Feb. 8, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

Schedule/Results

Season Statistics

Game 24:  Colorado State at Air Force
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 | 8 p.m. MT | Colorado Springs, Colo. | Clune Arena (5,858)

Television
Network: The Mtn.
Play-by-Play: Ari Wolfe
Color Analyst: Bob Donewald
Channel: Comcast (411), DirecTV (616)

Radio
Network: Colorado State Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Jerry Schemmel
Flagship: KLZ (560 AM)

Online
Live Statistics: CSURams.com
Streaming Audio: CSURams.com/allaccess
Streaming Video: None

Up next
The Colorado State men’s basketball team looks for its third consecutive Mountain West Conference victory, traveling south on I-25 to face in-state rival Air Force in a rare Tuesday night conference game at 8 p.m. MT at Clune Arena (5,858). 
 
The game will be televised live on The Mtn. with Ari Wolfe (play-by-play) and Bob Donewald (color analyst) bringing fans all the action from courtside.  The broadcast will be the second half of a CSU-Air Force double header, as the women’s teams will square off at 6 p.m. MT at Moby Arena. 

The Rams (14-9, 5-4 MWC) are coming off of an 80-64 home victory over Wyoming in Saturday’s “Border War.” The Falcons (9-13, 1-8 MWC) suffered a tough home loss to the TCU Horned Frogs, 65-51, on Saturday afternoon. 

Fans can listen to the game on the Colorado State Sports Network. Jerry Schemmel will call all the action courtside. The game will be carried on flagship KLZ (560 AM) in Denver and on KCOL (600 AM), locally. Rams fans worldwide can listen to the action live streaming audio on CSURams.com/allaccess.

Live statistics are available by clicking the “GameTracker” log on the men’s basketball “Schedule/Results” page on CSURams.com. 

Looking ahead
Colorado State will enjoy an off weekend following Tuesday’s tilt with Air Force, but returns to action Feb. 17 against nationally ranked BYU (22-3, 7-2 MWC) at Moby Arena.  Tip off between the Rams and the Cougars is slated for 6 p.m. MT.    

About Air Force
The Falcons enter Tuesday’s contest with an overall record of 9-13 (1-8 MWC).  Their lone Mountain West win came Jan. 30 at home vs. Wyoming (70-63).  The victory snapped a 22-game losing streak in MWC regular-season games for the Falcons. 

The Falcons have posted an 8-5 mark at Clune Arena this season. 

Coach Jeff Reynolds is in his third year at the Academy, posting a 35-48 record witht the Falcons. In his career, Reynolds has guided his teams to a record of 117-82.

The Falcons are led by its junior class of Grant Parker, Evan Washington and Tom Fow, who account for 60 percent of the Falcons’ points per game. Parker, a 6-8 center, averages 14.3 points a contest, while also leading the team with 5.6 boards. Washington, who has started in all 22 of Air Force’s game this season, averages 11.8 points a game, while also leading the team with 59 assists and tied for the team lead with 18 steals. He connects on 52 percent of his shots. 

Series vs. Air Force
CSU has had great success in its history against Air Force, cruising to a 64-30 record all-time against the Falcons.  Additionally, the Rams have won on the Falcons’ home court in 27 of the 44 meetings. The Rams have won three consecutive regular-season matchups against the Falcons, dating back to Jan. 20, 2009. Prior to that streak, Air Force won 11 consecutive regular-season meetings between 2003 and 2009.

Last time vs. Air Force
CSU never trailed in the first meeting this season between the Falcons and the Rams, rolling to a 70-48 victory at Moby Arena on Jan. 9. The 22-point win was Miles’ largest MWC margin of victory. It also gave the Rams a 2-0 start to the conference schedule for the first time since 2002-03, when CSU made its last NCAA appearance. 

Junior F Andy Ogide led the Rams to the victory, tallying a game-high 13 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.  

The Rams grabbed the early lead after junior guard Adam Nigon splashed a three-pointer on CSU’s first possession. A layup by Air Force forward Derek Brooks tied the game at 5 with 17:15 left to play in the first half. But a Travis Franklin dunk on the ensuing possession would spark a 15-3 run by the Rams that put them up by 12 at the 6:47 mark. They led 26-15 heading into the break.

In the second half, it was all Ogide, who responded after a quiet first half. He tallied 11 of his game-high 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, and 5-of-7 shooting from the line.

The Falcons scratched and clawed their way back into the game, cutting the Rams’ lead to seven with just over 12 minutes to play. But CSU used a 17-4 run to break the game open with just under 7 minutes remaining, after Smith hit a three-pointer to push the Rams’ lead back up to 23. Their largest lead of the night was 24.

Current Rams vs. Air Force
Junior Andre McFarland, who went scoreless in his last outing against the Falcons, has averaged 9.0 points a contest in the five previous meetings. McFarland scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc against the Falcons in a 61-59 loss during his freshman season.

Junior Andy Ogide has also had success against Air Force, posting double-digits in his three most recent meetings against the Falcons.

Senior Arin Dunn has scored just 64 points in 32 games in his CSU career. However, of those 64 points, 27 have come in the four games against Air Force. Dunn is averaging 6.75 points against the Falcons on 7-of-14 shooting (4-of-9 from three-point range). His two best career point totals, 10 and 8, came against Air Force.

Junior Travis Franklin also pitched in 11 points in last month’s win against the Falcons. 

Sweeping up the competition
Saturday’s win over Wyoming gave Colorado State a regular-season sweep of its rival, marking the first time the Rams recorded a pair of regular-season victories over the Cowboys since the 1999-2000 season, the first year of the Mountain West Conference. 

A win on Tuesday would also give the Rams a regular-season sweep of Air Force.  The Rams defeated the Falcons twice last season, and have notched three regular-season sweeps over Air Force, also downing the Falcons twice in the 1999-2000 and 2001-02 seasons. 

Overall, Colorado State has recorded nine regular-season sweeps of MWC foes, but have not swept two teams in the same season since 1999-2000 (Air Force, Wyoming).  The Rams have three games left against teams that they defeated in their first meeting of the season, including at Air Force (Feb. 7), at TCU (Feb. 27), and vs. Utah (March 6). 
 
Five and Counting
CSU’s win over Wyoming on Saturday evening moved the Rams to 5-4 in the Mountain West.  The five conference wins on the season are the most under Head Coach Tim Miles, and moved CSU into a tie for fourth in the league standings with San Diego State.  The Rams have not finished higher than fourth in the league standings since the 1999-2000 season, when the team went 8-6 in the MWC, also the only time that the Rams finished above .500 in MWC play. 

Rams look to extend streak
Colorado State enter’s Tuesday’s game at Air Force looking to extend its Mountain West Conference winning streak to three games.  The Rams have not won three consecutive MWC games in the regular season since the 1999-2000 season, when they rattled off four straight.  The last time a CSU team defeated three straight MWC opponents was during the Rams’ run to the 2003 MWC tournament title when they defeated Wyoming (74-71), BYU (86-80) and UNLV (62-61) to reach the NCAA tournament.

Above .500 in MWC
Colorado State improved to 5-4 and moved into a tie for fourth place in the MWC standings following Saturday’s victory over Wyoming.  It marks the first time since the 1999-2000 season that a CSU team has boasted a winning record in the second half of the MWC schedule. 

Franklin’s free throws
Junior F Travis Franklin needs just 20 more free-throw attempts to become the 10th player in school history with 200 in a single season.  The last player to reach that mark was Jason Smith, who attempted exactly 200 free throws in 2006-07.  Bill Green set the school record for free-throw attempts in a single season with 291 in 1962-63.  Mike Mitchell currently ranks ahead of Franklin on the list with 196 attempts in 1989-90. 

Green going the distance
For the third time in his brief career at CSU, freshman G Dorian Green played an entire game in CSU’s victory at Utah on Feb. 3.  Green, who tallied 13 points, played a full 40 minutes.  He also accomplished the feat on Jan. 30 vs. SDSU and Nov. 29 vs. San Francisco, playing 50 minutes in the Rams’ 91-75 double-overtime victory over the Dons.  Green enters Tuesday’s game at Air Force averaging a team-leading 34.3 minutes per game, second in the MWC behind Air Force’s Evan Washington (34.5 mpg). 

Home Court Advantage
CSU reeled in its 10 home win of the season at Moby Arena on Saturday against Wyoming. The last time the Rams had 10 wins on their home court was in 2006-07 when the team went 10-4.

The Rams are 10-2 at Moby Arena in 2009-10, with the losses coming vs. UNLV (80-72) on Jan. 20 and vs. San Diego State (64-52) on Jan. 30. 

CSU opened the season with eight consecutive home victories, including wins over in-state rivals Denver (64-59) and Colorado (77-62) on Dec. 5 and Dec. 10, respectively.  The Rams have also captured MWC home victories over Air Force (70-48) on Jan. 9, TCU (63-57) on Jan. 27, and Wyoming (80-64) on Feb. 6.

With an all-time 70 record of 444-190 (.700) at Moby Arena, the Rams have now won 10 or more games in a single season at Moby Arena 23 times in the Arena’s history. 

Rams on the road
CSU’s 65-50 victory at Utah on Feb. 3, marked Colorado State’s second road victory of the season.  The Rams are now 2-7 on the road this season, with the other road victory coming Jan. 6 at Wyoming (83-73).  The Rams will look for their third road victory of the season on Tuesday at Air Force.   

Rams’ 20-point games
Junior F Travis Franklin tallied a game-high 20 points to lead CSU to an 80-64 victory over rival Wyoming on Saturday.  It marked Franklin’s team-leading fourth 20-point game of the season, helping the Rams to a 4-0 mark in those contests. 

Franklin’s 20-point scoring effort marked the ninth such game by a Rams player this season.  The following is a list of CSU’s 20-point scoring games for 2009-10:

• Andy Ogide (24), vs. UC Davis (11-13-09)
• Andre McFarland (20), vs. UC Davis (11-13-09)
• Travis Franklin (24), vs. San Francisco (11-29-09)
• Travis Franklin (22), vs. Colorado (12-10-09)
• Dorian Green (21), vs. Colorado (12-10-09)
• Travis Franklin (22), vs. Northern Arizona (12-20-09)
• Andy Ogide (22), at Wyoming (1-6-10)
• Dorian Green (20), vs. UNLV (1-20-10)
• Travis Franklin (20), vs. Wyoming (2-6-10)

Block Party
Led by senior Mame Bocar Ba’s two blocks, the Rams swatted away a season-high five shots against TCU on Jan. 27.  It was the most blocked shots since CSU recorded five against Air Force on Jan. 20, 2009.  The Rams also blocked a half dozen shots twice last year.

Strong Freshman Class
The Rams have a talented trio of freshmen that have turned many heads during their first year of collegiate basketball.  These freshmen are eying several categories in CSU’s freshman record book.

Dorian Green not only leads the team but ranks No. 7 in the MWC with 12.9 points per game. His current average would go down as third all-time among freshmen. Additionally, his 23 starts currently ranks fifth in the CSU freshmen record book.  With a start on Tuesday at Air Force, Green would move into a tie for fourth with Stephan Gilling, who started 24 games as a freshman in 2005-06. 

Pierce Hornung has been great on the glass, averaging 4.8 rebounds a contest. His current average is fifth all-time behind Matt Nelson (2001-02). 

Greg Smith has turned his play up a notch over the past few weeks. During the last seven games, the freshman is averaging 9.9 points a game and 4.9 rebounds, third on the team in both categories. 

Busch in the starting lineup
Entering Tuesday’s game at Air Force, senior F Travis Busch has started five consecutive games for CSU since Jan. 23 at New Mexico.  During that run, Busch has averaged 6.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.  He tallied career highs with 13 points, four steals and added one block in 33 minutes at Utah on Feb. 3.

Smith hitting his stride
Freshman F Greg Smith posted the best performance of his brief career vs. TCU on Jan. 27.  He recorded career highs in minutes (29) and points (15), leading CSU to a victory over the Horned Frogs.

That performance capped a four-game stretch in which Smith averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest, while hitting 81.5 percent (22-for-27) from the free-throw line during one of the Rams’ toughest stretches on their schedule. 

Smith was a bright spot during a three-game losing streak for the Rams. He posted a then-career-high and team-leading 13 points at BYU on Jan. 16, and matched that effort and tied for team-high honors with another 13-point effort at New Mexico on Jan. 23.  Smith also tallied six points and four rebounds in a tough home loss to UNLV on Jan. 20. 

Scoring for the Rams
Freshman G Dorian Green, junior F Andy Ogide and junior F Travis Franklin rank 1-2-3 for the Rams in terms of scoring through 23 games this season. Green (12.9 ppg.) has scored in double figures in 14 of his first 23 collegiate contests as a true freshman, while Franklin (11.1 ppg.) has reached double-figure scoring in 12 of his last 18 games.  Ogide (11.5 ppg.) has led CSU in scoring in seven games this season. 

Entering Tuesday’s game at Air Force, Green ranks seventh in the MWC in scoring, and first among freshmen.  Ogide is 15th and Franklin is 18th. 

Putting it on the line
CSU has become one of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference when it comes to getting to the free throw line this season.  Entering Tuesday’s contest at Air Force, CSU is averaging 26.3 free throw attempts per game as a team.  This ranks third in the MWC behind Wyoming (30.1 per game) and the New Mexico (27.9 per game). 

This season, the Rams are 11-1 when attempting more free-throws than an opponent.  The Rams are 13-0 when making more free-throws than an opponent.

Against the state of Colorado
Head Coach Tim Miles’ squad has been impressive at home against Division I teams from the state of Colorado. CSU is riding a five-game home winning streak against Colorado programs, and is 6-2 overall at Moby Arena against intrastate rivals. The streak began early last season with an 85-74 win over Northern Colorado, followed up by a 67-56 win vs. Air Force. This season, Miles’ squad put up a 64-59 win against Denver and a 77-62 triumph over rival Colorado.  Most recently, the Rams defeated Air Force, 70-48, at Moby Arena on Jan. 9. 

McFarland climbing the three-point charts
For his career at Colorado State, junior F Andre McFarland has hit 122 three-pointers, surpassing David Turcotte (1984-88) for 10th place on CSU’s all-time list. McFarland enters Tuesday’s game Air Force just one shy of tying Ryan Yoder (1991-94) for ninth on the list.  McFarland’s career three-point percentage of .424 is currently ninth, just behind Turcotte (.426), in the Rams’ record book.

Nigon heating up
Junior Adam Nigon entered the season averaging 2.87 points per contest through two seasons. This year, the guard is averaging 8.3 points.  Nigon is shooting 40.8 percent from the floor and 39.4 percent from three-point range. During a five-game stretch from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12, he averaged 11.6 points, including a career-high 17 against Montana, helping the Rams to a 4-1 record during that stretch.   

Entering Tuesday’s game at Air Force, Nigon has hit a three pointer in 10 consecutive games, the longest active streak among players on the CSU roster, and the longest streak of his career in a Rams’ uniform.  He has also recorded multiple treys in four consecutive games.   

Seeing double
Junior F Travis Franklin recorded his second career double-double performance in the Rams’ victory over rival Colorado (Dec. 10).  Franklin tallied 22 points, his second 20-point effort of the season, and capped off the double-double performance with 10 rebounds to help CSU to the 77-62 victory.  Franklin shot 7-for-9 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, while adding a block and two steals against the Buffs.  Franklin also recorded a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) nine days earlier in the Rams’ 70-63 loss at Northern Colorado (Dec.1).  

Seeing double, part two
Freshman F Greg Smith recorded his first career double-double on Dec. 20 in the Rams’ victory over Northern Arizona.  Smith, playing in just the seventh game of his career at CSU, tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Rams to the 64-56 victory. 

Seeing double, part three
Senior F Andy Ogide became the third player this season to record a double-double for the Rams, joining classmate Travis Franklin and freshman Greg Smith.  Ogide recorded 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the Rams 63-57 victory over TCU on Jan. 27.  It marked Ogide’s fifth career double-double, but his first since Jan. 17, 2009 at Utah (19 points, 10 rebounds).  Ogide then notched his second double-double of the season vs. Wyoming, leading the Rams to an 80-64 victory at Moby Arena on Feb. 6.  The Rams are 4-2 all-time when Ogide records a double-double. 

500 and counting
Forward Andy Ogide garnered MWC player-of-the-week honors on Jan. 10, and the final points scored in the win against Air Force, a jumper with 3:05 remaining to put the Rams up by 11, were the 500th of his career in a Rams uniform. The junior did it in 46 games, and will have one year of eligibility remaining at CSU to try to become the 18th player in CSU history to record 1,000 points.  Ogide has now recorded 569 points in 53 career games entering Tuesday’s game at Air Force. 

Classmate Andre McFarland is also on pace to reach 1,000 points for his career and is the Rams’ active career scoring leader with 635 points in 79 games at CSU.  

McFarland back in action
Junior F Andre McFarland has missed seven games in 2009-10, after being slowed by stiffness in his lower back, but bounced back in Saturday’s victory over Wyoming with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.  It was McFarland’s first double-digit scoring game since Dec. 1 at  Northern Colorado, a stretch of 10 games for the Rams active career-scoring leader. 

Draining the three
Colorado State shot lights out from long range against Wyoming on Feb. 6, connecting on 10-of-15 attempts from beyond the arc, and tying for a team season high in three-pointers made.  The .667 shooting percentage from downtown tied for third best in school history, last done vs. Colorado in 2007. 

Colorado State ranks among the top schools in the Mountain West in terms of three-point shooting percentage this season.  The Rams are shooting 36.1 percent from long range, which ranks third in the league behind nationally ranked programs from BYU (.411) and New Mexico (.375).

Balanced rebounding attack
Despite only having six 10-plus rebounding efforts this season, the Rams have three players - Andy Ogide, Travis Franklin and Pierce Hornung - ranked in the top 20 in the MWC in rebounding average: Ogide (6.0), sixth; Franklin (5.4), tenth; and Hornung (4.8), 19th. 

As a team, Colorado State ranks tied for fourth in the MWC pulling down 36.0 boards per game.  The Rams’ are outrebounding opponents by 3.7 per game, the fourth-highest rebounding margin in the league (SDSU, +7.5; BYU, +5.0; and New Mexico, +5.0). 

Green means go
Entering Saturday’s game at Air Force, freshman G Dorian Green, the Rams leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, has reached double-digits scoring in a team-leading 14 games this season.  His scoring average ranks seventh overall in the MWC and first among freshmen.

SDSU freshman Kawhi Leonard (11.8 ppg.), Utah’s Marshall Henderson (11.5 ppg.), and BYU’s  Tyler Haws (11.5 ppg.) rank 10th, 13th and 14th, respectively, in the MWC in scoring, and are the only other freshmen to appear in the top 20.      

If I can be frank
Junior F Travis Franklin has started 22 of CSU’s 23 contests this season; he came off the bench against DU (Dec. 5).  Franklin has left his mark at both ends of the court for the Rams. The Baton Rouge, La., native ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.4 rebounds per game) and third in scoring (11.1 points per game), while leading the team in offensive rebounds (53), and free-throw attempts (180).  He enters Saturday’s game at Air Force ranking in the MWC in a number of categories, including 18th in scoring, 10th in rebounding and sixth in offensive rebounding (2.3 per game).