Fort Collins – With five seconds left Tuesday night, Utah coach Ray Giacoletti left his chair to congratulate Colorado State counterpart Dale Layer. Giacoletti had seen enough of his team’s 73-57 loss.
Colorado State not only made it six games in a row shooting over 50 percent, the Rams outrebounded Utah by 15. Utah (5-11, 0-3 Mountain West Conference), which entered the game second in the league with a plus-six rebound margin, has its worst conference record since 1953.
“They are a really good basketball team,” Giacoletti said. “They have three really good perimeter guys and two inside guys, with one very special,” referring to 7-foot forward Jason Smith.
The Rams (12-3, 2-1) led almost the entire first half, taking a 10-point halftime advantage. A 15-3 run in the first seven minutes of the second half gave CSU a commanding 52-30 lead.
A flurry of 3s by Johnnie Bryant and Luka Drca prevented complete humiliation for the Utes.
“We knew we were more athletic than them, and we really wanted to focus on outrebounding them,” said CSU’s 7-0 center, Stuart Creason.
Utah’s 7-1 sophomore Luke Nevill and Creason virtually negated each other, although Creason had help before getting Nevill in foul trouble.
Nevill, who entered the week second in MWC shooting percentage behind Creason at .667, and third in scoring with 18.3 points, managed only 2-of-7 from the floor and finished with 10 points.
“That was kind of my challenge all week in practice,” Creason said, “just to put a body on him and take away what he does best, which is get deep catches and go up over guys.”
Smith, the MWC’s leading rebounder coming in with 10 a game, didn’t have the usual 20-10 night that earned him a share of league player of the week honors.
Smith finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, in part because he sat much of the second half after hitting the floor hard. He yielded rebound honors to Cory Lewis. The generously listed 6-0 guard was all over the court nearly in reach of a triple-double, finishing with nine rebounds to go with his 12 points and seven assists.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Lewis said. “I was just being aggressive. I would go check out somebody and go get the rebound.”
Footnotes
Freshman Jarrel Smith, a forward from Encino, Calif., who did not return after the holiday break, is officially off the team, along with his brother Jimmie, who was redshirting. “He was unhappy with his role,” Layer said of the freshman’s limited playing time. Freshmen who transfer at midseason lose a year of eligibility.
UTAH (5-11, 0-3 MWC)
Weigh 0-1 1-2 1, Green 4-8 0-0 11, Nevill 2-7 6-7 10, Bryant 6-12 0-0 16, Borha 1-2 0-2 2, Eatmon 0-0 0-0 0, Grant 0-0 0-0 0, Drca 3-6 2-2 11, Deane 1-2 0-2 2, Radojevic 0-2 0-0 0, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Johns 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 19-46 9-15 57.
COLORADO STATE (12-3, 2-1)
Jas. Smith 3-6 7-8 13, Creason 3-5 3-5 9, Lewis 5-8 0-0 12, T. Smith 4-7 3-4 13, Denson 3-8 7-8 13, Kilby 2-2 3-5 7, F. Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Aguilar 0-0 0-0 0, Gilling 2-6 0-1 6. Totals 22-42 23-31 73.
Halftime – Colorado State 37-27. 3-point goals – Utah 10-17 (Bryant 4-7, Drca 3-3, Green 3-5, Borha 0-1, Johns 0-1), Colorado St. 6-17 (T. Smith 2-4, Gilling 2-4, Lewis 2-5, Denson 0-4). Fouled out – Green. Rebounds – Utah 20 (Nevill 5), Colorado St. 35 (Lewis 9). Assists – Utah 12 (Drca, Grant 3), Colorado St. 18 (Lewis 7). Total fouls – Utah 23, Colorado St. 20. A – 3,642.
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
