FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Greg Smith watched Ronnie Moss light up Colorado State’s defense for 19 points in the first half of Wednesday night’s game against TCU. He wasn’t about to let it happen in the second half.
“Moss had been getting loose in the lane and also getting free to make a lot of 3-pointers,” Smith said. “I tried to just cover him and keep him out of the lane.”
The plan worked. Not only did Smith limit the second-half damage to two late free throws, he forced Moss into committing four turnovers in the final half as well.
“We had run a lot of guys at Moss in the first half,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “Greg used his length to do a good job on him. I’d say Greg was our knight in shining armor.”
Smith also provided some scoring. He had a career-high 15 points, and Travis Busch made four free throws in the final 26 seconds as Colorado State snapped a three-game losing streak with a 63-57 victory.
Andy Ogide added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams (12-8, 3-3 Mountain West). Ogide had been slumping of late, scoring four points in each of his last two games.
Moss led TCU (10-11, 2-4) with 21 points but had only two in the second half. Edvinas Ruzgas scored 14 for the Horned Frogs, who have lost nine consecutive conference road games over the last two years.
“They took away (Moss’) shots in the second half,” TCU coach Jim Christian said. “A lot of points he had in the first half came in transition, and he didn’t get as many in transition in the second half because we couldn’t get as many stops.”
The Horned Frogs hurt themselves by committing 16 turnovers, shooting 35.4 percent and giving up 32 points in the paint.
“You never win when you turn the ball over 16 times on the road and give layups with the game tied,” Christian said. “You have to be sound at either end, and we have not done that consistently all year.”
Smith made four straight free throws to put the Rams up 37-31 early in the second half. Xavier Roberson’s layup off a steal later tied it at 45 with 5:54 left.
Ogide and Smith scored in the paint to put the Rams back up 49-45, but they couldn’t shake TCU. Ruzgas closed the gap to 49-48 with a 3-pointer. Ruzgas later hit another 3-pointer to get the Horned Frogs within 58-55 with 1:31 to go.
Smith missed a shot at the other end with 51 seconds to go, but the Rams got the ball back when Dorian Green drew a charging foul on Moss. Busch took advantage, sinking two free throws that were offset by two from Moss with 21 seconds left that made it 60-57.
But Busch converted two more free throws and Smith one between a missed layup by Roberson to seal the win. Busch finished with seven points, five of them from the line.
“I’ve been in that situation a lot,” Busch said. “You just have to have a lot of confidence down the stretch.”
