FORT COLLINS — Snapping out of it was the plan of the night for Colorado State in its Monday night consolation game in the NIT Season Tip-off.
First, a two-game losing streak had to be snapped. But to do that CSU first needed to snap out of early sluggishness against an energized Texas-San Antonio team. The Rams did just that and then some in an 85-75 victory at Moby Arena.
Junior Wes Eikmeier led the team, which played without forward Pierce Hornung (concussion), with 18 points. But the basketball hero of the night was senior walk-on Kaipo Sabas, who poured in 15 points on a night he won’t soon forget.
“He was in my office last spring,” CSU coach Tim Miles said, “and he said ‘Coach, I’m going to be a different guy next year. I think I was happy to be on the team. I want to play, and I want to prove to you I can play.’ “
The Rams needed every point Sabas contributed. He scored nine points — all on 3-pointers — to open the second half and get the Rams going. Still, UTSA, which went to the NCAA Tournament last season, was not going away easily or quickly.
With 7:55 left to play, UTSA, coached by former Littleton High star and Nuggets player Brooks Thompson, had a 66-64 lead.
But CSU (3-2) outscored the Roadrunners from that point to close matters. The Rams found a passing-and-slashing solution to a sticky, hard- to-solve 1-3-1 zone defense.
Dwight Smith slashed his way to 16 points for the Rams, Dorian Green added 15 and Will Bell finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Rams host Manhattan tonight.
“What I liked about it, is it was a complete 180 from the other night (a loss to Southern Miss),” Miles said. “We won as a team. Different guys picked us up.”
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO (2-2)
Hill 3-12 1-2 8, Vouyoukas 3-4 0-0 6, Franklin 3-4 0-1 7, Paye 3-5 3-4 10, Hale III 3-6 6-7 14, Nujic 1-4 0-0 3, Burrage 6-11 5-5 19, Johnson III 3-6 0-0 8, Sims 0-2 0-0 0, Wood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 15-19 75.
COLORADO STATE (3-2)
G. Smith 1-4 2-3 4, Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Eikmeier 5-8 5-8 18, Carr 1-6 2-3 4, Green 4-9 5-6 15, Mann 0-0 1-2 1, Sabas 5-7 0-0 15, Bell 4-6 2-2 10, D. Smith 4-6 7-10 16. Totals 25-47 24-34 85.
Halftime — CSU 43-42. 3-point goals — UTSA 10-24 (Johnson III 2-4, Hale III 2-4, Burrage 2-6, Nujic 1-1, Paye 1-2, Franklin 1-2, Hill 1-3, Sims 0-2), CSU 11-22 (Sabas 5-6, Eikmeier 3-6, Green 2-5, D. Smith 1-1, G. Smith 0-1, Carr 0-3). Fouled out — Hale III. Rebounds — UTSA 27 (Hill 9), CSU 33 (Bell 8). Assists — UTSA 11 (Paye 5), CSU 17 (Green 6). Total fouls — UTSA 23, CSU 19. A — 759.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
