In a game of halves, response is everything.
A shaky start to Colorado State men’s basketball’s matchup against Air Force blossomed into a decisive 79-58 victory in the second half on Tuesday. The Rams accepted the challenge laid out before them by coach Niko Medved at halftime and never looked back.
Ad
When Medved knew his team was underperforming, he gave it to them straight.
“We all need it,” Medved said. “Sometimes we need a kick in the tail. We need truth tellers in our life. I’m just telling them that — telling them the truth.”
It was exactly what the Rams needed to hear to spark a surge.
An invigorated defensive effort from CSU led to a 16% second-half shooting performance from the Falcons. Stopping AFA’s Ethan Taylor meant the end of a competitive game.
“I thought Ethan Taylor was going to have 50 at one point,” Medved said. “We gave him kind of two open looks, got him going and then, man, he started making it. (It) didn’t matter if we almost were tackling — he was making shots.”
Taylor had 15 in the first half alone and was essentially the only reason the Falcons were in it by halftime. His ability to score from anywhere on the floor proved difficult for the Rams to stop, or soften, early in the game.
Then the cavalry came in.
“I thought Ethan Morton’s defense on Ethan Taylor was terrific,” Medved said. “I thought he really came and changed the game on him. I thought (Nikola Djapa) came (into) the game, clearly, and brought some energy at that spot. … It just brought some more juice to our operation.”
With a clear advantage in rotational depth, CSU used several players to provide missing pieces to a performance that seemed to lack identity. Whether it was Morton and company stepping up to shut down Taylor or Kyan Evans dishing out eight assists, the team came together as one complete unit.
Ad
One thing remained constant, though: Nique Clifford’s excellence.
“We (saw) it here tonight,” Evans said. “(Clifford’s) ability to score and pass — it’s huge for us. We need that at times, especially when we’re in (a) drought. Him being able to do that is big.”
Clifford finished with yet another double-double, putting up 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. His knack to make forced shots as they’re needed continues to propel the team to more open looks and better spacing. He’s simply a threat opposing teams cannot ignore.
Djapa, on the other hand, has started getting his minutes recently, surprising defenders and fans alike. The 6-foot-11-inch center obtained his first spot start against Boise State but got his minutes against the Falcons despite a fully healthy roster.
“(Djapa)’s really done a great job of staying ready,” Medved said. “I just felt the way their fives were kind of big, physical and whatever, we just needed a little bit more juice at that spot. And it was just a gut call.”
A substitution means two things: one person plays and one person sits. Fortunately for the Rams, their responses to that fact have only increased their level of play.
“Everyone’s just buying into being unselfish — being (a) team together, like we say,” Clifford said. “Everyone’s just uplifting each other, and that’s a fun brand of basketball to play. We just pick each other up, and I think our confidence level is pretty high right now.”
The fun may continue into a much-needed bye, but the Rams face a stiff three-game stretch following the break. With consecutive matchups against the other top-three teams in the Mountain West, CSU’s current third-place ranking could be at stake.
New Mexico represents the first, and likely most difficult, challenge of the second half of conference play. As the current No. 1 in the MW, the Lobos are a force to be reckoned with.
Having lost to UNM once already, the Rams will aim to bring their best in Albuquerque, NM, Feb. 5.
“We’re starting to see the potential of our team, see how good we could really be,” Clifford said. “ A lot of people slept on us early in the year, so I think we just (have) to continue having a chip on our shoulder and prove everyone wrong.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @michaelfhovey.
