BOISE, Idaho — In their last four games — three of them losses — the Colorado State men’s basketball team kept things close, even forcing overtime in three of those contests.
That was not the case Saturday.
Boise State ran away from the Rams from the opening tip, winning 80-59 at Extra Mile Arena.
CSU fell behind early, made a brief run in the second half, but couldn’t catch the Broncos, falling to 10-12 overall and 2-7 in the Mountain West Conference with their fourth loss in their last five games.
The Rams trailed by 17 early in the second half and began to slowly chip away at the Boise State lead. A jumper by Isaiah Stevens made it a six-point game at 51-45 with 14:57 remaining, but that would be as close as CSU would get.
Boise State steadily increased its lead, which finally reached 21 points at the end of the game. CSU made only one of its last nine shots from the floor.
Stevens led the Rams with 19 points, 14 of those coming in the second half. He was the only CSU player in double figures, although Jalen Lake had nine and John Tonje, Isaiah Rivera and Patrick Cartier each had eight.
CSU shot only 41% for the game and was only 4-of-22 from 3-point range. Each team turned the ball over eight times and the Rams outrebounded the Broncos 30-25.
Boise State’s 59.2% shooting was the best by a CSU opponent this season. It was too much for the Rams to overcome.
Just as they did a week ago at Wyoming, the Rams dug themselves into a deep hole in the first half.
Boise State led the entire first half, opening the game with a 13-4 run. The Broncos’ largest lead was 20 points, at 39-19 with 4:10 left before halftime.
CSU managed to cut its deficit to 13 with 20 seconds left before Boise State hit a shot to take a 15-point lead into the break.
The Rams shot only 42.9% in the first half to Boise State’s 71.4%. CSU was 0-for-8 from 3-point range. Cartier led the Rams with seven points in the first half. Rivera had eight.
CSU will be back home Tuesday against UNLV. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Moby Arena.
