Unable to rise against the opposition, the UNLV Rebels left Moby Arena empty handed.
Colorado State’s 78-75 victory over UNLV reflects what it means to get the job done in a not-so-pretty fashion.
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It seemed like the Rams still had some rust from the previous conference matchups, but that didn’t matter as they were able to defy the odds and shake off a hot UNLV team.
Leading the charge for the Rams is none other than the superstar guard Isaiah Stevens. Dishing dimes to the open man, and draining shots when it mattered most, he once again showed why he is one of the most feared guards in the Mountain West.
“Staying with it, we were coming back to all these timeouts and all these tight huddles we have with each other and we were super pleased with the shots we were getting,” Stevens said. “We’ve been talking so much about finding our rhythm finding our groove trusting the offense, trusting the flow, and I feel like we did that for all 40 (minutes), outside of a few possessions here and there, but it’s basketball so you kind of expect that, we made some timely ones down the stretch.”
Although Moby Madness was electric after the win, the crowd was dormant after a tough showing in the first half.
Shots weren’t falling, guys were getting into foul trouble and ugly turnovers that the Rebels were able to capitalize off of attacking the glass on offense, not putting up pretty shots, but making them nonetheless. This was however stunted in the second half, after a huge turnaround defensively in the post for the Rams.
“They are hard to handle, they got shooters, they have an elite post player, guys that can put the ball on the floor,” Coach Niko Medved said. “But I thought we did a really good job, better in the second half of trying to swarm the ball, make them make tough shots.”
The Rebels couldn’t get anything going beyond the arch, partially due to the lockdown perimeter defense the Rams had, especially getting a fully healthy Josiah Strong back for his second game in the starting lineup.
Fortunately Strong was a huge contributor in that swarming defense, providing takeaways and picking up the pace defensively.
Rams have grit and a winning mentality and were able to force 11 turnovers from the Rebels in the second half, with a more aggressive attack taking away easy shots.
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A good way to define grit along with a winning mentality is Joel Scott, who has played aggressively the past few games, providing a spark plug against UNLV.
“Joel Scott is a terrific athlete, he’s tough, he’s a great cutter, he’s a great slasher, and I thought that’s what he did tonight,” Medved said. “He did the things that he does at a high level, and then he got himself going, and he was huge in the second half.”
UNLV had Ram fans on the edge of their seats the entire game after leading 29 minutes of the 40 minute game. Luckily for the Rams resiliency is in their blood, and they were able to give the fans something to cheer about.
A huge contributor to the success was the efficiency from Nique Clifford on the offensive side.
Finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds, he was shifty, providing huge shots when the Rams needed it most. Whenever he touched the ball, it seemed inevitable that it was going in.
This isn’t new, and for these Ram fans, it is almost normal for Clifford to do what he has been doing offensively for this team.
“He’s awesome, he brings energy every single day, he has a smile on his face while he does it, but he’s also one of the hardest workers and one of the most competitive people,” Stevens said. “For me he’s just like a heck of a teammate to have with us and I wouldn’t trade him for anything”.
This win brings the Rams to 15-3 with a 3-2 conference record. Every win counts and Colorado State is back on track to becoming ranked once again as they stretch through tough Mountain West matchups.
“We know every night is going to be a battle, it’s not like we’re coming into every game thinking that it’s going to be an easy one,” Scott said. “Every night is going to be hard fought and we’re going to have to grit it out and tough it out every time. It’s a fun league to be apart of and I’m glad were here.”
Reach Luke Hojnowski at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @lukehojo.
