Clear advantage in intangibles lost on Colorado State

Aggressive Cowboys catch Rams napping for MWC road win

Randy Holtz, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 26, 2006 at midnight

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FORT COLLINS - The Colorado State Rams had everything in the world going for them.

Boisterous home crowd. Rival in town. Game they had to win to get their unseemly January turned around. The works.

Didn't matter. The Rams, curiously flat from the tipoff, spotted Wyoming an early 17-point lead and never fully recovered, suffering their fifth men's basketball loss in six Mountain West Conference games as the Cowboys held on for a 72-67 win Wednesday night at Moby Arena.

Can you say collapse? The Rams can. After starting the season 11-2 and beating several good-to-decent teams before the conference season, CSU is back to its woeful league ways. And if this keeps happening, could coach Dale Layer's job be in jeopardy?

"I thought they played harder than we did for 40 minutes," Layer said after the latest loss. "They were the aggressor and we weren't. And when that happens, bad things happen."

Isn't that the coach's job, to get guys mentally and physically ready? Layer admitted as much. "It's on me," he said. "I have to figure it out. I have to make this team better."

That won't be easy, given the Rams' lamblike ways of late. In every statistical category that shows hustle and energy and passion, the Cowboys clobbered the Rams. Rebounds? Wyoming, 44-27. Points in the paint? Wyoming, 40-22.

Take nothing away from Steve McClain's vastly improved 'Pokes. They took it to CSU, attacking the basket, banging the boards, playing intense defense, getting great all-court leadership from true-freshman point guard Brandon Ewing.

But this is a CSU team that clearly has lost its confidence, lost its edge, lost its way. And now the Rams can't even use their road-heavy early MWC schedule as an excuse. Moby was ready to rock. The Rams were ready for a nap.

"In league games on the road, you can't be soft," said McClain, whose Cowboys have performed an about-face in MWC play after going through the nonconference season a middling 7-6. "I thought we were very aggressive, and I thought our kids did a good job keeping their composure."

The Rams got off to a horrendous start, finding no offensive flow against Wyoming's aggressive defense while scoring on only three of their first 19 possessions. The upshot was a 21-4 Wyoming lead as the smattering of Cowboys fans roared.

But CSU finally found its bearings midway through the half, going on a 17-2 run fueled by defensive stops and forced turnovers. By halftime, the Rams shaved their rival's lead to 27-26.

CSU took its first lead on a Michael Harrison slam 2 minutes into the second half. But the lead was brief as Wyoming used Ewing's playmaking and forward Justin Williams' inside play to pull away again. CSU cut the deficit to four, at 63-59, with 3:38 left but never got closer.

There was irony at Moby on this night. A month ago, an angry Wyoming fan started a Web site called FireSteveMcClain.com. With the Cowboys' improved play in conference, the enterprising fellow has disbanded the site.

Maybe the guy can sell it to a CSU fan now. The natives are getting restless with Layer.

CSU (12-7, 1-5 MWC) faces Brigham Young at 7 p.m. Saturday at Moby Arena. Wyoming (11-8, 4-2) plays San Diego State earlier that day at 2 p.m. in Laramie.

WYOMING (11-8, 4-2 Mountain West) - Williams 4-4 4-4 12, Wabbington 2-5 1-4 5, Jones 1-6 9-12 11, Leven 3-11 2-2 10, Ewing 5-11 6-6 16, Lewis 1-4 0-0 2, Ebert 0-2 2-2 2, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 7-9 0-2 14. Totals 23-53 24-32 72.

COLORADO STATE (12-7, 1-5 Mountain West) - Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 5-10 8-8 18, Harrison 5-9 0-1 11, Lewis 2-9 2-2 7, Gilling 3-8 0-0 9, S.Morris 1-6 0-0 3, Harris 2-3 0-0 4, Patterson 0-3 0-0 0, Creason 2-5 4-4 8, M.Morris 3-6 0-0 7. Totals 23-59 14-15 67.

Halftime - Wyoming 27-26. Three-point attempts - Wyoming 2-10 (Leven 2-5, Ebert 0-2, Ewing 0-3), Colorado State 7-19 (Gilling 3-7, Harrison 1-1, M.Morris 1-3, Lewis 1-3, S.Morris 1-4, Patterson 0-1). Fouled out - Smith. Rebounds - Wyoming 44 (Brown 9), Colorado State 27 (Smith 7). Assists - Wyoming 16 (Ewing 7), Colorado State 20 (Lewis 4). Total fouls - Wyoming 21, Colorado State 24. A - 8,289.

South Alabama at Denver men

• When: 7 tonight.

• Where: Magness Arena (7,200 capacity).

• TV/radio: No television. KCKK-AM (1600).

• Starting lineups

S. Ala. (13-4, 4-1) Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts.

Carlos Smith G 6-0 Jr. 8.2

Mario Jointer G 6-3 Sr. 13.2

Jason McGriff C 6-9 Jr. 6.3

Richard Law F 6-6 Sr. 10.7

Chey Christie F 6-4 Sr. 8.5

Coach: John Pelphrey

Denver (10-9, 3-3) Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts.

Andrew Carpenter G 6-2 Sr. 6.2

Steve Wetrich G 5-11 So. 6.0

Yemi Nicholson C 6-11 Sr. 19.1

David Kummer F 6-6 So. 7.2

DaShawn Walker F 6-6 Jr. 12.8

Coach: Terry Carroll

• Notes: DU is coming off an 0-3 trip but has won 14 consecutive games at Magness, the ninth-longest home winning streak in the nation . . . The Pioneers won both games against South Alabama last season and lead the series 7-6 . . . The Jaguars have lost four consecutive games at DU . . . Nicholson leads the Pioneers with 11.1 rebounds a game. He and Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech are the only players in the nation ranked among the top 50 in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocked shots . . . Nicholson needs 21 points to reach 17th place on DU's all-time scoring list . . . Wetrich has averaged 14.5 points in the past four games . . . Walker has gone 1-for-12 from three-point range in the past two games . . . South Alabama has won four of its past five games and leads the Sun Belt Conference West Division . . . The Pioneers play Troy on Saturday at home.

holtzr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5439

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