Colorado State Rams @ Utah Utes Basketball Recap

Colorado State 74, Utah 68

The more teams around the country keep falling to inferior opponents, the more a resurrection story in the Mountain West is being magnified.

One by one, the scalps continue to be collected by an upstart in the Rockies.

Colorado State Rams defeated the Utah Utes in Mountain West Conference action from the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rams have now won two straight MWC games and moved to 5-2 in conference play. Colorado State is now just one game behind both San Diego State and BYU in the race for the conference title. The Utes, who had won three straight conference games, dropped to 3-4

Colorado State owns little to nothing in the way of basketball tradition, and the Rams were expected to take a backseat to UNLV this season in the Mountain West. San Diego State and BYU were also tabbed to exceed CSU, and those two teams have lived up to the billing, but it’s a shocker that Colorado State is ahead of Vegas at this point in the Mountain West season. If the Rams can continue to win – and can surprise either SDSU or BYU in February – they just might be able to make a run at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. The bubble is weak enough this year that a strong February could put CSU in the mix for a Big Dance invite that would send the Fort Collins (Colorado)-based school into hysterics. A testy road win at Utah is just the kind of low-key accomplishment that, if repeated often enough, will push CSU’s resume toward the right side of the bubble.

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Stalwart forward Andy Ogide had a career night for the Rams, scoring 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Ogide's basket with under two minutes to play in the second half broke a tie and the Rams eventually secured their fourth win in five contests. Despite playing without third leading scorer Wes Elkmeier, head coach Tim Miles's group got a lift from Greg Smith's 14 points.

The Utes were led by Will Clyburn's 19 points, 16 of which came in the second half. Head coach Jim Boylen's club continued to fight from behind all night long, only to come up a few points short in front of their home crowd. J.J. O'Brien and Josh Watkins each has 11 points apiece. Despite the loss, the youthful Utes continue to play their best basketball of the season, but that’s cold comfort when one realizes that Utah made the 2009 NCAA Tournament and, in prior years, was a regular candidate to make the Sweet 16 under then-coach Rick Majerus. The 1998 NCAA national championship game against Kentucky is a distant memory, and the spark that used to animate Utah basketball isn’t found quite so readily.

That spark – at least to a certain extent – is now found in Fort Collins, Colorado. It’s a new day in the Mountain West when Colorado State is making a push for an NCAA bid.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer