Colorado State Flys By Air Force
The CSU Rams earned dominate victories over the Falcons
Contact/Follow @J0shFr3d & @MWCwire
Rams still have hope of a MW Title
Game One: Colorado State 72, Air Force 49
A three week layoff caused the Rams to look rusty in the first half. Air Force led for more than 16 minutes before the Rams made a late first half 13-3 run to take a 28-24 lead into halftime. Isaiah Stevens and David Roddy led the team in scoring with 19 points each.
And some highlights from today's win over Air Force for your viewing pleasure!#TeamTogether pic.twitter.com/kqjzRZT7DM
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) February 27, 2021
The Rams had turnover issues throughout the game. CSU finished with 20 turnovers for the game. This speaks the defensive abilities of Colorado State, to commit 20 turnovers and be able to keep the Falcons below 50 points. In six of their last seven games, CSU has committed 15+ turnovers. Despite that ridiculous stat, the Rams managed to go 5-2 in those games.
The Falcons play a slow it down tempo, using all of the shot clock, under the old, new coach Joe Scott. Scott’s Princeton offense really emphasizes movement to get mismatches with the opponents backcourt on the block against their bigs. Air Force slowed down the Rams in the first half, but couldn’t keep it up throughout the game.
Game Two: Colorado State 74, UNLV 44
Colorado State once again got off to a slow start, before turning it up in the second half. Going into halftime the Rams only led 26-23, before running Air Force out of Moby Area with a 48-21 second half to finish. Turnovers were still kind of high at 11, but the Rams kept more control this game.
CSU couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from beyond the arc. The Rams finished 5-for-28 from behind the three point stripe. The Rams made up the difference in their normal scoring with 15 offensive rebounds and a ridiculous 28 free throw attempts. David Roddy once again led the Rams, this time with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds.
There were a few highlights tonight, especially in that 💪💪💪 second half!#TeamTogether | #ProudToBe pic.twitter.com/bs3gwGe6UA
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) March 2, 2021
Air Force will be disappointed with both performances. The second game especially. The Falcons only had one player in double figures, senior guard Chris Joyce. Air Force was stymied by the Rams defense, being held to only 33.3% from the floor and committing 18 turnovers.
Takeaways:
Colorado State continues their best start in conference play, now up to 13-3. The CSU small ball unit has been a pretty effective one this season. And it was more apparent in these two games. With the Rams struggling, Medved went small to increase the tempo and it produced results. The three week layoff was apparent, but the Rams were able to over come it. There’s still an outside shot at the regular season Mountain West title, but the Rams will need some luck to come there way.
The Falcons had snapped a 10 game losing streak in their last game against New Mexico. But they ran into a buzzsaw against Colorado State. Air Force’s first year under Joe Scott’s return to the Academy hasn’t gotten off to a great start. Scott and the Falcons will need to find someone to step up or there staring at a long tenure under Scott.
Next Up:
Next up for the Rams is two make up games. One on Wednesday, March 3rd against New Mexico in Fort Collins. That game is followed by a short turn around road trip to face Nevada. Air Force has played everybody else twice already, so they get the rest of the week of before the Mountain West tournament.
