Fort Collins – A convoy of front-end loaders and trucks formed a precision drill Tuesday afternoon. They were rearranging mountains of snow in the Moby Arena parking lot to open up more spaces for tonight’s Air Force- Colorado State men’s basketball game.
If only it were that easy for CSU to rearrange the Mountain West Conference landscape.
A year ago, CSU was riding high with an 11-2 nonconference record only to collapse in the MWC opener at eventual champion San Diego State. The Rams played four of their first five MWC games on the road last season, started 1-4 and set the pace for an eighth-place finish.
This time the Rams are 10-2, mindful of history but eager to start at home. The Rams and No. 20 Falcons (13-1) enter with nine-game winning streaks. CSU gets to play two of the first five at home.
“That’s definitely something on the returnees’ minds,” said 7-foot junior center Stuart Creason, who has become a significant force for the Rams with averages of 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. “With these new guys and especially the way we’ve been playing together as a team lately, the past is less on our minds than the present. We got a great team to play in Air Force here, and we’re paying attention to them rather than what we did last year.”
Creason admitted to some overconfidence among the Rams a year ago.
“I just think we’re a much better team this year,” he said. “We have four or five good guards, and you can’t leave any of them open.”
He described this team as much closer than past CSU squads, from hanging out together off the court to sharing the ball more on the court.
“We don’t want the same thing (as last year) to happen again,” said guard Cory Lewis, CSU’s only senior starter. “It helps a lot starting at home. We want to take it a little farther this year.”
CSU coach Dale Layer hopes his veterans learned from a year ago. “But we have a different team,” he said.
Layer rates the Falcons as “good or better than” the 2004-05 Utah team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“They’ve got great chemistry, and they are shooting as well as anyone in the country,” Layer said. “We have to play our best game. Air Force hasn’t had a close game in over a month.”
The Falcons have four starters averaging double-figure scoring, with junior guard Tim Anderson right behind at 9.9 points per game.
“It’s why they are so good,” Lewis said. “It’s not just one person. You have to worry about the whole team.”
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
