Calling it the start to a new season is a cliché, but it is apt in this case for the Colorado State men’s basketball team.
Forget an up-and-down November and early December. The new season began Saturday and the Rams are off to a flying start.
CSU went on the road and took down Nevada 66-64 in Reno to begin Mountain West play. In what is expected to be a volatile conference season, a road win against a team believed to be a contender near the top of the league is a huge boost for the Rams.
Here are takeaways from the win.
Kyan Evans highlights late surge for the win
CSU (7-5, 1-0 MW) had led by double-digits early in the second half, going up 11 points with about 15 minutes to go.
The Rams looked in control until the midpoint of the second half. Nevada (8-4, 0-1 MW) cut the lead to 50-45 on a basket-and-foul on Rashaan Mbemba, which sent the CSU big to the bench with four fouls.
CSU quickly was hit back without Mbemba on the floor. The defense became vulnerable and the offense grinded to a half.
Nevada went on a 12-0 run to take a lead. CSU star Nique Clifford missed all seven of his second-half shot attempts and the Rams looked to be in trouble.
Then the late run came.
Clifford hit two free throws to cut it to two. Then Mbemba (back on the floor with four fouls) hit a layup to give CSU a lead (58-57) once again.
Then young point guard Kyan Evans hit the shot of the game. From well beyond the 3-point line, he nailed a deep ball to make it a four-point (61-57) possession.
Nevada never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead again.
The shot highlighted a 9-0 run for CSU inside the final 3 minutes to steal the win.
Late defensive shift pays off
Niko Medved and staff made a late shift to a zone and it seemed to rattle Nevada as the Wolf Pack lost their way on offense late.
Nevada forced a couple bad shots and had a couple careless turnovers against the zone.
The idea of an unexpected change like that is to steal a couple possessions away and it worked perfectly.
Group effort lands big win
The margins for error for this CSU team are small, as shown by what happened when Mbemba went off with foul trouble.
The Rams don’t need to be perfect to win a game like this, but they don’t need big efforts from many different players.
They got it. Little-scoring guard Ethan Morton set a tone early with a bucket-and-foul on the first possession of the game. Evans followed with one of his own.
Morton and Lake teamed up for a key late steal. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had a big dunk at a time when CSU’s offense was faltering. Clifford didn’t shoot well in the second half but hit key free throws when needed.
Evans scored 16 points, the second game in a row he has re-set his own career high in scoring. Clifford had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Mbemba scored 10 points.
The Rams were just 1-8 at Lawlor Events Center since Nevada joined the Mountain West and Nevada had won eight conference openers in a row.
It’s a big first win in Mountain West play for CSU.
Another huge test is next, when CSU hosts New Mexico at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28 at Moby Arena. The game has been moved up an hour (original 2 p.m. tip) with an Arizona Bowl watch party at Moby after the game.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State basketball with big win at Nevada
