Colorado State shuts down New Mexico for 21st win

CSU knew what was coming late Tuesday night.

Every play New Mexico's men's basketball team ran, the Rams were ready to defend against.

They forced 16 turnovers, stealing the ball away eight times, blocked five shots and limited the Lobos to 33 percent shooting in the first half while building a comfortable 16-point lead.

The Rams (21-4, 8-4 Mountain West) went on to win 70-59 before 5,812 fans at Moby Arena and a national ESPNU television audience.

"We knew all their plays, and we just executed defensively really well," CSU senior J.J. Avila said afterward. "We held them to one shot, we let them settle for some shots and we just caught the rebound and took it."

Sometimes, they took the ball away before the Lobos could get a shot off, and their aggressive approach to fighting through screens created five more turnovers from offensive fouls.

"I thought it was our best defensive execution because of the opponent and how well they ran their stuff," CSU coach Larry Eustachy said.

It certainly appeared that way, particularly over the first 25 minutes as the Rams built their lead to as many as 23 points before bogging down offensively late in the game. The Rams, during one stretch in the second half, missed nine consecutive field goals while allowing New Mexico (14-10, 6-6) to get back into the game. The Lobos closed within eight points three times in the final 2:48 but couldn't get any closer.

"I thought for 30 minutes, we were terrific and then we got a little tentative offensively," Eustachy said.

It didn't hurt as much as it could have.

The Rams shot just 36 percent from the floor and were out-rebounded 43-38. The Rams' top three scorers combined to make just 8 of 35 field goals.

Yet the Rams were in control of the game from start to finish against a team they had lost to 66-53 on Jan. 3 in Albuquerque, snapping a season-opening 14-game winning streak. CSU hadn't beaten the Lobos since Feb. 21, 2012, when Tim Miles was coach and none of this year's players were yet playing for the Rams.

Avila, a forward, had 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Junior guard Joe De Ciman made 4 of 7 3-pointers while scoring 14 points. And senior guard Daniel Bejarano scored 12 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had four assists. He scored his 1,000th career point, becoming just the third player in school history to get to 1,000 career points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists.

Senior guard Deshawn Delaney scored 21 points for New Mexico, which gave up 70 points for the first time this season.

But it was the hard-nosed defense that set the tone early and carried the Rams. CSU scored 21 points off turnovers and only let the Lobos get to the foul line 13 times, where they made nine free throws. New Mexico shot 40 percent overall (23 of 58), making just 4 of 16 3-pointers.

CSU moved within a half-game of MW co-leaders Wyoming (19-5, 8-3) and San Diego State (18-6, 8-3), who play each other Wednesday night in San Diego, in the race for the conference title with six regular-season games remaining. CSU visits San Diego State on Saturday. Only five other CSU teams have won 21 games in a season, and all five have gone on to play in the NCAA tournament.

This one will, too, Bejarano said.

"We have a lot of doubters and haters everywhere -- here, wherever," Bejarano said. "So we've just got to continue to stick together and know that we are going to make a big impact these last few games, in the Mountain West tournament and the NCAA, because we will get in."

Follow Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news





Next up: CSU at San Diego State, 6 p.m. Saturday, Viejas Arena, San Diego

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C SU 70, New Mexico 59

At Moby Arena

New Mexico 19 40 — 59 CSU 35 35 — 70

New Mexico (14-10, 6-6 MW) — Williams 2-6 3-4 7, Logwood 3-6 0-2 6, Aget 0-1 0-0 0, Greenwood 3-10 0-0 8, Delaney 8-14 4-4 21, N'Ganga 1-2 0-0 2, Goodman 0-7 0-0 0, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 5-8 0-1 11, Furstinger 1-3 0-0 2, Jacobs 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 23-58 9-13 59.

Colorado State (21-4, 8-4 MW) — Kidd 3-13 2-2 8, Daniels 2-2 0-3 4, Avila 5-10 8-11 18, Bejarano 3-12 4-6 12, De Ciman 4-8 2-2 14, Clavell 2-9 4-5 9, Gillon 1-2 2-2 5m Hurst 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 22-31 70.

A — 5,812