If Colorado State had to struggle to hold off the worst men’s basketball team in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, just imagine when the Rams get to MWC regular-season champion San Diego State on Thursday.
In spite of 20 turnovers, no first-half points from all-MWC sophomore center Jason Smith and 28 points by Texas Christian’s Nile Murry – twice his output in the teams’ previous meeting – CSU survived 64-60 to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament at the Pepsi Center.
The Rams improved to 16-14, and the Horned Frogs finished 6-25.
“Our whole team’s confidence wasn’t up very much,” Smith said. “We had the play-in game, and it wasn’t doing it for us. We would have rather started in the real tournament.
“But we gutted it out. It wasn’t smooth offensively. The only thing that kept us in it was our defense when we got those stops at the end.”
TCU attempted three shots in the last 13 seconds, and all missed badly. The Rams, who went 3-of-9 from the foul line during one late second-half stretch, recovered in the last 67 seconds to go 4-of-6.
After missing one, Michael Harrison gave CSU a 61-60 lead with 1:07 left. Smith hit two more with 25 seconds left. Cory Lewis made one with 11 seconds left for the final score.
“I think they played very well,” TCU coach Neil Dougherty said of the Rams. “They made the plays down the stretch they needed to win the game.”
The same couldn’t have been said about three games CSU lost in the past month by margins of four points or fewer.
The Rams had a one-point halftime lead. Murry hit two foul shots with 15:07 left in the game to pull TCU ahead 37-35. After Harrison tied the game, Murry launched a 3-pointer over his constant companion, CSU’s Freddy Robinson. Lewis tied the game again and Robinson restored CSU’s lead on a layup.
Lewis’ 3-pointer opened a 9-0 run that gave the Rams a short-lived 47-40 lead. Murry and Neiman Owens combined for five quick points. Smith then made his first basket of the night with 9:56 left.
Murry hit again, and Judson Stubbs wheeled around Smith to tie it at 49-49.
CSU’s five-point lead again disappeared under a Murry assault.
Early on it was as if Robinson had never left the side of Murry, TCU’s star senior guard, since the teams last met Feb. 22. But Murry persisted and made some shots over Robinson’s best effort. The 28 points came on only 8-of-22 from the floor but 8-for-8 from the foul line.
“I thought Freddy did a terrific job on him, yet he made some great shots,” Rams coach Dale Layer said.
With the usual handful of NBA scouts looking on, Smith was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season. He and Layer attributed the slow start to jitters. After drawing his third foul just a minute and a half into the second half, Smith didn’t pick up another one.
Footnotes
CSU’s Micheal Morris did not suit up and is doubtful for Thursday because of a knee injury suffered Saturday. … CSU is 5-5 in MWC Tournament games. … Lewis’ nine assists tied for third in an MWC Tournament game.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
TCU (6-25)
Stubbs 5-14 1-1 12, Ibikunle 0-4 0-0 0, Hackett 4-8 1-2 11, Murry 8-22 8-8 28, Owens 2-4 0-1 4, Dougherty 0-0 0-0 0, Markley 0-0 0-0 0, Chinweze 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-4 1-2 1, Pierce 1-1 1-2 4, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 12-16 60.
COLORADO STATE (16-14)
Robinson 5-10 4-5 16, Smith 4-10 3-7 11, Harrison 5-8 2-3 12, Lewis 1-5 3-6 6, Gilling 0-1 0-0 0, Clark 0-0 2-2 2, S. Morris 4-8 1-2 11, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 0-0 0-0 0, Creason 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 22-47 15-25 64.
Halftime – Colorado State 27-26. 3-point goals – TCU 8-21 (Murry 4-10, Hackett 2-5, Pierce 1-1, Stubbs 1-2, Owens 0-1, Adams 0-2), Colorado St. 5-10 (Robinson 2-2, S. Morris 2-4, Lewis 1-3, Gilling 0-1). Fouled out – Owens, Stubbs. Rebounds – TCU 29 (Ibikunle, Stubbs 6), Colorado St. 35 (Smith 8). Assists – TCU 5 (Dougherty 3), Colorado St. 13 (Lewis 9). Total fouls – TCU 24, Colorado St. 19.
A – 3,823.
