Colorado State University faced a challenging game at home, losing to New Mexico 80-70 on Tuesday evening at Moby Arena. This defeat leaves the Rams with a record of 10-5 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain West Conference, while New Mexico improves to 12-3 and 3-1 in league play. Notably, two of CSU”s three conference losses have occurred at home, with their only win coming against Grand Canyon last Saturday.
The Rams struggled to find their rhythm, particularly in the opening moments of the game. “It”s kind of the same story with all five losses this year,” said CSU head coach Ali Farokhmanesh. “I think we tip-toe into the games. We don”t run into the fight right now. We got a little shell-shocked with the pressure and you could see it in the rhythm of our offense. We”ve got to know that by now. We”ve talked about it, but there”s got to be a little different fight than what is showing up offensively.”
After a competitive start that featured three ties and two lead changes within the first five minutes, the Lobos seized control of the game. A three-pointer from Antonio Chol broke an 8-8 tie, and New Mexico would not look back. The Lobos established a lead of as much as seven points, but the Rams managed to close the gap at times, getting within two points on a layup by Brandon Rechsteiner that made it 21-19 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. However, New Mexico quickly responded with an 8-0 run, extending their lead to 29-19.
The Lobos reached their largest advantage of the first half at 37-24 before the Rams ended the half on a slight surge, trailing 39-30 at the break. CSU shot 48 percent from the field compared to New Mexico”s 45.5 percent. Augustinas Kiudulas led the Rams with 11 points in the first half, and CSU also held a slight edge on the boards, out-rebounding New Mexico 17-15.
Kiudulas ultimately finished the game with a team-high 20 points, continuing to impress as he steps in for injured players Kyle Jorgensen and Rashaan Mbemba. Mbemba participated in warm-ups, and Farokhmanesh indicated that he is nearing a return to the lineup. “We”re asking a lot of him to learn basically the perimeter spot because one through four do a lot of the same things,” Farokhmanesh noted. “To learn all that all summer and all fall and a new offense, that”s difficult in and of itself. And then, two weeks later, you ask him, “Hey, you”re going to actually run a new spot,” and it”s completely different from what you”ve been doing all year, and he took it head on.”
As the second half commenced, CSU managed to narrow the gap to 43-39 following a jumper by Rechsteiner. Unfortunately for the Rams, that would be their closest moment of the night. The Lobos extended their lead to double digits for the first time since the first half with a three-pointer from Chol, pushing the score to 55-44. New Mexico”s lead grew to as much as 57-44, and CSU could not recover, never getting closer than eight points thereafter.
“I feel like we”ve got to be better at the start of the game,” Kiudulas remarked. “We”ve just got to start off strong because I feel like the way we started is going to set the tone for the game, so we”ve just got to be better there.”
In addition to Kiudulas” contributions, Jase Butler scored 14 points, while Rechsteiner added 13. Both teams recorded 32 rebounds, with Carey Booth leading the Rams with six boards.
CSU will look to bounce back when they host UNLV on Friday at 8 PM at Moby Arena.
