Colorado State basketball thrashes San Jose State to win as Rams move to 23-0 in series
An absolute demolition from start to finish.
The Colorado State men’s basketball team didn’t take it easy on former coach Tim Miles on Saturday.
The Rams went on the road and demolished Miles and San Jose State 78-42.
Miles is in his first year of a total rebuild, and former Miles assistant Niko Medved has the Rams with all eyes on the NCAA Tournament and a run at a Mountain West title.
The gap between the teams was evident in this one.
Here are three thoughts on the game as CSU moved to 23-0 all-time against San Jose State.
CSU gets everyone involved
CSU (13-1, 3-1 Mountain West) generally uses a 10-man rotation, and nine of the 10 had points at halftime. In a game like this, get everyone involved, boost the confidence of role players who will be needed for the Rams to reach the heights they are seeking.
That happened. Dischon Thomas took advantage of a small San Jose State (7-7, 0-2 MW) lineup and was physical and aggressive inside. Thomas had 14 points and seven rebounds.
"I haven’t been shooting it too well, so just staying aggressive and staying with it," Thomas said. "Definitely wanted to come out aggressive."
Isaiah Rivera showed off some interior skills and jump-shooting ability, hitting six-of-seven shots for 12 points. Jalen Lake had eight points. Isaiah Stevens had 10 points and four assists. David Roddy had six points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
"It was great to see (Rivera) get going. I thought he played really well. I thought he did a great job of using his shot stops, playing off two feet, pivoting, playing slow-to-fast. I thought he had a really good game," Medved said.
"It's great to see Jalen Lake continue to play with the confidence that he is. Chandler (Jacobs) knocked down some shots, I think John (Tonje) made one late there. That was great to see."
CSU outscored San Jose State 40-14, and the Rams had 40 points off the bench. The Rams had 17 assists and just five turnovers.
It was a good day for almost everyone in green.
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Defensive shutdown
San Jose State was shooting just 23% at halftime and had only 17 points in the first 20 minutes as the Rams took an 18-point lead into break.
It quickly became even worse for the Spartans. CSU held San Jose scoreless for the first 7 minutes of the second half, and by that point it was 48-20 and the game was completely noncompetitive.
The Spartans are the top 3-point shooting team in the Mountain West but shot 7-32 from deep in this one.
CSU held San Jose State to 28% shooting overall and won the rebounding battle 49-31.
"That was really our message at halftime that we needed to come out at halftime and really in the second half defend at maybe a higher level," Medved said. "I don't know if we defended at a higher level in the second half — they missed some shots, too — but I thought our mentality was good. We definitely didn't play the scoreboard. I thought we were locked in."
San Jose State was able to stack some points late to avoid an even more ugly stat-line. Still, 42 points allowed is tied for 17th-fewest in CSU history, and the Rams haven't held a team to that total since 2015.
Last game: CSU basketball team rebounds from loss, pulls out close win over Utah State
CSU must beat up the basement
To win a Mountain West title and make the NCAA Tournament, the Rams have to avoid bad losses. That means taking care of business against the bottom of the conference.
CSU is now in a run against the lower half of the league, beginning with this game.
The Rams easily brushed aside San Jose State. Next up is Wednesday night’s home game (8 p.m.) against bottom-feeder New Mexico. Then it’s at Air Force (currently 7th in MW), home against Nevada (5th in MW) and home against UNLV (8th in MW).
CSU must keep handling home games and chances for road wins such as this one.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: CSU basketball thrashes San Jose State
