Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
5-3
Northern Iowa
7-1
Men's basketball recap: CSU comeback bid falls short, 83-77 at UNI
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Danny Mattie
Athletic Media Relations
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Dwight Smiths' free-throw with 20.4 seconds remaining capped a three-point play that brought the CSU Rams back from a 19-point deficit, to within four points, 79-75, but UNI's Anthony James and Jake Koch each knocked down a pair of free throws to halt the Rams comeback attempt, 83-77, in front of 4,015 fans at the McLeod Center Saturday afternoon as part of the third-annual Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge.
"UNI is a very good team," said Head Coach Tim Miles after the game. "They will be solid in their league and will be in the conversation in March."
Smith, whose college choice came down to CSU (5-3) over UNI (7-1) as a recruit out of high school, finished with a career-high 17 points, including a personal best with two three-pointers, and four rebounds and three assists for the Rams.
He was one of three Rams to finish in double-figures scoring. Junior Dorian Green led the team with a season-high 21 points, knocking down 4-of-6 from three-point range and matching a career-high for the second straight game with nine rebounds, and classmate Wes Eikmeier overcame a slow start to finish with 19 points and four assists.
"(UNI) defensively did a very good job on Wes early in the game," added Miles. "We just took too long to respond."
While the Rams were slowly shifting momentum back in their favor, James, UNI's junior guard and leading scorer, was on his way to a 28-point effort. He finished 11-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-6 from long range, and added eight rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of action.
James' impact, perhaps, was never more critical than late in the first half when he scored seven straight as part of a 9-0 UNI run that pushed a slim two-point margin to a 41-30 halftime advantage for the Panthers.
"We had some turnovers and defensive errors," added Miles. "But those little runs really hurt us today."
The Rams fell behind early in the contest, as UNI opened up a 17-6 lead just more than 5 minutes into the game. But CSU rallied behind Smith, who came in off the bench to knock down a pair of three-pointers that pulled CSU to within four points, 20-16, at the 12:07 mark of the opening stanza. And following a Greg Smith layup with 3:41 left before halftime, the Rams had pulled to 32-30, but the Panthers closed the half on that 9-0 run.
Coming out of the intermission, the Panthers quickly pushed their advantage to 18 points, 51-33, with 16:52 remaining, and the lead grew to 19 points, 63-44 with 11:50 to play in the contest. That's when the Rams' mounted their comeback attempt behind Green, Eikmeier and Dwight Smith, who combined to score 28 of CSU's final 30 points over the final 9:52 of the contest.
UNI freshmen Seth Tuttle (16 points) and Deon Mitchell (12), as well as sophomore forward Chip Rank (10) joined James in double figures.
Colorado State returns to Fort Collins Sunday, before heading out to Durham, N.C., for a matchup against No. 3/4-ranked Duke at the Blue Devils' Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday evening. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
