Isaiah Stevens had 20 points and 11 assists as No. 20 Colorado State held off Colorado 88-83 on Wednesday night for a Rocky Mountain Showdown victory.
Stevens had 18 second half points and was one of five Rams players in double figures. Jalen Lake chipped in 16 points off the bench and Joel Scott added 15 points and five rebounds.
KJ Simpson had 30 points to lead all scorers. He was joined by Cody Williams with 21 points all in the second half. Tristan da Silva had a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Colorado came into the game averaging 84 points per game and was shut down early. They came out of the gate stumbling, shooting 0-6 to start the game before going on a 6-0 run for a 10-9 lead with 13:15 in the first. The teams traded points with CSU capitalizing on turnovers that led to a 12-2 run. CU was held scoreless for a five minute period midway through the first half. They ended up committing 15 turnovers on the night.
Simpson's layup with 7:26 left before intermission stopped the bleeding for the Buffs with the Rams up by seven points. From that point on, CSU pulled ahead before taking a 41-26 lead going into the locker room. A 13-4 run with seven points by Lake in the final two minutes of the half. Colorado State had two double-digit comeback wins eariler in the season and found themselves in a huge lead scenario.
Colorado went 0-5 from 3-point range to start the game and ended 4-14 (28.6%). They were 30-55 (54.5%) overall from the field with a better effort in the second half.
The Buffs shaved the lead down to single digits within the first five minutes of the second half. It was a battle back-and-forth with the Rams riding out several CU surges. Williams's jumper at the 13:21 mark reduced CSU's lead to five points. However, the Rams quickly pushed the lead back up to double-digits and tried to flex a little muscle.
Colorado came out of a media timeout with 11:15 to go and tried to roar back into the game with the refs giving no favors. A set of controversial calls with Joel Scott's hook and holding J'vonne Hadley that went up for review and still miscalled. Simpson was called for a foul on the Rams next possession, which prompted a technical foul call on Tad Boyle.
The Buffs found the terrible officiating as extra motivation in the in-state rivalry. But It wasn't enough as Boyle's team couldn't buy a stop down the stretch late. Colorado State held off a scoring attack led by Simpson and Williams with under four minutes left to secure the win. The Rams end a three-game losing streak to the Buffaloes in the series. The first RMS win for Niko Medved over CU during his six-year tenure in Fort Collins.
Another great game for CSU after holding No. 8 Creighton to 27.8 percent from the field in a stunning 69-48 upset last week. A second loss on the season for the Buffaloes, who fell out of the Top 25 rankings on Monday.
UP NEXT:
Colorado (5-2) returns home to host Pepperdine on Dec. 3.
Colorado State (7-0) faces another Pac-12 team with Washington coming to Fort Collins for a Dec. 2 matchup.
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