For two straight seasons, the UNLV Rebels pushed and punched the Colorado State men’s basketball team and called Moby Arena their own.
Not anymore. CSU pushed back Wednesday night in a big way.
The Rams made another NCAA Tournament-worthy statement in front of a deafening near-sellout crowd at Moby Arena, rallying from 16 points down to upset the 17th-ranked Rebels 66-59. For those writing the Rams out of the NCAA Tournament equation, revisions will be needed.
CSU’s résumé sparkles. The Rams, already No. 27 in the RPI, now have three wins over RPI top-50 teams, which doubles as three wins over ranked teams. CSU has beaten all three of the conference leaders in the Mountain West, teams considered to be locks to get in the NCAA Tournament.
Also, the Rams finished undefeated at home in Mountain West games and won 13 consecutive home games overall to finish 14-1 at Moby Arena this season.
“I couldn’t even hear myself think out there toward the end of the game,” CSU forward Pierce Hornung said. “(The fans) were so loud.”
That support buoyed the Rams, who had to dig deep to win.
Most of the first half was a disaster for CSU, which A) couldn’t make a shot; B) couldn’t stop UNLV from making shots, most notably 3-pointers; C) turned the ball over seven times, which UNLV cashed in for 11 points; and D) couldn’t get guard Dorian Green going from long range or Hornung going on the boards.
UNLV led by 15 points at halftime.
“We just kind of looked each other in the eye at halftime and we knew we had to be better,” Green said. “That’s all it was.”
And yet, things looked bleak for CSU, which fell behind by 16 points early in the second half. But when things got better for the Rams, it happened with lightning speed.
The shots UNLV was making were suddenly rimming out or missing outright. A passive CSU team became more aggressive. Shots the Rams (18-10, 7-6 Mountain West) couldn’t get to fall in the first half were finding the bottom of the net with regularity. And with one whirlwind 22-5 run, CSU had its first lead of the game.
The Rams held UNLV (24-7, 8-5) to just 18 points in the second half and held UNLV’s leading scorer, Mike Moser, to five points – nine under his average – on 1-of-10 shooting.
“The second half, we just had more presence about us,” CSU coach Tim Miles said. “I didn’t say that much (at halftime). I think they just decided they needed to play.”
Green scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for the Rams, who also received 11 points from guard Wes Eikmeier. Hornung, who got stronger as the game wore on, finished with eight rebounds, six points and four steals.
“I really like this team and I trust this team,” Miles said. “Name the alley, name the foxhole … I’m taking these guys.”
