Kevin Lytle | The Coloradoan

Niko Medved turned and kicked the bottom of the scorer table, knocking some padding loose.

It was a visible venting of frustration from the Colorado State basketball coach after yet another turnover on a sloppy day for his team.

Instead of a day to ease angst from a mini slide for the Rams, it was another aggravating game.

But most importantly, it ended in a win, as CSU beat San Jose State 78-71 at Moby Arena.

Here are three thoughts on the game.

Sloppiness worrisome

CSU (19-10, 10-6 Mountain West) started slow each of its last three games, coming to a head Tuesday in a blowout loss at UNLV.

The hope was playing a bad San Jose State (7-21, 3-13 MW) team at home would be a catalyst out of the funk.

Instead CSU was again really bad in the first half.

The Rams had 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, several of them passes to nobody as players clearly weren’t on the same page. The Rams also fouled a 3-point shooter three times in the first half.

"I didn't think it was an effort thing at all," coach Niko Medved said. "You look at the first half and I don't know if I've ever seen that, we foul three 3-point shooters. That's eight points (after one missed free throw) and then some of the passes we were making, I don't know, it was like being in the twilight zone."

CSU finished the game with 18 turnovers.

At the same time CSU was letting San Jose State’s Seneca Knight go off on them to take a lead.

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CSU slowly turned it around in the second half and went on a run shortly after Medved’s kick and took control around the four-minute mark. SJSU made a run in the final two minutes, but CSU held on.

The most important thing was the win, but CSU needs to improve its performances. If the Rams play the same Tuesday at San Diego State, it will be ugly.

Knight finally slowed

Knight is SJSU’s leading scorer and the Rams knew he was the main threat, but didn’t defend like it early.

He hit eight of 12 shots and five of nine 3-pointers in the first half to surge to 26 points at the break.

CSU finally locked down in the second half and Knight didn’t make a field goal after the intermission until 29 seconds left with the game decided. He finished with 37 points as he hit 14 of 15 free throws.

"It wasn't anything that we changed, maybe just executed a little bit better," Medved said. "Sometimes you make tough shots and eventually you don't keep making tough shots. I thought our team defense all the way around was more connected in the second half."

Bench vital

Credit the reserve unit, led by freshman big Dischon Thomas, for helping CSU win this one.

They came in during the lethargic first half and provided a spark and did the same in the second half.

Thomas and Hyron Edwards especially keyed it and Thomas showed a scoring touch that hints at his potential. He hit all six shots he took and finished with 13 points and was the only Ram without a turnover.

"Just being aggressive. The way they were playing me, they were sagging off and Coach tells me all the time if they back up, just let it go," Thomas said.

CSU scored 29 bench points. Kris Martin hit a key 3-pointer late and excelled defensively.

Adam Thistlewood led CSU with 16 points.