FanPost

CSU Men’s BB Game Thread: Rams slay Godzilla – now take on Goliath

 

Colorado State University (6-11, 1-2) at University of Utah (11-6, 2-1)  4pm MT

 

Six hundred and ninety days.  What have you done in the last 690 days?  A lot can happen in that time.  The Allen Iverson experiment can start and end.  The Rockies could go from being mocked to heralded to disrespected once again.

On February 24, 2007, in what became Head Coach Dale Layer’s final home game, Colorado State (6-11, 1-2) beat Wyoming in a Mountain West Conference battle.  In the 690 days that followed, they won as many regular season conference games as Rodney Dangerfield did.  It had been a LONG time.  That monstrous streak included 19 games and ended Wednesday, as the Rams shocked the pre-season MWC favorite UNLV Rebels (13-4, 1-2) in Fort Collins.

Now the Rams must travel to play the long-time class of the conference, the Utah Utes (11-6, 2-1).  After losing Jason Smith to the NBA draft, Stuart Creason to graduation, and Ronnie Aguilar to suspension, second year coach Tim Miles fields a team short on both height and experience.  They will be led by reigning MWC scoring champ Marcus Walker and Ole Miss transfer forward, sophomore Andy Ogide.  Sophomore Andre MacFarland and freshman Jesse Carr will also start .

Ogide will get the daunting yet critical task neutralizing Utah senior center Luke Nevill, who is continuing the tradition of talented Aussie centers in Utah.  Nevill has an advantage of 6 inches and 25 pounds on Ogide, so center Dan Vandervieren will likely see some playing time off the bench after sitting out the last two games.  Utah’s experienced lineup poses a lot of problems for the Rams, led by seniors Nevill, Shaun Green and Lawrence Borha.

The Rams are 16.5 point underdogs going into the game.  CSU has virtually no chance of winning this game on the road.  However, despite their paltry 6-11 record, they boast a respectable -2.1 point differential.  If Ogide and Vandervieren can slow Nevill, expect this game to be closer than Vegas projects it to be.

Now let's get this chat started!

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