Rams rematch could get loud
Lobos’ Jan. 14 win had plenty of drama
Their coach is the Mountain West’s embattled man in black.
Their senior shooting guard, who just might be the league’s Player of the Year, knows what people think of him and his past brushes with the law.
And the first-place Colorado State Rams, with just seven scholarship players and an enormous chip on their shoulder, come into the Pit tonight for a highly anticipated rematch with the University of New Mexico Lobos. The Rams (18-9, 10-4) are still in the running for at least a share of their first MWC men’s basketball title.
“I know it’s going to be loud,” said guard Gian Clavell, the senior shooting guard from Puerto Rico who is at or near the top of the Mountain West rankings in scoring (20.7 points per game), rebounding (7.1), steals (1.8) and shooting (44.1 percent).
“It’s one of the best courts in the nation. I know it’s going to be loud. That’s what we like.”
While he said he can’t imagine it will be louder than the last time the Rams played in the Pit — CSU lost in Albuquerque on Jan. 3, 2015, when the Rams entered with a 14-0 record — he also knows there is a lot more on the line tonight because of what happened one month ago in Fort Collins.
On Jan. 14, coming off a threegame losing streak, the Lobos (1611, 9-6 MWC) walked into CSU’s Moby Arena and had some pregame trash talk with the Rams, who at one point said the UNM coaching staff would be fired after CSU beat them.
During the chippy game, which the Lobos won 84-71, the following
Today Colorado State at UNM 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network 770 AM, 94.5 FM
happened: Lots of trash talk Basketballs not being made available for the Lobos to warm up with for the second half
Lobo leading scorer Elijah Brown and Clavell taking turns yelling at the crowd
Clavell talking trash during the game with injured Lobo Xavier Adams sitting on the UNM bench
Four called technical fouls — one on UNM coach Craig Neal, one on Lobo center Obij Aget, one on Ram Prentiss Nixon and one on Ram J.D. Paige
Two ejections of UNM assistant coaches for going onto the floor to restrain players from getting into a fight following Lobo Joe Furstinger hurting a Rams player with a legal, but hard screen before flexing then bumping into another Rams player
Clavell yelling at center court “We got to go there. I promise you when we go there, we’re going to kick the s*** out of them!” and later, during game play, walking up to media row to tell two reporters, including one from the Journal, “I promise you, we’re going to get them.” Then came the real fireworks. In the parking lot outside the gym after the Lobos’ 84-71 win, CSU senior Emmanuel Omogbo and Lobo assistant Terrence Rencher were caught on video in a heated verbal argument that made national news. CSU coach Larry Eustachy was cursing Rencher while trying to restrain Omogbo. Rencher never moved from the spot he was standing in when Omogbo approached him, but also kept verbally exchanging with the player.
Eustachy told ESPN that Rencher not only used racial slurs — Rencher at one point was heard saying “take that L, boy” — and also accused Rencher of laughing when told Omogbo’s parents had been killed in a fire a year prior. The video clearly showed that didn’t happen and nobody from CSU, including Eustachy, has commented since on why the Rams coach said that occurred.
The Mountain West, despite sending a harshly worded memo about having a zero-tolerance policy to all league members the following day and how embarrassing that game and other incidents were for the league, passed on offering any discipline. Rencher apologized publicly, but he and UNM athletic director Paul Krebs strongly denied Eustachy’s accusations.
Rencher and Omogbo reached out to one another and talked about the incident and both have said they have no hard feelings for one another.
The Journal requested comment or interviews from Rencher, Eustachy, Clavell and Omogbo. Only Clavell talked. A UNM basketball spokeswoman said Rencher did not want to be interviewed. Through a CSU spokesman, Omogbo confirmed he and Rencher have cleared the air since and “it’s in the past.”
So, what do the two teams think about tonight’s rematch? It’s hard to know for sure.
“The emotion happened in the last minute and after the game, so there was no game emotion that was played,” Neal said at a news conference Monday.
A Journal reporter responded: “You don’t think it was an emotional game before that last minute?”
Neal said, “No. I don’t. I think two teams played very, very hard, but I don’t think anything emotional happened until the last minute when Joe set the screen then after the game, so I don’t know what game you were watching. That’s what I watched and I watched it three times yesterday.”
Neal said the Jan. 14 incident was “an unfortunate situation for both schools” and that he felt there was no benefit in talking about it. Later he acknowledged the first game was emotional.
“OK. It was a very emotional game,” Neal said. “I want my team to play with emotion. I want my team to play with passion. My team has to play like it’s playing for the championship every game.”
Clavell said the Rams have nothing against the Lobos.
“At the end of the day, we don’t have nothing against New Mexico,” Clavell said. “It’s just basketball. We’re competing . ... There’s going to be some things said in there and some things are going to happen, but at the end of the day, we just want to play basketball and compete.”
As for his being a target of opposing fan bases — be it for his past domestic violence arrests, both of which were dismissed, or because they play for the team with a coach who is often the target of fan heckling because of his past problems with alcoholism — that is nothing new to him.
“At the end of the day, (what matters) is the seven on this team and the coaches, and all the other things are just distractions,” Clavell said. “It motivates us. It helps motivate us.”