LAS VEGAS — Colorado State didn’t have to send a message to the committee.
“We’ll handle this ourselves” was the emphatic statement from CSU men’s basketball team.
The Rams are officially a juggernaut, playing as good as anyone in college basketball.
Now, it’s time to Dance.
Colorado State is headed to the NCAA Tournament after an eye-popping 69-56 clobbering of Boise State on Saturday to win the Mountain West title.
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The win secures the conference’s automatic ticket to the Big Dance.
Here are takeaways from the game.
Colorado State’s stunning transformation
This is an epic college basketball story.
The Rams were 5-5 to start the season and No. 207 in the NCAA’s NET rankings to start December.
Forget the NCAA Tournament, this team looking like one that would be fighting to have a .500 record.
The team and staff believed they would find a improve, but like this? Wow.
CSU has now won 10 games in a row and all by eight points or more. It has victories in 14 of the last 16. There are many analytics that suggest CSU has been one of the very best teams in the country over the past few months.
The Rams have a super star in Nique Clifford (more on him below) and a bunch of players who have found their perfect role and play it perfectly.
It showcased in the title game.
CSU, playing just 15-and-a-half hours after winning Friday’s semifinal over Utah State, started slow. The Rams missed their first seven shots.
The bench came in and got things going. Bowen Born came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer for CSU’s first bucket. Then Ethan Morton had two paint scores right after.
Those two scored CSU’s first 10 points and the bench scored CSU’s first 13.
It led to a masterclass from the bench. CSU’s reserves scored 28 points.
Morton is a defensive stalwart with limited offense, but he scored a career-high 11 points. Even in warmups, it was clear he was relishing the moment.
The CSU lead grew to 25 points (63-38) in the second half and Boise State was fully rattled, firing wild 3-pointers in a desperate comeback attempt. The Broncos had some late buckets to make it seem closer.
This was dominant.
Nique Clifford continues his moment
Clifford is having a prolonged moment in the spotlight. He poured in 36 in a win at Boise State in the final game of the regular season to secure CSU the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament.
He was dominant all tournament long, finishing it off with Saturday’s title game.
It wasn’t his most efficient game ever as he fought the fatigue, but it was still excellent.
Clifford scored 24 points (7-17 shooting) with six rebounds and three assists. He had several key buckets as the Rams pulled away.
Opposing coaches have raved about Clifford all tournament long, insisting he should be a first-round NBA pick.
He may well be, but first he has NCAA Tournament action to handle with the Rams.
NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday up next
Now the wait for NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday, but the Rams will be in March Madness for the second year in a row and third time in the last four seasons.
The selection show is Sunday, March 16, at 4 p.m. Mountain and will be aired on CBS.
Here are the NCAA Tournament dates:
March 18-19: First Four, University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio
March 20: First round (Round of 64)
- Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky
- Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island
- Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas
- Ball Arena in Denver
March 21: First round (Round of 64)
- Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle
- Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
- Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
- PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
This story has been updated with additional context, video and photos.
