Sleep an obstacle for CSU basketball before Mountain West championship
LAS VEGAS — Larry Eustachy was trying to rush his team out of the postgame press conference as quick as possible Friday night.
Or was it Saturday morning?
It was past midnight, local time, when the CSU men’s basketball took the stage following its 71-63 victory over San Diego State in the Mountain West tournament semifinal, and it was clear the Rams’ coach only had one thing on his mind — getting his players back to the hotel and into bed.
“What time is the game tomorrow? 3:00. I don’t understand why there’s a 9:30 game,” said Eustachy, whose team didn’t tip off until 9:50 p.m. “But it’s midnight, these guys are going to bed. It’s supposed to be about the student-athlete. … With the adrenaline and what have you, it’s hard to fall asleep, it really is.”
It’s hard to blame him for trying to cut questions short. The Rams were 15 hours from tipoff of the championship game, scheduled for 4 p.m. (3 p.m. PT) at the Thomas & Mack Center against top-seeded Nevada — the only team to beat them in the past 10 contests. And in order for Colorado State University to win Saturday, it’s going to take one of the Rams’ best performances of the season — or one of Nevada’s worst.
LIVE: Mountain West basketball tournament central 2017
The problem isn’t so much the game plan — Larry Eustachy was voted the Mountain West Coach of the Year by the media and his peers for good reason. It’s that the amount of raw talent Nevada has that, top to bottom, is unmatched by anyone in the conference.
“Nevada might be a level above everybody. They’re awfully good, they’re well-coached and talented,” Eustachy said. “I just know we have our hands full tomorrow. I know what we’re up against, and we’re up against it for sure, and that’s why I want to get these guys to put this one behind them and try and understand what we’re playing for, because there’s a big difference between winning and losing that game.”
A win means an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, the program’s first since 2012-13, and neither team is on the proverbial bubble.
A loss? The Rams are likely to land in the NIT, a tournament they’ve placed a bid to host games in as a contingency plan, but that’s not guaranteed. And with only seven players on his active roster, including Gian Clavell and Emmanuel Omogbo, two of the most respected players Eustachy has ever coached, he wants to send those seniors out with a dance they’ll never forget.
And no matter how well CSU (23-10), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, is playing, it’s hard to stop Nevada.
Highlighted by the league’s second-leading scorer and newcomer of the year, point guard Marcus Marshall, every player in Nevada’s starting rotation is a threat from anywhere on the floor.
In a come-from-behind win in the semifinals Friday against Fresno State, Marshall had 28 points. Big man defensive player of the year Cameron Oliver added 27, including five 3-pointers. Jordan Caroline, an all-conference, added 10.
Four Wolf Pack starters are averaging at least 14.4 points per game and Oliver doesn’t allow anyone to have success in the paint, averaging 2.6 blocks.
CSU knows beating Nevada, which it lost the Mountain West regular season’s de facto championship game to in Reno a week ago Saturday, 85-72, will be its toughest challenge of the season. But the Rams have gotten this far with only seven guys and they’re not ready for this stunning run to come to an end. The team’s first Mountain West tournament championship since 2003 is on the line, and more importantly, an NCAA tournament berth.
But first, they must get some rest.
For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports editor Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.