EUGENE, Ore.—Andre McFarland scored 13 points and Colorado State overcame a turnover-filled first half Saturday to beat Winston-Salem State 57-40 in the BTI Tip-Off Tournament.
McFarland was 5-of-11 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds for Colorado State (2-0).
Winston-Salem (0-2) led by as many as 10 points in the first half, helped by 15 Colorado State turnovers.
“I only saw the second half,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “I was blanked out with anger the first half.”
Miles said his team doesn’t have enough talent to put on such a poor performance in one half against anybody.
“I thought our kids were ready to play tonight but we weren’t ready to be challenged,” he said “Winston-Salem came off an embarrassing loss (94-42 against Oregon) and came out with fire and intensity and they challenged us. We weren’t ready for that.”
Colorado State scored six straight points in the second half to take a 29-28 lead and went a nine-point run to lead by 13 in the final three minutes to win it.
Winston-Salem didn’t score in the second half until forward McIntoche Alcius hit a free throw at the 12:51 mark.
Shelton Carter led Winston-Salem with 14 points and eight rebounds, but the team shot just 26.5 percent from the field.
The Rams weren’t much better, shooting only 33 percent, and they will play Oregon on Sunday.
“Tonight was a game that was harder to handle for us than tomorrow (against Oregon) might be,” Miles said. “We know were going to get challenged and overwhelmed at times against Oregon but, at the same time, we’re not in a position to be the favorite very often and we haven’t been the last two years.”
Winston Salem will play UC Davis on Sunday.
