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Rams, Buffs gaining momentum as March approaches

By Kyle Standfield

Feb 14, 2017; Laramie, WY, USA; Colorado State Rams guard Gian Clavell (3) controls the ball against the Wyoming Cowboys during the second half at Arena-Auditorium. The Rams beat the Cowboys 78-73. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 14, 2017; Laramie, WY, USA; Colorado State Rams guard Gian Clavell (3) controls the ball against the Wyoming Cowboys during the second half at Arena-Auditorium. The Rams beat the Cowboys 78-73. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 14, 2017; Laramie, WY, USA; Colorado State Rams guard Gian Clavell (3) controls the ball against the Wyoming Cowboys during the second half at Arena-Auditorium. The Rams beat the Cowboys 78-73. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 14, 2017; Laramie, WY, USA; Colorado State Rams guard Gian Clavell (3) controls the ball against the Wyoming Cowboys during the second half at Arena-Auditorium. The Rams beat the Cowboys 78-73. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports /

The Rams currently sit atop the Mountain West standings at 10-4 and with the conference tournament just three weeks away, are poised to enter as one of the top seeds. Senior guard Gian Clavell has led CSU on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he is averaging 18.7 points and 1.7 assists per game on 43.6 percent shooting including almost 40 percent from distance. Clavell has had games of 37, 28, and 24 twice in the last five weeks as the Rams have gone 8-3 over that stretch. Defensively, Clavell is pulling down an impressive 6.3 rebounds and adding 1.7 steals per game, too.

In fact, just recently CSU head coach Larry Eustachy said Clavell was one of the best guards he has ever coached.

"“I’d say he is the second best guard I have ever coached, and he is. He is a very unselfish player and he tries to get his teammates involved early. He takes a lot of pride in taking on the best player, if he’s a perimeter guy, and stopping him,” Eustachy said after a win over Utah State last week."

Rams Senior forward Emmanuel Emogbo is currently leading the Mountain West conference in rebounding at 10.8 per game, and has recorded a double-double in nine of the Rams’ last 12 contests. In their most recent game, Omogbo posted 16 points and 11 rebounds, while in late January, he had a monstrous, 20 points and 16 boards outing against Utah State. CSU currently has the second best rebounding margin in the Mountain West conference at +3.1, which has been a major contributor to the team’s success this season.

Colorado State have been getting it done defensively. Their opponents three-point shooting percentage of 30.9 percent is the second lowest in the conference behind Nevada and the Rams give up just 67.5 points per game, also good for second in the Mountain West. They are averaging 73 points per game and have a scoring difference of +5.4 in conference play.

CSU have been getting contributions from a number of players. Prentiss Nixon is currently averaging 12.3 points and 2.3 assists on 38 percent shooting and he has been distributing the ball better as of late. Nixon has posted assist totals of 2, 6, 7, 4, and 4 over his last five contests, which is much higher than his season average.

The Rams are currently playing well enough to make it to the big dance in March. However, they will need to finish their season strongly to ensure they have the easiest run to the Mountain West title and lock down an automatic spot at the tournament.

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