FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Regis coach Lonnie Porter didn’t think twice when asked who impressed him the most on the Colorado State team: freshman point guard Dorian Green.
“The Rams shot the ball well, especially that little kid from Kansas,” Porter said of Green. “We knew that he could shoot it, and he shot it well.
Green had 17 points to go along with 18 points and seven rebounds from Andy Ogide to lead Colorado State past Regis 74-65 in an exhibition game Tuesday night.
“I thought Dorian Green looks like a player,” said Colorado State coach Tim Miles. “I liked the way two of our freshmen, Green and Pierce Hornung, played.”
Green was 5-for-9 shooting and had three 3-pointers, two of them coming during a 10-0 run after Regis had closed the gap to 54-47 with 11:21 left in the game. He also had two assists and six rebounds in his collegiate debut.
“It was OK,” Green said of his first game. “There are still some little things I still need to improve on, especially defensively.”
There was no problem with his offense, except he appeared timid at first to look for his shot. He waited until nearly nine minutes into the game before he took a shot, a driving layup that he kissed off the glass.
“I think it’s a habit I’ve always had,” said Green, whose dad played football at Kansas from 1979-82. “I like to get a feel for the game before I really like to shoot it. I like to let the game come to me.”
Curtis Mitchell led Regis with 21 points. Matt Rosinski, who averaged 17.3 points a year ago, had 16.
“We worked hard and really stayed after Colorado State,” Porter said. “They were a little too big for us.”
Regis, a Division II school from Denver, shot 34 percent in the first half as Colorado State built a 38-28 lead. The Rangers were as close as 54-47 in the second half.
That’s when Travis Franklin began the 10-0 run with a strong move to the basket and Ogide followed it up with a hook shot. Two 3-pointers by Green and a short jumper by Ogide made it 64-47 with 8:07 remaining.
“I like that we have scorers like Green and Hornung because they can’t really double when you have people that can shoot and put the ball in the hole,” Ogide said. “I hope they keep putting it in.”
Miles had to do some juggling as starting point guard Jesse Carr missed the game with a stress fracture in his hip.
Porter had other issues. Six of his 11 players are new to the program.
“I have a bunch of new guys and have had only 15 practices to put our offense in,” Porter said. “Our primary offense isn’t in yet, so we were going off the cuff with some set plays.”
