Having a short-term memory is essential in the chaotic world of college basketball.
Following Colorado State’s Tuesday-night loss against Utah State, postgame media sessions were as brief as imaginable. Understandably so, considering the Rams erased four double-digit deficits only to fall short in the closing seconds when Adam Thistlewood’s game-tying 3-point attempt drew front iron.
Coming oh-so-close versus the Aggies, which would have allowed CSU to maintain possession of second place in the Mountain West, became a tough pill to swallow once the final buzzer sounded.
But after taking some time to sleep on the outcome, it appears the Rams are already re-juiced upon flipping the page to this weekend’s bout in Wyoming.
“For the rest of that night, it was hard to swallow,” freshman guard Isaiah Stevens said. “Just the competitor in all of us wanted to win that game really bad. But you can’t dwell on things because the next team wants to beat you just as bad. I feel like we turned our focus today fairly quickly onto Wyoming.”
A team will rarely admit if it is still sulking in a recent defeat. Players and coaches are, of course, trained to keep these thoughts to themselves. Although, in CSU’s case, it’s safe to assume they’ve truly moved on from the deflating loss.
After all, it isn’t as if the USU game represents the Rams’ first heartbreaker this year. In fact, CSU has dropped quite a few contests that realistically could have deflated the youthful squad. Instead, the Rams bounced back and responded positively to each scenario.
Take back-to-back losses against Arkansas State and New Mexico State, for example. Niko Medved’s group squandered an 18-point lead in the second half when hosting ASU before falling 80-78. Then, the Rams forced overtime against NMSU while their late comeback eventually proved insignificant as the Aggies squeaked away with a 78-70 win.
Both defeats were difficult to process in their own respective ways. But CSU experienced little trouble answering the call thereafter as they then rattled off three consecutive victories.
“The CU game at home, the Arkansas State game at home,” Medved said. “What this team is showing me is that they have learned from those and have continued to grow and get better…You are going to have things that you struggle with. It’s all about if you take that opportunity to try and learn and grow from it. What I love about this team is that is what they’ve done.”
Though the Rams have evidently grown as a team since this early-season instance, their resilient patterns remain unchanged.
Later in the campaign, the Rams countered a frustrating CU loss with a thrilling triple-overtime win at Tulsa. Additionally, CSU’s previous six-game winning streak in conference play occurred following a hard-fought defeat in Nevada.
Clearly, the Rams don’t let negative memories linger.
“We are resilient and gritty,” redshirt senior guard Kris Martin said. “We are strong. We know how to play the game, and we know what we are capable of. So, we aren’t ever going to let one loss hold us back from reaching our goal. We are ready and focused on bouncing back on Saturday.”
CSU has certainly digested Tuesday’s painful result as it prepares to seize its ninth conference victory in Laramie on Saturday.
However, there is one thing the Rams won’t leave to the magic of selective memory loss: hanging tight with Craig Smith’s NCAA Tournament-caliber program –– which may be on its way to a second consecutive March Madness appearance.
If you watched Tuesday’s action, you probably realized how the Aggies were one step ahead of CSU in most phases, from ball-movement to efficacy in transition to perimeter defending. The key element to observe is that USU was just one step ahead, though. Not three or four.
Knowing they were right there the whole time while nearly besting a troupe that has solidified its stance as the cream of the crop in the Mountain West supplies the Rams confidence as they embark through the regular season’s conclusive stages.
“There are no moral victories,” Martin said. “We come into the game knowing we can win the game, that we can beat that team. But it does give us confidence and shows that we are a really good team, and we are capable of playing at a high level with anyone.”
Besides boding CSU’s present endeavors well as it guns for a top seed in the Mountain Tournament, barely faltering versus the highly competent Aggies provides yet another optimistic indicator regarding what the Rams’ future holds.
“It says that the future is really bright,” Stevens said. “But the only thing that matters is getting the victory on the scoreboard. That is the only thing we are going to strive for. We are not going to be content with anything less.”
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