17/18 team in the country, one might start to wonder what they might get out of beating a DII opponent.
Sometimes, it’s just good to get back on the court.
“(The break) was long for sure,” CSU forward Patrick Cartier said. “School kept us all a little bit busy. But yeah, it was obviously good to have the week to work on some stuff that we need to work on internally and obviously it was great to get back on the court tonight.”
Despite the difference in competition, at the end of the day, you just have to go out there and play the style of ball that you have been playing all season.
“Just try to do the simple things that we practice every day at a high level,” Medved said. “I think today to a lot of was just getting back up and down again like multiple trips and kind of feeling what that’s like again with the crowd and all that stuff. You want to play the game the right way, no matter what the score is, or who you’re playing, you want to play the right way.”
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
