This was a first half to remember for Rams fans.
Colorado State (13-2) was unstoppable offensively while St. Bonaventure couldn't buy a bucket. The Rams jumped out to a 19-3 lead with hot shooting from behind the arc by Wes Eikmeier and the Bonnies starting 0-10 from the field. CSU put up a season-high 46 in the first half to lead by 18 on the strength of 57 percent shooting from the floor.
The second half was much of the same as CSU controlled the contest throughout, allowing the Bonnies to come within 14 points, but never closer. When all was said and done, three Rams players finished in double digits and they cruised to the 85-64 victory.
Wes Eikmeier's 21 points led all scorers and he contributed six assists while Colton Iverson's 14-12 were good for his sixth double-double on the season. Colorado State won the rebounding battle 45-28 and out-scored the Bonnies 42-20 in the painted area.
"That was a point of emphasis, actually, we talked about that the past couple weeks," Pierce Hornung said of the team's recent slow starts. "And I think we did a good job tonight of correcting that."
"I thought we did a good job of moving the ball on offense, swinging it, getting it reversed and that leads to points in the paint and you see we had 42 points in the paint, that's a pretty big number," Iverson said.
"I know this team – we talked about, this is your last non-conference game for several of these guys – your last non-conference game on this court," head coach Larry Eustachy explained of his talk with the team pregame. "I knew we'd be ready to play, and we were and the score indicated it."
"It was the best we've done all year as far as ball movement, player movement -- not letting it die in our hands -- getting it into the post, throwing it out of the post," he finished.
The win is CSU's seventh straight on the season, improving their record to 13-2, extending their school record with 13 non-conference wins. It's also the team's 22nd straight home win, dating back to last season, which ties the school record that was set from 1960-62.
Now Colorado State turns their attention to Mountain West Conference play, with a road game against San Diego State (12-2) next Saturday.
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist. You can follow Rich on twitter or facebook for all your CSU Rams news and opinion.
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