New Mexico basketball team punishes sloppy CSU performance | Takeaways

5 days ago 2

A disjointed and discombobulated performance much of the night proved costly.

The Colorado State men’s basketball team struggled in some key areas and key times in an 80-70 home loss to New Mexico on Jan. 6.

CSU trailed by 13 in the second half. The Rams cut the deficit to six inside the final 2 minutes of the game and twice had the ball to make it closer, but couldn't make the decisive plays late to overcome the struggles earlier.

Here are takeaways from the game.

Mistakes big and small doom CSU

A sequence that exemplified the game came in the second half when CSU (10-5, 1-3 Mountain West) was again trying to chip into the lead New Mexico (12-3, 3-1 MW) had held most the game.

CSU’s Jase Butler hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight and seemingly gave the Rams some energy, but CSU somehow lost New Mexico sharpshooter Jake Hall in the corner for a wide-open transition 3-pointer after the made Ram bucket.

CSU coach Ali Farokhmanesh threw his hands up in frustration as Hall was clearly a key part of the scout, yet the Rams left him wide open to stop any momentum they could be building.

It was that type of night for CSU.

New Mexico led by nine (39-30) at halftime and CSU would make mini pushes to get back into it, but the Lobos kept it at arm’s reach.

CSU was never closer than within five in the second half.

While New Mexico certainly deserves plenty of credit for good play, the Rams will feel they caused a lot of their own problems.

CSU fell into a hole in the first half as the Rams turned the ball over with frequency. And most were not just turnovers, but ones that led to easy New Mexico buckets.

The Rams had nine first-half turnovers that led to 16 New Mexico points.

Fittingly, it was CSU turnover leading to a New Mexico dunk with 1:20 left that sealed the defeat for the Rams.

New Mexico scored 21 points off turnovers and outscored CSU by 13 in that stat.

CSU’s defense struggles again

Part of the reason the Rams could never make a serious run at taking over the game was because they could not string together stops.

New Mexico missed four shots in a row early in the game as both teams started slow, but that was the only time the Lobos had consistent trouble scoring.

At one point in the second half New Mexico hit 10 of 12 shots. That’s no way to make a comeback.

New Mexico ultimately shot 44% from 3-point range and 53% from the field.

CSU missing injured players

The Rams were again without their top two centers in Kyle Jorgensen and Rashaan Mbemba. It was Mbemba’s ninth missed game in a row and Jorgensen’s third (and in reality, it’s pretty much four in a row since he was hurt just minutes into the Utah State game).

Mbemba participated in pregame warmups for the first time since CSU played Virginia Tech on Nov. 26 and his return seems to be imminent. Jorgensen is likely still a ways away.

The center spot in the offense is a key fulcrum in this offense, as it operates as a pivot point and Jorgensen had been running it with excellence before going down injured.

He was leading the team in scoring and is also a savvy facilitator. His absence is clear as the offense is finding itself in a slog too often.

This game in particular felt like one where Jorgensen not being there was keenly felt by CSU.

Augustinas Kiudulas led CSU with a season-high 20 points. Jase Butler scored 14 and Brandon Rechsteiner had 13.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: New Mexico basketball team punishes sloppy Colorado State performance

Read Entire Article