Patrick Cartier finished with 19 points and No. 13 Colorado State canned 72 percent of its second-half shots to rally for a 90-80 nonconference win over Denver on Wednesday in Fort Collins, Colo.
Isaiah Stevens added 18 points and nine assists for the Rams (9-0), who also got 15 points and seven assists from Nique Clifford. Joel Scott contributed 11 points and seven rebounds as Colorado State sank 60.4 percent for the night, crafting a 24-8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tommy Bruner starred in defeat for the Pioneers (6-4), pumping in a game-high 28 points and adding eight assists. DeAndre Craig added 16 points, but it wasn’t enough for Denver to pull off the upset despite hitting 50.9 percent from the field, including 10 of 21 (47.6 percent) from the 3-point arc.
Bruner made a free throw to give the Pioneers a 52-51 edge with 13:07 remaining. The Rams then pulled away to establish a 67-59 advantage on Cartier’s layup with 8:54 left.
Colorado State earned a 31-23 edge on the glass and outscored Denver 42-28 in the paint. Each team committed just eight turnovers.
At tipoff, Colorado State was a 20 1/2-point favorite against its Summit League opponent, but Denver showed in the first half that it was ready to beat the Rams at their own game — crisp offensive execution.
Despite a drought of 4:07 after Jaxon Brenchley opened the scoring with a layup, the Pioneers fought back with nine straight points and grabbed an 11-8 lead at the 13:53 mark on a 3-pointer by Craig.
Colorado State fought back, taking a 24-17 edge when Scott turned Cartier’s feed into a layup with 6:10 left in the period.
Denver controlled the half’s remainder behind red-hot 3-point shooting. Bruner canned three treys and Touko Tainamo added a 24-footer with two seconds remaining that made it 39-35 Pioneers at the break.
–Field Level Media