FORT COLLINS — It is little consolation to Colorado State that the Rams seems to lead the Mountain West Conference in home-court scares of favored opponents.
The Rams still trail the league — winless at 0-6 and for the month of January — because they couldn’t answer Lorrenzo Wade’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in an 83-82 loss Tuesday night to San Diego State (15-6, 5-2 MWC) at Moby Arena.
The Rams were hoping to defeat a Division I team for the first time since playing Denver on Dec. 5.
MWC scoring leader Marcus Walker hit a 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key to give CSU an 82-80 lead with 39 seconds left.
But Wade, a 6-foot-6 transfer forward from Louisville, made the biggest long-range shot of the game.
“He’s not a good 3-point shooter, but he was on that one tonight,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. “In this league, whether you’re 5-0 or 0-5, you can win. I’m thankful and relieved to come out with a victory.”
CSU gave UNLV a fright to open MWC play at home and had TCU on the ropes for much of that game.
“It’s the same every game,” said Walker, who scored 26 points. “We don’t find a way to close out. We had a good shot at the end. It didn’t go in.”
Walker was referring to Willis Gardner’s miss just before the buzzer.
Walker, who came in averaging 23.2 points a game in league play, finally found some much-needed help. Guard Jesse Woodard and forward Flynn Clayman produced career highs at 18 and 12 points, respectively. Led by Walker’s 5-of-7 outing behind the arc, CSU hit 14-of-25 3-point attempts.
CSU coach Tim Miles suspected that Woodard and Clayman, both from California, were trying to prove something to their home-state team.
“I have a lot of friends on that team. There was a little more juice flowing. I felt good,” Woodard said.
SAN DIEGO STATE (15-6, 5-2 MWC)
Spain 1-8 4-4 6, Wade 7-11 2-4 18, White 8-11 1-2 17, Amoroso 10-17 3-4 23, Gay 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 3-6 3-3 10, Pastorek 1-1 0-0 3, Thomas 2-5 2-2 6, Davis 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 32-65 15-21 83.
COLORADO STATE (6-14, 0-6)
McFarland 1-5 2-4 4, Aguilar 3-11 2-3 8, Walker 10-18 1-1 26, Nigon 1-2 0-0 2, Gardner 2-8 2-2 7, Clayman 4-4 1-2 12, Simmons 2-5 0-0 5, Woodard 7-12 0-0 18. Totals 30-65 8-12 82.
Halftime — Colorado St. 37-35. 3-point goals — San Diego St. 4-16 (Wade 2-3, Pastorek 1-1, Williams 1-2, Thomas 0-1, Spain 0-1, Amoroso 0-2, Davis 0-3, Gay 0-3), Colorado St. 14-25 (Walker 5-7, Woodard 4-7, Clayman 3-3, Simmons 1-2, Gardner 1-3, McFarland 0-3). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — San Diego St. 46 (Amoroso 11), Colorado St. 26 (Aguilar 11). Assists — San Diego St. 17 (Wade 5), Colorado St. 16 (Gardner 5). Total fouls — San Diego St. 12, Colorado St. 15. A — 3,073.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
