A lopsided first half proved the difference.
The No. 25 Ole Miss men’s basketball team blasted Colorado State in the first half Saturday.
Ole Miss had a 19-point halftime lead and it provided the platform for an 84-69 win despite CSU’s second-half surge.
Here are takeaways from CSU’s first loss of the season.
Tale of two halves
Ole Miss (4-0) snagged two offensive rebounds on the first possession of the game before hitting a 3-pointer in the “semi-neutral” game played an hour from the Ole Miss campus.
That was a tone-setter.
Ole Miss was hot shooting in the first 20, even when CSU defended well. Ole Miss had six first-half 3-pointers and 20 paint points.
CSU (3-1) re-set early in the second half and played much better.
The Rams trailed by 24 early in the second half but slowly chipped away and cut to within nine points.
CSU ran out of gas in the comeback attempt.
The good signs and things to improve
The second half provides a glimpse of what CSU hopes it can become.
The Rams shot 58% in the final 20 and out-rebounded Ole Miss in that frame. Jalen Lake continued his great scoring surge and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson was good in scoring and rebounding.
Lake hit five 3-pointers and scored 21, while Nique Clifford had 18 points and seven rebounds.
It was a solid effort on both ends for the final 20.
The bad news is winning the second half by four points wasn’t terribly relevant to the final score because of the first half.
CSU struggled to rebound early on, couldn’t slow the Ole Miss offense and the Rams were inconsistent on offense themselves. Turnovers (nine of them) in the first half were of particular concern.
Ole Miss notched 22 points off turnovers in the game.
CSU never led and needed a much-better start to have designs on a top-25 upset.
CSU gets a mini break to work
This is a “work in progress” team.
The Rams now have four games under their belt and get some time before returning to game action on Friday, Nov. 22 at home against UC-Riverside.
It’s a good time for a mini break. The Rams will hope it can help Rashaan Mbemba get back and give more time to work out issues that have been seen in early game action.
CSU greatly improved on the glass as the game went on, but Mbemba is the most physical interior player and the Rams have been missing his presence (this was his second missed game in a row).
True freshman Kyle Jorgensen started again at center and he went down with an injury late in the first half, but he was able to return in the second half.
The Rams are relying on two young players in the post in Jorgensen and sophomore transfer Crocker-Johnson. Another sophomore, Nikola Djapa, briefly came off the bench but he’s more a longer term project who isn’t deemed ready for big minutes yet.
Crocker-Johnson finished with 11 points and Jorgensen had six.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Takeaways: Ole Miss holds off Colorado State’s comeback attempt
