FORT COLLINS — For 24 hours — before the rest of the league gets underway — Colorado State stands alone at the top of the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball standings.
The Rams won their MWC opener Tuesday night, beating Wyoming 73-60 before a crowd of 4,060 at Moby Arena.
And for that, the Rams (11-4) can thank senior guard Adam Nigon, who refused to put up a shot inside the 3-point arc.
“Nigon beat us,” Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said of the former walk-on’s 21 points, all on 3-pointers.
The final score represented a 26-point swing, after CSU’s self-destructive early streak. The Rams had more depth than the Cowboys, even though no one could match Desmar Jackson’s game-high 24 points for Wyoming (7-8).
Nigon’s 15 points in the first half represented CSU’s only consistent offensive threat until the final four minutes of the half. “I think I would have missed if I shot inside 20 feet,” Nigon said.
Wes Eikmeier provided CSU’s first lead of the game, 42-39 with 19:05 left in the game.
Although the Cowboys hadn’t played in a week, Jackson led the early assault that put Wyoming ahead by 13 points in the first half.
“Our defensive plan was to prevent them from driving,” said CSU sixth man Pierce Hornung, the game’s high rebounder with 12.
Hornung said CSU expected to give up 3-pointers and thought Wyoming would eventually stop making them.
“The first 15 minutes you have to credit Wyoming,” CSU coach Tim Miles said.
Schroyer said it was the best first half by the Cowboys all season. But he added, “We had no offensive flow in the second half.”
It was a familiar scenario for CSU, which made up a 17-point halftime gap against Hampton on Saturday only to lose in the final second. This time, CSU didn’t give back the lead.
“It’s definitely a bad habit, but we showed we are resilient,” Rams forward Andy Ogide said.
Schroyer said the Cowboys tried to shoot down CSU’s inside attack of Ogide and Travis Franklin. Instead, Nigon did a lot of the damage and Ogide hit his second 3-pointer of the season for a 62-53 lead.
Wyoming connected on 8-of-15 behind the arc in the first half with four Cowboys making at least one.
Greg Smith, who remains CSU’s last player off the bench, scored seven of the Rams’ final nine first-half points. Smith provided the spark to turn a 39-26 deficit with 5:07 left to trailing only 39-37 at halftime.
For most of the comeback, sophomore guard Dorian Green was the lone CSU starter on the floor.
After playing eight games in 16 days, the Rams take a much-needed break before playing at New Mexico next week.
“I wrote 1-0 on the board,” Miles said of his postgame scribble. “We’re in first place all by our lonesome selves.”
FG FT Reb
WYOMING Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt
M’Baye 28 1-4 2-2 1-6 2 2 4
Thiam 31 1-4 3-4 1-3 1 1 5
Luster 39 1-4 1-8 0-0 4 0 4
Jackson 37 9-16 4-4 2-7 3 3 24
Cruz 38 5-12 2-2 1-3 2 3 14
Gibson 8 0-0 0-0 1-3 0 4 0
Muojeke 13 3-8 0-0 0-3 0 2 9
Waddell 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 20-48 12-20 7-27 12 16 60
Percentages: FG .417, FT .600. 3-point goals: 8-23, .348 (Muojeke 3-7, Jackson 2-6, Cruz 2-6, Luster 1-2, M’Baye 0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 5 (M’Baye 3, Thiam, Jackson). Turnovers: 8 (Jackson 3, M’Baye 3, Muojeke 2). Steals: 6 (Jackson 2, Thiam 2, M’Baye, Luster). Technical fouls: M’Baye. FG FT Reb
FG FT Reb
COLO. STATE Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt
Franklin 15 1-3 2-4 2-3 3 0 4
Ogide 33 6-9 0-0 1-8 3 1 13
Eikmeier 29 3-11 2-2 0-2 4 1 11
Nigon 29 7-10 0-0 1-4 1 3 21
Green 33 3-6 1-3 0-3 6 3 9
Hornung 26 1-4 0-0 5-12 2 3 2
Wiltz 10 0-3 4-4 0-0 1 0 4
Carr 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
McFarland 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Bell 6 1-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 2
GSmith 11 3-4 0-1 1-2 1 0 7
Totals 200 25-52 9-15 11-37 22 14 73
Percentages: FG .481, FT .600. 3-point goals: 14-27, .519 (Nigon 7-10, Eikmeier 3-5, Green 2-5, Ogide 1-1, G. Smith 1-1, Hornung 0-1, Carr 0-1, Wiltz 0-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 4 (Bell 2, Ogide, G. Smith). Turnovers: 13 (Ogide 3, Eikmeier 2, Carr 2, Wiltz 2, Green, Hornung, Franklin). Steals: 4 (Eikmeier 2, Hornung, Green). Technical fouls: None.
Wyoming 39 21 — 60
Colorado State 37 36 — 73
A — 4,060. Officials —Mike Reed, Tony Padilla, Kevin Brill.
Natalie Meisler: 303 954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
