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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Junior Kannon Burrage poured in a game-high 19 points, but Wes Eikmeier led five Colorado State players in double figures with 18, as the Rams downed UTSA, 85-75, on Monday night in the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Consolation Rounds.
Eikemeier made 5-of-8 from the floor, including three of CSU’s 11 3-pointers, to help the Rams improve to 3-2 on the season. Dwight Smith scored 16 behind a 7-for-10 night at the line, while Kaipo Sabas drained 5-of-6 from downtown en route to 15. Dorian Green and Will Bell added 15 and 10 points, respectively, for the Rams who shot 53.2 percent for the game (50 percent from beyond the arc) and made 24-of-34 at the line.
Burrage was 6-for-11 from the field and made all five free-throw attempts in leading the Roadrunners (2-2) in scoring for the second time this season. Junior Michael Hale III added 14 behind a 6-for-7 effort at the charity stripe – UTSA was 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) for the game – and senior Sei Paye pitched in with 10 points and five assists.
Trailing by one at the break, the Roadrunners scored the first five points of the second half to take a 47-43 lead, but Colorado State drained its first four 3-point attempts, three by Sabas, for a 55-49 advantage.
Two more trifectas by Smith and Green kick-started a 13-5 run that gave the Rams a 75-68 lead with five minutes to play.
A layup by Hale III made it 75-70 with 3:19 on the clock, but Eikmeier answered with a jumper and two free throws by Jesse Carr put Colorado State up by nine with 2:43 remaining.
UTSA got no closer than six after a pair of free throws from Hale III and another from sophomore Jeromie Hill made it 79-73 with just less than two minutes to go, as the Rams held on in the first meeting between the two schools.
UTSA shot 46.3 percent and made 10-of-24 from long distance but struggled with a 36-percent field goal percentage in the second half.
The Roadrunners stormed out to an 11-2 lead, but Colorado State used a 19-10 run to knot the score midway through the half. The Rams eventually built a 41-33 lead after Sabas knocked down a 3-pointer at the 3:02 mark, but Burrage started and finished a 9-2 UTSA run with a pair of treys to help the Birds cut the deficit to just one at the intermission.
UTSA will wrap up the NIT Season Tip-Off Consolation Rounds against Fresno State (2-2) at 6 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday.