The Rams are 15-14 overall this season, 6-10 in the Mountain West Conference and good for eighth place. Coach Larry Eustachy's guys are coming off a 78-70 road loss to UNLV (not bad at all), with three victories and four losses this past month.
It's still 6-foot-7, 240 J.J. Avila (16.8), 6-foot-4 Daniel Bejarano (16.7 and 6-foot-4 Jon Octeus (13.3) as the top scorers but CSU is behind its collective opponents in shooting overall and long distance marksmanship (43% to 44% and 33% to 36%) albeit not by much. But the Rams are better on the boards 37 to 33, have committed about 100 less fouls and are close to 50 less turnovers.
Can Rashad Muhammad go for another 28 points? That's doesn't seem likely considering his recent slump but there will be a time when he busts out of it so why not Hump Day?
The outcome between these two teams back on January 8:
It was a clash of the Rams and the Spartans on Walt McPherson Court tonight with the former departing holding a 66-64 victory. The matchup was close throughout as Coach Larry Eustachy's guys nailed 8-10 free throws near the end to get back into the lead and hold it.The preview of that contest:
As expected, CSU leading scorer J.J. Avila led the way totaling 21 points (although he shot just 6-20 overall) plus 14 boards, split seven and seven. Daniel Bejarano totaled 15 points, seven rebounds and a team-leading five assists.
On the SJSU ledger, Rashad Muhammad continue to pile up the points, finishing with a season high 28, including 5-6 from long distance. Chris Cunningham enjoyed a 13/5 night, Jaleel Williams 11/6 and freshman point Jalen James earned seven assists but was also whistled for six TOs.
San Jose State University shot an impressive 47% as a team while holding CSU to 40% and the Spartans also won the battle of the boards 29-26. But it was 19 turnovers versus just nine for the Rams.
So it's Colorado State and Coach Larry Eustachy (as well as Assistant Coach Steve Barnes who really, really wanted the position Coach Wojcik got in late March of last year) coming in Wednesday night. The Rams have lost a ton of talent due to graduation and 2013-14 has been pegged to be a rebuilding year
Eustachy's guys are currently 9-6 overall, 0-2 in the Mountain West Conference, a 71-61 loss at home to San Diego State and an 80-72 defeat to host New Mexico. Both are respectable setbacks considering the Aztecs and Lobos are of the top three squads in the league.
On the season, Colorado State has beaten who they were supposed to, except possibly an 80-70 ambush by Denver.
Everywhere Eustachy has coached, his gang have been known for a tough and physical playing style. Therefore, the Rams boast a 39-33.4 advantage in team rebounding plus a 446-315 lead in season free throw attempts.
Here's the who:
* 6-foot-7, 240 Naval Academy transfer J.J. Avila leads in point production at both 18.9 points and 52 assists a game, the latter an unusual feat for a forward
* At 6-foot-4, Daniel Bejarano is tops in rebounding with a 9.4 average and second with 15.1 points an outing
* 6-foot-4 backcourter Jon Octeus is third in scoring with 12.2 points per contest and he is also surprisingly tied for the team lead with 84 free throw tries despite his stationing on the court.
* Another guard, 6-foot-4 Joe DiCiman is the 'designated' three point shooter with a team-leading 50 attempts but a 34% connection rate
* Do watch for backcourter Daniel Cohn who is 14-29 from long distance on the season as well as sporting an extremely attractive 20/5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Colorado State doesn't possess overwhelming size but they go hard and make contact. Coach Wojcik's frontcourters will be tested on the fouls count.
Unlike in other Spartan games this season, don't look for a number of wide open shot attempts despite SJSU's proclivity for firing away from far away as Eustachy will simply not stand for that.
This is a good test for the youthful Spartans. They won't be overwhelmed by talent but the consistent body contact on the court will be new and challenging.
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