Aztecs at Colorado State
Records: SDSU is 16-4, 5-2; CSU is 15-5, 3-4
Series history: SDSU leads 51-43 and has won four straight (and 11 of 13), including 82-76 in overtime in Fort Collins last season. The Rams won 58-57 there the year before on a controversial non-call at the buzzer.
Aztecs update: They remained second among others receiving votes (or 27th overall) for the third straight week in the Associated Press poll, despite one voter (Parth Upadhyaya of The Daily Memphian) having them at No. 16 and another (CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein) at No. 18. The only Mountain West teams ranked are Utah State (17) and New Mexico (19). Jaedon LeDee is two points from reaching 1,000 for his career, with 706 of them coming in his two seasons at SDSU. He ranks third in Div. I in Kenpom’s individual ratings behind 2022-23 national player of the year Zach Edey and Dayton’s DaRon Holmes, and just ahead of Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Auburn’s Johni Broome. After opening the season 43 of 43 from the line, Reese Waters is 6 of 10 since. One promising stat for tonight: Waters is shooting better behind the arc away from Viejas Arena (43.2 percent) than at home (37.8). So is Elijah Saunders (37.0 to 24.2 percent). The Kenpom metric projects Colorado State as a 72-71 winner. Most betting lines also have the Rams as a onepoint favorite. Three of their last six games at Moby Arena have been decided by a point or in overtime.
Rams update: They were ranked as high as No. 13 on the strength of a 12-1 nonconference record that included a 21-point win against Creighton. But they tumbled out of the AP top 25 this week after a pair of road losses, 77-74 at Nevada and 79-76 in OT at rival Wyoming. The key piece is Isaiah Stevens, the Mountain West preseason player of the year, who is one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award presented annually to the nation’s top point guard. He already is CSU’s all-time leading scorer with 2,108 points and this season averages 16.7 points, 7.5 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 43.6 percent behind the arc. Colorado transfer Nique Clifford is dangerous as well, averaging 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 50.9 percent on 3s. The Rams play a modern, souped-up version of the Princeton offense, moving the ball quickly across the perimeter to open driving lanes and backdoor cuts. They lead the Mountain West in field-goal shooting (50.1 percent), free-throw shooting (75.5 percent) and assists (19.4 per game). They’re ranked 27th nationally in Kenpom offensive efficiency despite being a poor offensive rebounding team. SDSU is 18th in defensive efficiency.
Next up: Saturday vs. Utah State (12:30 p.m., Ch. 5/69)