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Southern Illinois Overwhelms Colorado State 82-67
Rams Break Down In Second Half To Salukis
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Colorado State Shows Plenty Of Defensive Flaws In Loss To Southern Illinois
Colorado State hoped that the friendly confines of Moby Arena would help them wipe out the memory of a 1-2 trip to the Gulf Coast Showcase but Southern Illinois has other ideas. The Salukis pulled away in the second half to hand the Rams their first home loss of the season by a score of 82-67.
Things started off well enough for Colorado State as they went back and forth with Southern Illinois in the first half. The Rams shot 50% (7-14) from behind-the-arc and 59% from the field. However, the Salukis shot 63% from the field on their way to a 45-40 halftime lead.
The second half showed how much work Colorado State has to do. They failed to rotate defensively giving Southern Illinois multiple open looks from the field. Southern Illinois out hustled Colorado State on the glass ending with a 34-17 rebounding advantage and flat out dominated in the paint. The Rams lone rebounding hope, junior center Nico Carvacho, had a meager three rebounds for the game.
“We were horrific defensively, there’s no other way to say it,” stated Colorado State head coach Niko Medved after the game. “We don’t get better defensively this movie will happen again.”
Southern Illinois had five players in double figures led by senior guard Armon Fletcher (20 points) and senior center Kavion Pippen (16 points). Colorado State ended up with four players in double figures led by junior guards Anthony Masinton-Bonner and Kris Martin who both had 15 points.
Colorado State will have a chance to get back in the win column when they take on the Colorado Buffaloes Saturday at 1pm from the Coors Event Center in Boulder.
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