{"id":193019,"date":"2026-02-25T12:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193019\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:58:10","slug":"3-takeaways-from-csu-mens-basketballs-win-over-fresno-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193019\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from CSU men’s basketball’s win over Fresno State"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first half was rocky for Colorado State<\/a> men\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

The Rams played their third game in six days; however, they found a way to stay alive and come back on a loud Moby Madness night, beating Fresno State<\/a> 74-70 Tuesday.<\/p>\n

CSU is starting to find its rhythm as the postseason approaches, winning its last six games, and this team is still learning a lot about itself.<\/p>\n

Brandon Rechsteiner lights comeback\u00a0<\/p>\n

Junior guard Brandon Rechsteiner<\/a>, put on a show as he led the Rams with 16 points. He rallied his team from a low-scoring first half with his back-to-back three-pointers early in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Rechsteiner\u2019s 3-pointers) gets me fired up; it gets me going,\u201d forward Kyle Jorgensen<\/a> said. \u201cI think I was a little low, a little bit in the first half. And you know, when shots aren\u2019t falling, you kind of get into that mode sometimes. And it is what it is, but when you see other people going, \u2026 I\u2019ll get going as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forward Jevin Muniz<\/a> also scored a pivotal 3-pointer with about two minutes left in the second half to break the Rams away from the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

But Rechsteiner continues to find his role in CSU\u2019s squad and is a key piece to the Rams\u2019 hot run as they close out the season.<\/p>\n

Rams start slow, gain traction<\/p>\n

The first four minutes were all FSU, and CSU trailed 39-32 at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n

This, however, was anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call these trap games,\u201d Kyle Jorgensen said. \u201cI think we started a little bit casual today, and you know Ali (Farokhmanesh)<\/a> got on us, and we were able to turn (it) around. Which I think we talked about in (the locker room). Like about a month ago, I don\u2019t think (would have won Tuesday\u2019s) game. And I think that shows our progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a team effort, as Muniz and Rechsteiner each scored 15 or more points. In addition, the entire starting five reached double digits in points scored.<\/p>\n

CSU switches it up<\/p>\n

A huge anticipation for this year\u2019s season was how first-year head coach Farokhmanesh would play out. Tuesday\u2019s game continued to show his ability to coach a winning team.<\/p>\n

But the first half was rough.<\/p>\n

CSU shot 4-of-18 from the 3-point line and gave up double-digit points off turnovers. However, the Rams changed the gameplan heading into the second half and focused more on attacking the paint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the poor defensive teams in the paint,\u201d Farokhmanesh said. \u201cThis whole game was like, attack the paint, drive the next, close out, drive the next, close out. And they started doing a way better job in the second half attacking the paint, getting (to) the rim, and also drawing fouls. The 3\u2019s were open, but in the second half, you start playing more inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams changed the plan at halftime and found a way.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

A Rams team that knows it must win out the remainder of the season to stay in top shape heading into Mountain West Tournament play travels to San Jose State<\/a>\u00a0Saturday.<\/p>\n

CSU knows its capabilities in staying in the race as it continues to prove itself. The team is beginning to find its identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are more connected,\u201d Rechsteiner said. \u201cEvery halftime, every timeout is player-led. It\u2019s not quiet. I think early on, it was quiet. I think now we know what the task is and everyone\u2019s role in that task. And we\u2019re getting it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reach Aron Medrano at\u00a0sports@collegian.com<\/a> or on Twitter\u00a0@AronMedrano27<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interested in more sports content? Sign up for Ram Report\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for weekly CSU sports updates!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first half was rocky for Colorado State men\u2019s basketball. The Rams played their third game in six…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-193019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}