Colorado State basketball completes stunning comeback against Wyoming

A refuse-to-lose effort.

The Colorado State men’s basketball team was teetering on the edge of a really rough loss but the Rams dialed into a new level of determination to wrestle this one away.

The Rams were down 10 points in the second half to rival Wyoming on the cusp of a tough season sweep to their biggest rivals.

Then CSU buckled down and dominated the end the game to grab a 79-68 win at Moby Arena on Feb. 14.

Here are takeaways from the game.

CSU responded to Wyoming’s talk

Wyoming (13-12, 4-10 Mountain West) was full of plenty of chatter after a home win over the Rams at the end of January.

Leland Walker said the Rams “were getting the belt” and coach Sundance Wicks lauded the “sucks to be a CSU Ram” chant heard at Arena Auditorium.

This week Wicks was annoyed at a radio program that pointed out Khaden Bennett overperformed his stats in that game (he scored 22 after coming into the game just shy of 10 points per game).

Wicks also said he was displeased with a photo CSU used celebrating a win over Wyoming last season.

CSU (15-10, 6-8 MW) refused to get into a battle of words with coach Ali Farokhmanesh calling it “just another game” ahead of the second Border War.

That, obviously, is not true and CSU played like it, especially late on.

“You can’t act like it’s another game because it’s really not,” said CSU forward Carey Booth, who tied a career-high with six blocks. “Obviously, it means more. It’s great to get wins in games against Wyoming.”

Farokhmanesh wanted the team to respond with play on the court and it worked out in a strong win for the Rams.

“They were motivated,” Farokhmanesh said of his team. “I think they were motivated just in general, but yeah they were motivated. There were some things that were said that were kind of disrespectful. That’s up to them. But for us, we’re just going to play basketball and be about us and talk about us and it’s about us more than it’s about them.”

Colorado State’s toughness finishes Wyoming

Wyoming led 57-47 with 12:37 to go in the game. There was a timeout shortly after that and Farokhmanesh challenged the group to buckle down.

Buckle down they did.

Wyoming scored just 11 points the rest of the way, shooting 4-21 (19%) in the final 12-plus minutes. The Cowboys missed their final eight shots of the game and 14 of their final 15.

“I thought we got tougher. It wasn’t a whole lot of game plan stuff,” Farokhmanesh said. “We really just got tougher.”

It was a great response from the Rams.

CSU had gone down nine points in the first half as well, while also losing sharpshooter Josh Pascarelli to injury.

That minute lineups got shuffled but the Rams responded with players filling key roles.

Booth’s six blocks disrupted Wyoming and forced the Cowboys to alter drives to the lane. Jevin Muniz carried a huge workload (36 minutes) with Pascarelli injured and scored 15 points on 6-8 shooting, while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing three assists.

Kyle Jorgensen scored nine of his 11 points after halftime.

Wyoming was switching defensively, leaving the Rams with size mismatches that encouraged inside play. CSU scored 30 paint points, but also drew 26 fouls.

The Rams shot 25-30 (83%) from the line, while Wyoming had just eight free throw attempts.

“We know we’re a good 3-point shooting team, but if they’re going to switch everything we’ve got to take advantage of mismatches and keep driving the ball to the paint,” CSU guard Jase Butler said.

CSU outscored Wyoming 32-11 in the final 12:37 of the game. Wyoming shot just 32% in the second half and scored 28 points in the final 20 minutes.

Jase Butler’s growth shows in game-winning performance

Butler likely takes the crown of MVP for the game, with a career-high in points (18) and assists (six). He also had three rebounds and three steals, while hitting 11 of 12 free throws.

He was an eye-popping plus-25 in 30 minutes on the floor against Wyoming.

The sophomore is a former four-star recruit who transferred into CSU from Washington (he was recruited by CSU out of high school, too) and has become a do-it-all for the Rams.

“You just trust Jase. He’s Jalen Lake to me,” Farokhmanesh said, referencing the four-year Ram who graduated after last season.

“A lot like Jalen Lake where you trust him on the court, you trust him in those situations to make plays and he came up with every play tonight.”

Butler’s versatility is key. He had a big steal to spark the second half comeback. He can guard multiple positions, he can shoot the ball (40% on 3’s this season) and he’s one of CSU’s best cutters and drivers.

With limited minutes last season at Washington, Farokhmanesh likened the early part of this season to being Butler’s freshman season and now he’s on to being a true sophomore as his game grows.

“I thank Coach Ali for the trust in me,” Butler said. “I think the more reps I get, the better I get.”

Sports reporter Kevin Lytle can be found on social media on X, Instagram and Threads @Kevin_Lytle and on Bluesky.