In my preview, I mentioned that I was worried that we’d see another letdown game on the road after a disappointing road loss. Unfortunately, my worries were confirmed, as the team had a performance that was frustrating for everyone involved. They’re still in an okay position in the conference, as they control their destiny for second place, but they’ll have to regroup from this one so they can finish the season strong.

Game Recap

Coming into this game, we were aware of two truisms about Colorado State: they have a really good offense and a sub-par defense. To me, that meant that we’d probably see a lot of points, and potentially a lot of runs. The beginning of the game made it seem like that was spot-on. The Rams scored 7 straight points out of the gate, forcing Coach Neal to take a quick timeout, then the Lobos immediately answered with an 11-0 run of their own. The pace was pretty frantic, with the teams trading baskets, and small runs, for most of the half. The Rams took control towards the end to go into the half with a six point lead, but given the way the game had been played, that didn’t really seem like too much of a deficit.

Then the second half started and CSU turned into the Golden State Warriors. In the first six minutes of the second half, the Rams went 6-8 from three point range, four of those coming from Antwan Scott. The last three, by John Gillon, gave the Rams a 16 point lead and seemed to take the wind out of the Lobos’ sails. There were a few moments where it looked like they were about to spring back to life, but whether it was because of a silly foul, a bad turnover, or a defensive lapse, those moments seemed to disappear quickly. CSU continued to tear apart the Lobos’ zone defense, which the Lobos stayed in for most of the half, expanding their lead to as much as 24. Really, the last 7 minutes or so felt like teams were just playing out the clock, especially given that neither team used more than two timeouts in the whole game, so when the game finally ended with an 86-69 Rams win, it felt like more of a relief than it should have.

This might have been the worst game that the Lobos have played since they lost to Washington St. out in Hawaii, which is definitely frustrating and disheartening to see this late in the season. But, if there’s any consolation, the Lobos were able to bounce back and win four straight games immediately afterwards. They absolutely have the talent to do that again, so the question is whether or not they’ll be able to pull themselves together before Saturday. Maybe a few days at home are exactly what they need.

Players of the Game

For each game, I’m choosing my top three players of the game and giving them points (3 for first, 2 for second, and 1 for third). We’ll keep track of the points all season.

1. Tim Williams (59 points on the season): Tim scored 17 points on 8 shots, which is both really impressive and a little discouraging. Impressive, because, well, scoring 17 points on 8 shots is great no matter who it was. However, it is a little discouraging that he only ended up with 8 shots. Opposing teams have been selling out trying to stop him for the past several games, and although he’s still been effective, the Lobos really haven’t found a way to either take advantage of that or to combat that to get him free. Of course, it feels funny to me that I look at a 17 point, 7 rebound performance and can wish that it had been even better. He really has been great this year.
2. Sam Logwood (12 points on the season): There was a point in the second half, when it seemed like just about everyone on the Lobos had thrown in the towel, that Sam made a couple of plays that made me realize that he cares as much as – if not more than –anyone on the team. He fought for rebounds, hit the floor for balls, and attacked on offense, seemingly trying to inject some life into the team’s play. He’s starting to take advantage of his size down low, posting smaller defenders up and drawing fouls, which really adds a nice dimension to his game.
3. Cullen Neal (17 points on the season): Cullen, slowly but surely, is showing some signs that he’s coming back around. He is playing under more control, taking more time on his threes, and is nailing his free throws. On the two threes he made, he caught the ball in rhythm and shot them with confidence, which made both shots no-doubters. He also ended up with four assists, including a really great lob to Obij when it looked like he was stuck at the top of the key. It’s things like that which can serve as a reminder to the potential he has as a player, and that can make him fun to watch.

Scattered Thoughts

• It’s starting to seem like the long season is starting to catch up to the team, both physically and mentally. Against CSU, the team looked a little out of it at times, making unusual lapses on both offense and defense, and some of the guys seem a bit banged up. I was a little afraid that this was going to happen, given that the team has had to play important games for the past month without any real breaks in-between. I still don’t know why they ended up with a conference schedule that used both of their bye days in the first half of the season, but I think that really did them a disservice. I think everyone involved with the program, whether it’s the players, the coaches, or even the fans, could use a little time to regroup. We’ll all have to do it quickly, though, as the next important game comes up this weekend.
• Against Air Force, Elijah noticeably tweaked his ankle a couple of times, but being the gamer that he is, he shook it off and played through it. However, based on the way he was moving against the Rams, it might be bothering him more than he’s letting on. Aside from some limping between plays and not having his usual quickness on defense, the clearest sign to me was that he was short on a lot of his shots, which usually indicates that he’s not getting the power from his legs that he’s used to. I’m sure that it was hard to do any real treatment on the road, so hopefully some time back home with the trainers and a few days off can get him back to normal.

Up Next

The Lobos come back home to face the two teams at the top of the conference standings. First up is Fresno State, who the Lobos are competing with for second place. The Lobos were able to beat them in Fresno way back on January 2^nd, so we’ll see if they’re able to get the sweep on Saturday.