Colorado State Rams
Mountain West (25-8, 11-5)
Purchase Colorado State Merchandise
The Rams, like some other Mountain West teams, are struggling to impress many casual viewers who may not have seen many Colorado State games. The Rams are a very steady team and if they can get in rhythm they can go off offensively. Colorado State won strong non-conference games early in the season beating Montana and Denver, both teams with more than 20 wins and only suffered single digit losses. The Rams also knocked off Evansville and Virginia Tech.
Big Wins: 1/19 UNLV (66-61), 1/30 Boise State (77-57), 3/06 at Wyoming (78-56)
Bad Losses: 12/08 at Illinois-Chicago (55-64), 2/23 New Mexico (82-91)
Coach: Larry Eustachy (1 season at Colorado State)
Why They Can Surprise:
The Rams can simply surprise because opponents may not be ready for a physical team that has such strong leadership. The five main players for the Rams are all seniors giving CSU more incentive to go deep in this tournament to finish a great season. Big man Colton Iverson, at 6-10, averages 14.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. But opponents can’t just load the inside and cover Iverson since three other Rams, Dorian Green, Wes Eikmeier, and Greg Smith all average double digit scoring numbers as well. With the help of Iverson down low, the Rams average over 40 rebounds a game, ranking in the top five in the country, and rank in the top 50 in scoring with 73.6 points per game.
Why They Can Disappoint:
While the wins over Denver and Montana are impressive, that was a long time ago as far as the season goes, and those two teams have turned out to be very strong may not have been ready that early on. Once the Rams entered Mountain West conference play, they struggled to consistently beat the top teams in UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego State and Boise State.
Probable Starters:
Dorian Green, Senior, Guard, 12.8 ppg, 3.8 apg
Wes Eikmeier, Senior, Guard, 12.7 ppg, 2.2 apg
Greg Smith, Senior, Forward, 11.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg
Pierce Hornung, Senior, Forward, 8.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg
Colton Iverson, Senior, Forward/Center, 14.7 ppg, 9.8 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Joe De Ciman, Freshman, Guard, 1.0 ppg
Daniel Bejarano, Sophomore, Guard, 6.1 ppg, 1.0 apg, 5.5 rpg
Jon Octeus, Sophomore, Guard, 4.5 ppg, 1.3 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.6 (45th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 62.5 (68, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.1 (83, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.9 (86, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.2 (279, 9)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 33.5 (195, 5)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.6 (100, 5)
Rebound Margin: 12.4 (1, 1)
Assists Per Game: 13.2 (136, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 10.8 (11, 1)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
2012 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Murray State
2011 NIT First Round loss to Fairfield
2010 CBI First Round loss to Morehead State
2003 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Duke
1999 NIT First Round win over Mississippi State
1999 NIT Second Round win over Colorado
1999 NIT Quarterfinal loss to California
*all team stats through 3/10
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
