The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
Crypto Exchange Listing: Types of Exchanges and Compliance Requirements
March 25, 2024

The crypto industry continues to evolve, fueled by the increasing institutional adoption of crypto. Today, numerous companies are entering the...

CSU to host CSU-Bakersfield in second round of NIT

After defeating the College of Charleston, the Colorado State men’s basketball team hoped for the opportunity to play another home game in the National Invitation Tournament. When No. 8 California State-Bakersfield defeated No. 1 California University (73-66), that became possible.

Now that Houston and Brigham Young University, the next highest seeds, have each lost as well, No. 4 CSU is the highest seed remaining in the quadrant. The Rams have an opportunity to host through the quarterfinals before the tournament moves to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the semifinals and championship game.

Ad

The Rams are coming off an extremely efficient victory over Charleston in which CSU recorded its highest assist-turnover ratio of the season (3.0). With 18 assists in the game, the performance was the Rams’ second highest total in any individual game this year.

Senior guard Gian Clavell led all scorers in the game with 22 points and was close to recording the first triple-double in program history with nine rebounds, seven assists.

Sophomore guards Prentiss Nixon (19) and J.D. Paige (15) combined for 34 points and the team shot 45 percent from the floor.

Defensively, CSU forced 11 turnovers, resulting in 19 points for the Rams. This is a trend they will look to continue against the Road Runners of CSU-Bakersfield. Coming off a hot shooting performance against Berkeley on Tuesday in which CSU-Bakersfield had four players score in double digits, the Rams will look to throw some water on the torrid Road Runners.

CSU-Bakersfield shot well from beyond the arc, making 9-of-21 attempts (43 percent). However they struggled mightily to hit their foul shots, going 18-for-31 from the charity stripe.

The Road Runners distributed the ball well with 15 assists, but they did turn the ball over 12 times. Look for the Rams to try and pressure CSU-Bakersfield and create scoring opportunities in transition.

Although CSU does not have the depth on the roster to hack away at a poor free throw shooting team, they can find solace in knowing they can play aggressively and it likely will not hurt them if they put their opponent on the line.

With the top three seeds in the quadrant all losing, the Rams can control their own destiny in the NIT. In the opening round the Rams played like a team that wants to win it all.

“These guys are very hungry and they showed it,” head coach Larry Eustachy said of his team. “They beat a very good team that manhandled Boise this year. We couldn’t handle Boise… I just sat up in the gym…way up there and watched these guys come in the gym and it just reminded me when I was a high school player. My friends would come in on Saturday and you would finally have enough guys to play and Gian was goofing around with J.D. (Paige) and Nico (Carvacho) was in there…it’s just a close group of seven guys … It almost brought me down in some tears.”

Ad

The Rams and Road Runners will tipoff Monday night in Moby Arena at 9:15 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Collegian sports reporter Justin Michael can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or Twitter @JustinTMichael.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *