FORT COLLINS — Dorian Green’s hot hand had taken a two-week hiatus, its own holiday break, but on Saturday night all was right again.
Green, the Colorado State junior guard, poured in 21 points as the Rams beat Nebraska Omaha 87-63 at Moby Arena. It was the fifth straight win for the surging Rams (10-4), who reached 10 wins in the nonconference schedule for the second consecutive season.
A win over DU on Wednesday night would give CSU its best start under coach Tim Miles and the program’s best start since going 11-3 at the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
“This game is certainly what we need to get ready for Denver,” Miles said. “Denver is an outstanding team. It’s (coach) Joe Scott’s best team since he’s been in Denver, and it’s probably Denver’s best team since they went Division I.”
The only moments of any concern came at the outset when the Mavericks took a quick 3-0 lead. Colorado State answered quickly and with conviction, snatching the lead back by making seven of its first 11 shots, including 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. CSU pushed the lead to 14 at halftime and to 29 in the second half.
Green had not scored in double figures since torching Northern Colorado for a career-high 36 points on Dec. 22. At the time, it was part of his four straight games in double figures, and his points-per-game average reached a high-water mark of 14.2. Since then, he’d gone a combined 4-of-15 in two games, scoring a total of 10 points.
But things got back on track for him.
“I wanted to come out and just get back to what I was doing and just get a rhythm going again,” Green said. “I got some open shots and got to the foul line early tonight, so that kind of helped me get in rhythm.”
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
NEBRASKA OMAHA (6-11)
Welhouse 4-11 2-3 10, Karhoff 5-9 0-0 10, Carter 2-8 2-3 7, Steffensmeier 0-5 0-0 0, Albers 5-14 3-4 15, Coleman 4-6 0-0 8, Gandy 1-4 0-0 3, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Egli 3-4 0-0 9, Farr 0-0 0-0 0, Ring 0-2 1-2 1, Hagerbaumer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 8-12 63.
COLORADO STATE (10-4)
Bell 4-6 1-2 9, Eikmeier 2-10 0-0 5, Sabas 3-5 0-0 8, Green 6-7 7-7 21, D. Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Mann 0-1 2-2 2, Hornung 2-2 1-2 5, Carr 3-6 0-1 6, Calcaterra 5-6 4-4 14, G. Smith 5-5 3-4 14. Totals 31-51 18-22 87.
Halftime — Colorado State 40-26. 3-point goals — Nebraska Omaha 7-19 (Egli 3-3, Albers 2-4, Carter 1-2, Gandy 1-4, Coleman 0-1, Steffensmeier 0-2, Welhouse 0-3), Colorado State 7-15 (Green 2-3, Sabas 2-3, G. Smith 1-1, D. Smith 1-3, Eikmeier 1-4, Carr 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Nebraska Omaha 34 (Welhouse 8), Colorado State 30 (Hornung 7). Assists — Nebraska Omaha 7 (Albers, Welhouse 2), Colorado State 22 (Carr 7). Total fouls — Nebraska Omaha 21, Colorado State 18. A — 3,000.
