Slow First Half Dooms Utah State Basketball Against Colorado State Rams

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Utah State Basketball fell to the Colorado State Rams, 75-55, after getting outscored by 17 in the first half.

Great Osobor led the way for the Aggies with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Utah State will return home for a game against the San Diego State Aztecs on Tuesday, February 20.

FINAL | Colorado State 75, Utah State 55

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 18, 2024

First Half

Colorado State’s Joel Scott led the Rams early on with all of their first seven points.

Great Osobor got the Aggies started with an easy dunk.

CSU jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first four minutes. Utah State slowed the Rams momentum with a 5-0 run.

🏀 Highlights from @CSUMBasketball 75-55 Win over Utah State 🟢🟡#AtThePeak | #MWMBB | #Stalwart pic.twitter.com/Z3S2vl8J4T

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) February 18, 2024

After six minutes, the Aggies trailed by one, 11-10.

Over the next ten minutes, Utah State went cold and the Rams took advantage. Colorado State went on a 19-6 run.

The Aggies shot 2/12 during this stretch.

Utah State finally broke the slump and scored on four straight possessions. Osobor threw down a dunk with four minutes left in the half to drop the lead to 12.

OSOBOR DUNK‼️

⚡️ @GreatOsobor #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/DlcYjBa7ZO

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 17, 2024

CSU opened another run going into the break.

Outscoring USU 7-2, Colorado State led by 17 at halftime.

Osobor was the Aggie’s leading scorer at the break with nine.

Halftime in Fort Collins#AggiesAllTheway pic.twitter.com/onR29rNSns

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 17, 2024

Second Half

The second half went much better for the Aggies but the first-half deficit proved to be too much to come back from.

After the Rams opened a 20-point lead with a three, Osobor responded with a triple of his own.

Ian Martinez led a second-half Aggies charge as Utah State dropped the CSU lead to 13 with 10 minutes left in regulation.

MEDIA TO | Colorado State 54, Utah State 41

Osobor and Martinez are both in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively, with 10:35 on the clock.#AggiesAllTheWay

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 18, 2024

The Rams held strong and didn’t allow the Aggies to get the lead down to single digits.

In the final 10 minutes of the game, CSU slowly built their lead back up near 20.

With four minutes left, the Aggies trailed by 16, 69-53.

MEDIA TO | CSU 69, USU 53

Jackson with eight points off the bench as the Aggies trail with just over four minutes on the clock.#AggiesAllTheWay

— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 18, 2024

Utah State didn’t make a field goal in the final four minutes.

Osobor, Martinez, and Javon Jackson were the only Aggies to score more than 8 points in Fort Collins. USU shot 38.6% from the field and 26.7% from deep.

Utah State picked up it’s fifth loss of the season to the Colorado State Rams on the road, 75-55.

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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.

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