The victor needs only a slight advantage.
In a drawn-out skirmish against San Diego State, Colorado State men’s basketball earned a tough 68-63 win. With a sea of orange-clad fans shaking Moby Arena Saturday, the players provided the fire.
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Nique Clifford burned the brightest.
“Listen, you guys, (Clifford) is a great player,” coach Niko Medved said. “I mean, it wasn’t anything other than just him being a great player and finding ways to make plays and big shots — and that’s how you win games.”
The CSU star recorded his 10th double-double of the season, scoring 21 points while hitting 4-of-7 from three. His 13 rebounds came with a little extra conviction — especially in the last few minutes of the game — which was an encouraging sight, given the apparent slump he experienced last week during the Rams’ loss to New Mexico.
Medved wasn’t surprised to see Clifford bounce back.
“Like I tell him, shots are going to go down, and now you just (have) got to take great shots,” Medved said. “You (have) got to stay in the fight, and eventually it’s going to flip for you. You just can’t allow that to affect the other parts of your game. And he doesn’t do that.”
Medved added that Clifford’s ability to shake off mistakes has always been a strength, and it showed against the Aztecs.
“I’ve always said about Nique, I mean, he’s just one of those guys,” Medved said. “He still continues to have a lot of confidence in himself. And I think he gets over mistakes quickly, which is huge.”
At times in the first half, it seemed like Clifford was reminding the Aztecs: I’m still that guy.
He continued to make that case in the second half after realizing he didn’t have to overthink things. He was just going to ride it out.
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“I think at times I was putting maybe too much pressure on myself to make shots instead of just playing and having fun,” Clifford said. “Just go shoot the ball. And we work on that every single day.”
Rashaan Mbemba, on the other hand, looked like a man possessed at times. Clifford may have grabbed more boards, but Mbemba was a force in a match largely dependent on physicality.
That’s been his role in the past — that’s how the team relies on him.
“Rashaan was huge, like he really set the tone on the offensive glass,” Clifford said. “He was a beast down there, because (there were) some tall dudes we (were) battling in there. So just to see how strong he was playing and how physical (he was). And he set the tone for us.”
With seven players in foul trouble, the intensity was evident — no surprise coming into the game.
“We knew it was going to be a rock fight,” graduate Ethan Morton said. “(We) were just trying to have a stronger will, and we were able to figure it out today. So, I’m just proud of the guys for how we persevered (through) a lot of ups and downs throughout that one.”
At different points, the Aztecs seemed headed for both a blowout loss and a comeback.
SDSU started cold, missing four straight shots, but CSU couldn’t take full advantage. The Rams built a seven-point lead early but struggled to sustain their hot start.
Coming out of halftime, though, the Aztecs trailed by three and nearly capitalized. With three-straight makes and a team with height, length and a gritty reputation, it was up to the Rams to earn a win.
“(The Aztecs) pride themselves on physicality and rebounding, but our guys stood in there tonight,” Medved said. “We knew if we were going to have success against this team, you have to guard them, you’ve got to rebound, you (have) got to get in the fight with them. And our guys did that.”
In addition to adopting that mindset, the Rams had their eye on Miles Byrd: the guy who torched them for 25 points in their last meeting.
He was the guy to watch, and CSU did exactly that. Byrd was limited to just nine points with only three coming from the second half.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Clifford said. “(We) definitely took a lot of pride in that matchup. … He brings a lot of energy when he gets going offensively. So, I think shutting that down was huge for our success tonight.”
Instead, it was 7-foot Magoon Gwath contributing a team-high of 15 points and a double-double for SDSU. The lengthy center displayed great body control — close to the rim — to add to his already advantageous stature.
Even with Gwath’s strong night, SDSU couldn’t close the gap. BJ Davis hit a falling three to keep the Aztecs alive late in the game, but Mbemba and Clifford grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds on the next possession, burning valuable time. Mbemba then sank two clutch free throws, Kyan Evans followed suit, sealing the game at the line — where CSU held one of its few statistical edges.
But Medved saw the win as just another step, with equally daunting challenges ahead.
“That’s been our team this year, if you’ve watched us,” Medved said. “I mean, just their mentality shift and their togetherness and toughness — I’m enjoying this group so much. I just think they’re giving us everything that they have, and we just (have) got to stay with it.”
A win against the Aztecs helps solidify CSU as one of the current best men’s basketball teams in the Mountain West. The variance between the other top teams is slim, however, and anything can happen in the span of a few weeks.
CSU’s next stepping stone on the path to the MW Tournament comes Feb. 11 in Logan, Utah against MW No. 2 Utah State.
“If you want to have a chance to compete at the top of the league, you (have) got to win them in every way,” Medved said. “And, you know (Morton and Clifford), I just heard them. They just said it: If you don’t turn the ball over and you play good defense and you battle on the glass, you’re going to give yourselves an opportunity to win.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @michaelfhovey.
