FORT COLLINS — Whether it’s Colorado State coach Tim Miles talking to fans or guard Wes Eikmeier chatting with students on campus, when the conversation is about basketball everyone has a question followed by a statement.
Question: When is the game against Colorado?
Statement: You better win.
It really is a simple as that. Colorado State returns to the hardwood Wednesday night at Moby Arena against rival Colorado after a seven-day layoff.
“This is the game that I hear the single most about,” Miles said. “So when I’m out talking to our alumni and fans this is the game that I know matters most to them. And that means it matters to me and it matters to our players, no doubt about it. We know it’s an important rivalry and we’re excited to go out and compete.”
Added Eikmeier: “That’s when the students start really getting excited about basketball, when the CU game rolls around. Our peers ask for tickets and are wondering when the game is and telling us that they’ll be here to support us. So it really gets us excited. I think Moby will be a fun atmosphere tomorrow night.”
In that game, Colorado State faces a familiar face on an otherwise unfamiliar CU team.
Senior Carlon Brown leads CU in scoring with 15.2 points per game, a guard the Rams know very well. Brown came to CU from Utah, where the Rams saw him for three seasons before he transferred to Colorado. He did briefly put his name in for the 2010 NBA draft before withdrawing to join the Buffs.
Brown has faced CSU six times in his career, averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds against the Rams. Brown shoots 38.4 percent from the field (20-of-52) and 23 percent (3-of-13) from 3-point range against CSU and averages nearly four free throw attempts.
“Carlon Brown, we remember playing him when he was at Utah,” said Eikmeier, who leads CSU at 17.0 points per game. “He’s a good scorer, he can really attack the hoop. He’s athletic, good basketball body. He’s aggressive. We just can’t let him get going. If he gets really comfortable he’s going to be dangerous and has the capability of hurting us a lot. So, if we stay into him and stick to our defensive gameplan I think we’ll be OK.”
Outside of that, Colorado puts a host of players on court that are new to most everyone that isn’t part of the everyday operations of that program. Three of the team’s top six scorers are freshmen (guards Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie) and a sophomore (forward Andre Roberson).
“I was curious to see what their team was going to look like losing (Cory) Higgins and (Alec) Burks, and I’ve been impressed with them.” Miles said. “I like their returners — Roberson is really tough. He’s really got a lot of talent. Austin Dufault I’ve watched since he was a kid. I’m really impressed with the athleticism and the play of those two young guards — Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker. Those two guys are really impressive to me. So I’m excited about the matchup.”
Meanwhile, Colorado State brings a two-game winning streak into the matchup after winning twice in the NIT Season Tip-Off last week. The Rams will be without hard-nosed forward Pierce Hornung, who continues to battle lingering symptoms from a concussion he suffered in a game against Stanford on Nov. 15.
Hornung’s absence continues be a big blow for a CSU team that operates as a scrappy unit.
“We need to play good defense,” Miles said. “We need to not let them get into transition, which means you have to handle the ball well and take good shots and then hustle back in conversion. We have to eliminate their transition game as much as we can.
“And we have to get to their guys, get to those guys who are players — keep Roberson off the blocks, don’t let Carlon Brown get going, don’t give those other guys open looks. Do what we do best on defense.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
