LAS VEGAS — Now, for nearly two days, Colorado State waits. And wonders. And hopes. Maybe even prays.
“It’s going to be long,” CSU coach Tim Miles said.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee will now decide the Rams’ fate after they dropped a 79-69 decision Friday night to San Diego State in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Minutes afterward was the chance for CSU players and Miles to continue to lobby for a spot. Miles, however, was all lobbied-out.
“We’ve made our case,” he said. “We don’t pass the eye test, the smell test, the airport test. But put me on the floor and let these guys compete, and we’ll see. We made our case.”
This is CSU’s NCAA Tournament portfolio: A 20-11 overall record, five wins in its last seven games, a 6-4 record in its last 10 games, a strength of schedule in the nation’s top 10, a nonconference strength of schedule in the nation’s top 30, and a 3-5 record vs. the RPI top 50. The biggest drawback is a 3-9 road record.
“Obviously we came into this tournament with the goal that we wanted to win this tournament,” guard Jesse Carr said. “We felt we could. We really believed we were going to. It’s tough that we fall short of our journey, but we’ve been working hard all year and I hope the journey doesn’t end now because I know this team has a lot more to give come postseason play.”
Friday’s shortcomings were mostly offensive, and those were due to a suffocating San Diego State defense.
Miles credited SDSU’s length for causing most of CSU’s problems.
Jamaal Franklin, the MWC player of the year, picked up two early fouls and went the bench. Instead of that hurting SDSU, his replacement — 6-foot-8 DeShawn Stephens — proved to be just as productive.
Stephens impacted both ends of the floor with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. He helped keep CSU’s best rebounder, Pierce Hornung, off the glass.
And yet for a half, CSU grinded the game out. The Aztecs played stout defense, but the Rams made enough shots in one-on-one scenarios that they went into halftime with a one-point lead.
But in the second half, those shots stopped falling. The offense, which was stifled to begin with, was joined by an inability to win the same one-on-one battles. It led to a 28-15 start in the second half for SDSU, and a 66-54 Aztecs lead.
The Aztecs led by as many as 12 in the second half.
“It just comes down to us not being as aggressive as we were yesterday,” guard Dorian Green said. “I think we were kind of letting them dictate the things we were doing offensively.”
CSU, which hit just 11-of-31 shots in the second half, was led by Dorian Green’s 20 points.
So let the waiting begin.
“We felt like we’ve done enough to get in, but we’ll just wait and see,” Hornung said. “It would be disappointing but it’s out of our hands. You can’t control it. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
