The Colorado State Rams experienced a tough loss against New Mexico, falling 80-70 at Moby Arena on Tuesday. With this defeat, the Rams” record stands at 10-5 overall and 1-3 within the Mountain West Conference. Meanwhile, New Mexico improved to 12-3, with a conference record of 3-1. This marks the second home league loss for the Rams, with their only conference victory occurring on Saturday against Grand Canyon.
CSU struggled to find their footing early on, which proved detrimental as they were unable to match the Lobos” intensity. “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, New Mexico took control of the game. A three-pointer from Antonio Chol broke an 8-8 tie, allowing the Lobos to lead for the remainder of the contest. New Mexico expanded their lead to seven points, but the Rams made attempts to close the gap, with their nearest rally coming at 21-19 after a layup from Brandon Rechsteiner with 7:59 left in the first half.
Responding quickly, New Mexico launched an 8-0 run to pull ahead 29-19 with 6:58 left before halftime. By the end of the first half, the Lobos had established their largest lead of 37-24, though the Rams finished strong with a 6-2 run, going into the break trailing 39-30. CSU shot 48% from the field in the first half compared to New Mexico”s 45.5%, with Augustinas Kiudulas leading the Rams with 11 points. The Rams also edged the Lobos in rebounding, 17-15.
Kiudulas concluded the game with a team-high 20 points, continuing to show improvement as he fills in for injured players Kyle Jorgensen and Rashaan Mbemba. Farokhmanesh noted Kiudulas” adaptability to the new role despite the challenges he faces. “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 explained. “It”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.”
After halftime, CSU managed to narrow the deficit to 43-39 following a jumper by Rechsteiner with 18:19 remaining in the game. However, the Lobos quickly surged ahead, establishing a double-digit lead for the first time since the first half with another three-pointer from Chol, making it 55-44 with 14:04 left on the clock. New Mexico maintained a comfortable lead, reaching a high point of 57-44 after a turnaround jumper by Deyton Albury.
CSU could not recover, with their closest approach being an eight-point gap thereafter. “I feel like we”ve got to be better at the start of the game,” Kiudulas stated. “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.”
Alongside Kiudulas” performance, Jase Butler contributed 14 points, and Rechsteiner added 13 points for the Rams. Both teams finished with 32 rebounds, with Carey Booth leading CSU with six boards. The Rams will look to regroup as they prepare to face UNLV on Friday at 8 PM at Moby Arena.
