A couple of tough buckets is all it takes to inspire a win.
Colorado State men’s basketball successfully rode out a fresh second-half start to a 79-71 victory over Nevada Tuesday. In stark contrast, the Rams keyed in on the Wolf Pack after a rocky beginning to the game and adjusted with authority.
Rashaan Mbemba delivered that message with and-1s just before and right after halftime.
“It just worked out perfectly fine how we played the offense,” Mbemba said. “I think it just boosted our group (to) just to play harder, play more together and be sharper — especially on defense, so we (could) really take the turn in the second half.”
Mbemba finished with his first career double-double in addition to shifting the mindset of the team. He’s always been the guy bringing the physicality when needed, but he finally reaped the box-score rewards of his labor against UNR. In fact, the bruiser was one of three players ejected from the game after fouling out.
He was on the same page as coach Niko Medved.
“The three — it’s sometimes the kiss of death,” Medved said. “We made a bunch of threes early, and (when) you do that, then all of a sudden you start settling and think you’re going to make 100 threes, and that never goes your way. … But our guys, they made the adjustment and got back to what we needed to do, and just were a lot more aggressive attacking.”
To that end, CSU dominated the glass with 34 total rebounds compared to UNR’s 15. The Wolf Pack forced many shots throughout the game, which led to more rebound opportunities for the Rams.
Without an abundance of open looks, UNR relied on difficult baskets early on to extend to an 8-point lead in the first half.
Nick Davidson — and later Tyler Rolison — had no problem providing.
The duo’s combined 43 total points wasn’t enough to put the Wolf Pack in front. As the only two UNR players with double-digit points, the Wolf Pack lost sight of the offensive distribution that came with their last win against San Jose State. Davidson was clearly the focal point.
CSU threw what it could at him in the first half — graduate Ethan Morton, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson and even 7-footer Nikola Djapa. At 6-foot-10 with a polished all-around skillset, the UNR star seemed to take the shots he wanted when he wanted. The Rams knew that, and they adjusted.
“Whenever we play good defense, we’re a good team,” Medved said. “Just like the catalyst the other night against Wyoming — we did not play very good defense in the first half. I just thought we were sloppy. Nick Davidson’s a heck of a player, I mean, he’s a really hard cover that way, so you give him a lot of credit.”
Someone had to step up.
“I thought Ethan Morton was the best matchup on him tonight,” Medved said. “Even though he’s a little undersized, I thought he used his quickness to kind of disrupt some of his catches, make it difficult for him, and that’s why Ethan’s just so valuable for us this way. You know, he can guard so many different guys.”
Morton enjoyed some fanfare of his own despite the tough assignment. With 5:12 remaining, the defensive maestro pulled up and sank his very first 3-pointer with CSU to effectively halt what was a snowballing Wolf Pack comeback.
Even though he struggled to find a place on the offense after transferring from Purdue, the veteran has hit a stride as of late. Becoming more comfortable on the drive hasn’t made him a weapon, but the amalgamation of his skillset has worked wonders on his new team.
“That young man, he just defines what humility is,” Medved said. “He knows who he is, he knows who he isn’t. But the biggest thing is: he’s totally comfortable with it. … He does so many things to help our team win and bring so much energy. And it’s cool. I think he’s playing the best basketball of the season right now for us.”
Along with Morton, Nique Clifford was there to contribute in typical fashion. The CSU star paced Davidson in points while adding nine rebounds to the abundant team total.
Compared to his normal double-digit attempts, he saw eight shots against UNR and nine shots against Wyoming. Despite that, Clifford has seen consistent offensive production with eight of his last nine games yielding 20 points or more. More importantly, he went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc against the Wolf Pack.
That’s been the theme for the Rams late in the season, and it’s taken the pressure off of the 3-point volume shooter Jalen Lake.
“I mean, it’s always good to see the three ball go in,” Lake said. “And I think it just gets us going, and it opens up in the paint as well, when we’re hitting like that.”
The quality shooting from CSU made up for the advantage the Wolf Pack had in size — four players on UNR’s active roster stood at 6-foot-10 or taller. Loss of possession, however, almost killed the Rams in the first half, and it’s the main reason the game seemed lopsided early on.
CSU more than doubled UNR in turnovers in total, and the Wolf Pack capitalized by doubling the Rams in points off of turnovers. As a further result, UNR also attempted 10 more shots, so the game could’ve been much more one sided.
“It wasn’t pretty all the time — some of the turnovers, and when we had the lead late — we didn’t necessarily execute the way I wanted to,” Medved said. “But listen, to beat Nevada here today — it feels good.”
At 11-4 in Mountain West play, CSU remains tied with San Diego State for third in the conference. The Rams’ next opportunity to climb the standings is against UNLV 8 p.m. Feb. 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CSU now sits at 12-2 at home this season and 4-4 in away games.
Currently on a bye, the Rebels most recently beat UNR in their last matchup 64-50 and stand in sixth place within the MW.
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @michaelfhovey.
