COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team started Saturday night's contest sluggishly but turned it on in the second half and in result collected their third straight victory with a 15-point win over Adams State University.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final: UCCS 77, ASU 62
- Records: UCCS (8-8, 4-6 RMAC) | ASU (4-11, 2-7 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions extend their win streak over the Grizzlies to five in a row dating back to Feb. 8, 2021. ASU still holds the advantage in the all-time series with a 32-24 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It was all Adams State to start Saturday night's contest as the Grizzlies opened the first eight minutes of the game on a 19-5 run. The Mountain Lions would start to kick things into gear but would still be down double-digits through most of the first half.
- While still down 13 with 2:18 to go in the half, Mac Stodart would kick start an 8-1 UCCS run by nailing a corner three off a pass from Haanes Saar off the inbound. Adams State would still carry a 32-26 lead heading into the second half.
- The Grizzlies maintained control over the first four minutes of the second half and grew their lead up to 41-32 at the 16:21 mark. UCCS would stop the bleeding and cut into this deficit over the next four minutes of play as they went on a 9-3 run capped off by a Xavier Martinez three-pointer to cut the Grizzlies lead to 44-41 with 12:05 to go in the game.
- ASU would respond and grab the momentum back to get a lead up to five with just under 10 minutes to go in the game. UCCS would then go on a 15-4 stretch where they did a great job of reaching the foul line as they went 8-of-10 in that span with Jesse Iweze sinking three free throws and Saar hitting five from the charity stripe helping UCCS grab a 65-59 lead with five minutes remaining.
- The Mountain Lions defense from then on turned up the intensity as they only allowed the Grizzlies to score just one point in the final three minutes of the game. A Jayden Washington three-ball and a monster two handed jam from Iweze iced this game as UCCS would secure the 77-62 victory.
GAME STATISTICS
- Iweze led all scorers tonight with 19 points as he went 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) from the foul line to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.
- Jaudon had his three-pointer going as he went 3-of-6 from deep as he added 16 points in tonight's winning effort.
- Saar did a little bit of everything tonight as he contributed 11 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block.
- After struggling to score in the first half with only 26 points at the break, UCCS would nearly double their effort in the second as they outscored the Grizzlies 51-30 in the closing frame.
- Despite the big margin of victory, the Mountain Lions only shot 18-of-55 (32.7 percent) from the field and only 9-of-30 (30 percent) from beyond the arc. UCCS did excel at the free throw line though as they attempted 37 of them and hit 32 for a percentage of 86.5 percent from the line.
- The Mountain Lions defense did a fantastic job on Adams State shooters as they limited them to just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from deep and kept them off the foul line as they only attempted 17 total foul shots on the night.
- UCCS got major contributions from their bench tonight as they outscored ASU in points from the bench 36-13.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Tonight's contest saw the Mountain Lions make the most free throws they have made all year with 32 of them reaching the bottom of the net.
- Iweze's 13 free throws made, and 15 free throws attempted are both season highs for any Mountain Lion this season and are career highs for Iweze.
- Jaudon had a career night tonight as the redshirt freshman saw career highs in points (16), minutes played (22), three-pointers made (three), free throws made (five), and free throws attempted (five).
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions take on Metropolitan State University of Denver next time out for a contest on Friday, Jan. 19. The action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in Denver Colo., at the MSUD Auraria Event Center.
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
