Colorado State vs Virginia First Four updates: Rams roll Virginia
DAYTON, Ohio — The NCAA Tournament begins today!
It's time for No. 10 seeds Colorado State and Virginia to play to open their NCAA Tournament action.
Colorado State completely controlled the game.
The Coloradoan is live on scene in Dayton with coverage from the Big Dance.
Follow along for updates throughout the day and tonight's game as the NCAA Tournament gets underway.
Colorado State rolls Virginia
Final: Colorado State beats Virginia 67-42. Absolutely dominant.
Read more on the game:
More: Colorado State basketball smothers Virginia in March Madness, advances in NCAA Tournament
Transfers leading Colorado State
Colorado State's two key transfers who were supposed to help elevate the Rams were Nique Clifford (Colorado) and Joel Scott (Black Hills State). How's that working out?
Well, with 5:34 to go Scott has 21 points and 10 rebounds. Clifford has 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Yeah, that'll do.
Colorado State leads Virginia 55-35 with 5:34 to go.
Colorado State holding off Virginia
Now, in a way, it's a battle with the clock. There's still 11:14 to go but Virginia has scored just 25 points in the first 29 minutes and trails by 19.
That means Virginia has to get out of system a bit to try and make a run.
Colorado State needs to be smart, but stay aggressive and in the paint. Rams outscoring Virginia 28-14 inside.
It's 44-25 Colorado State with 11:14 to go.
Virginia's offense having serious problems
Virginia was held scoreless the first 3:23 of the second half, making it more than 12 minutes and 30 seconds of game action without scoring dating back to first half.
The Cavaliers missed 19 shots in a row in that stretch and Colorado State built its lead up to 21 points. Virginia is 7-36 on the game shooting.
Colorado State lead is now 37-18 with 15:19 to go.
Colorado State 27, Virginia 14 at half
Colorado State with a 13-point lead at the half. Virginia has made just five field goals (5-29, 17%). Luckily for Virginia, two of those are 3-pointers or it would be even worse.
CSU is 12-24 (50%) and 3-7 on 3-pointers.
CSU has six turnovers to one for Virginia, which is one of the only things keeping Virginia in touching distance.
Joel Scott has 10 points for CSU and Nique Clifford has seven. Isaiah Stevens has just three. Isaac McKneely has six and Reece Beekman has four for Virginia.
Virginia scoreless for nearly 10 minutes
Virginia was held scoreless for the final 9:20 of the first half.
Seriously.
A Reece Beekman pair of free throws cut CSU's lead to 18-14 with 9:20 to go and then the Hoos didn't score again.
Colorado State leads 27-14 at half.
Non-Isaiah Stevens minutes key
A key to note every Colorado State game is how the Rams fare in the few minutes Isaiah Stevens isn't on the floor. CSU has struggled with that often.
So far, so good. He got about 2 minutes on the bench and the Rams grew the lead by three points.
Colorado State leads Virginia 25-14 with 2:29 until half.
A big finish here. If CSU can maintain or build on this lead it really throws Virginia out of what it wants to do.
Choppy game between Virginia and Colorado State
After a mini scoring surge, this has filtered a bit more into what was expected between two good defensive teams.
The two have combined to miss their last nine shots.
Colorado State leads Virginia 18-14 with 6:55 until half.
Nique Clifford shining
CSU star Nique Clifford is doing a bit of everything early for CSU.
He has seven points, including a 3-pointer, four rebounds and a very nice assist for a Joel Scott dunk.
Clifford, a Colorado transfer, is CSU's most versatile player.
Colorado State makes a push
A Nique Clifford corner 3-pointer made it an 8-0 run for CSU to go up 10-4.
Virginia answered with a 3 of its own bur Rams continue to get good looks against the vaunted Virginia defense. Isaac McKneely has hit a couple 3's for The Cavaliers.
CSU is up 18-12 with 9:39 left in the first half.
Low-scoring early
Some sloppiness early. Virginia had a shot clock violation and CSU simply lost a ball out of bounds.
Rams' shots have all been in paint but just 1-6 shooting in first 5 minutes.
Virginia lead is 4-2 with 14:52 left in first half.
Patrick Cartier injury update
CSU big man Patrick Cartier wore a face shield the last five games after being busted in the face in a battle vs Nevada late in the regular season.
He doesn't have it on this game. It seemed to impact him. He averaged 8 points per game (he averages 10.5 on the season) in those five and has gone four in a row under 10 points.
Virginia basketball starters
No. 22 Jordan Minor
No. 2 Reece Beekman
No. 10 Taine Murray
No. 11 Isaac McKneely
No. 13 Ryan Dunn
Colorado State basketball starters
Starting for the Rams:
No. 1 Joel Scott
No. 4 Isaiah Stevens
No. 12 Patrick Cartier
No. 10 Nique Clifford
No. 3 Josiah Strong
Colorado State in the house
Colorado State has arrived at UD Arena and the Rams are lingering behind the scenes waiting to take the court following the Wagner-Howard game.
👋 Oh hey there, Times Square#MWMadness | #SixBidMW pic.twitter.com/p75S6QNGhM
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 19, 2024
The Mountain West's NCAA Tournament argument
The claim in what the Mountain West felt was under-seeded teams was that there were no comparables. The MW simply won games against each other.
That doesn't really line up:
The Mountain West’s six NCAA tournament teams had 25 nonconference games against Quad 1 & Quad 2 opponents and won 60 percent of those contests. The MW’s 60 percent win percentage ranks third behind the Big East and Big Ten in NCAA participant's nonconference win percentage in Q 1/2.
The MW (.472) also ranks second behind the Big East (.500) in Total Nonconference Win Percentage in Quad 1 and Quad 2 Combined.
The Mountain West is 24-7 against the Pac-12 (6-1) and West Coast Conference (18-6) in 2023-24.
The Mountain West was the only conference to have all its teams finish the nonconference slate with a winning percentage above .500.
The Mountain West made a bold statement with a Times Square billboard this week as it looks for "Best in the West" title.
👋 Oh hey there, Times Square#MWMadness | #SixBidMW pic.twitter.com/p75S6QNGhM
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) March 19, 2024
Get to know Colorado State star Isaiah Stevens
CSU point guard Isaiah Stevens is arguably the best men's basketball player in program history. He owns CSU program records in career points, assists, 3-pointers and many more.
Click on the link below to hear stories from those close to Stevens to hear what makes him tick.
‘He’s different’: Here's what drives Colorado State basketball star Isaiah Stevens
A visit to Wright State
Colorado State used some local ties for a pregame workout. Wright State is located in Dayton and CSU assistant Brian Cooley spent five seasons as a coach at Wright State before joining the Rams before last season.
CSU graduate assistant Cole Gentry played at Wright State while Cooley was there.
The Rams used the Wright State gym Tuesday morning ahead of their game vs Virginia, with Cooley subjected to some playful ribbing from former colleagues.
Honored to be with some Wright State royalty at shootaround today #TeamTogether x @alpine_gardens pic.twitter.com/AbfltyquL8
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) March 19, 2024
Virginia, Colorado State talk First Four matchup
Virginia coach Tony Bennett and Colorado State's Niko Medved know each other and have great mutual respect for each other and the programs they're facing today.
"I wish I had Coach Boeheim's zone, wouldn't have to handle all those cuts," Bennett said of CSU's offense.
More: Read more about what the coaches and players said about the matchup here
Joshua and Josiah Strong in Dayton together
While it was a shock to Colorado State to be placed in Dayton, it led to a happy family reunion. Joshua Strong, the brother of CSU starting guard Josiah Strong, plays for Howard. Howard faces Wagner in the first game Tuesday.
Joshua and the Howard team practiced right before CSU on Monday and the Strong brothers spent several minutes chatting and several Rams came up to say hello to Joshua.
𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲@jbuckets5 & @jstrong_0 #TeamTogether x @AlpineGardens pic.twitter.com/HXfWF6Amkf
— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) March 19, 2024
A look behind the scenes at Dayton Arena
Some quick video of the Colorado State men's basketball teams open practice session on Monday:
How to watch First Four NCAA Tournament games
You know it's First Four and NCAA Tournament time if fans are trying to find tru TV.
Here are channel listings for truTV in Colorado:
Dish: Ch. 242
Xfinity: Varies depending on location (Channels 40, 45, 71 are truTV in various Colorado locations)
DirecTV: Ch. 246
Fort Collins Connexion: Ch. 195
For streaming, truTV is also available on: YouTube TV, iOS App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Android TV.
What is the First Four NCAA Tournament schedule?
There are four First Four games over two days in Dayton. Here's the schedule:
Tuesday, March 19: No. 16 Wagner vs. No. 16 Howard, 4:40 p.m. MT/6:40 p.m. ET
Tuesday, March 19: No. 10 Colorado State vs. No. 10 Virginia, 7:10 p.m. MT/9:10 p.m. ET
Wednesday, March 20: No. 16 Grambling vs. No. 16 Montana State, 4:40 p.m. MT/6:40 p.m. ET
Wednesday, March 20: No. 10 Colorado vs. No. 10 Boise State, 7:10 p.m. MT/9:10 p.m. ET
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Live score, updates from NCAA Tournament Colorado State vs Virginia basketball