Colorado State’s three-point shooting dominated the contest as San Diego State had no answer for 40 minutes.

San Diego State and Colorado State met in Fort Collins on Saturday evening. The Rams held their annual “Orange Out” for the contest against the Aztecs, who wore all black.

Brian Dutcher had his freshman Elzie Harrington back for this game. He returned to action off the bench as BJ Davis and Jeremiah Oden remained in the starting lineup. Harrington was not a factor in this game, finishing with zero points in 18 minutes.

The scoring was back-and-forth to begin, and both offenses saw some success early on. Oden scored a quick five points for SDSU as his team jumped out to a 10-7 lead. Oden tried to become a factor offensively in this game to give his team an edge; however, he did not play in the second half.

The pace of the game was intense. There had not been a stoppage in play for the first seven minutes and 49 seconds of the half. Playing in elevation, having fresh legs was going to be crucial for this game.

After that long stretch of play without a whistle, Dutcher subbed in a full five players, including Harrington. San Diego State made just three triples against Grand Canyon in the loss earlier this week. Through just under nine minutes, they were 3-6 from deep as Byrd, Oden, and Sean Newman Jr. all drilled one.

The Rams’ offense started the game slowly, but they really flipped the switch halfway through the first half. CSU missed six straight shots and saw a scoring drought north of five minutes. During that same drought, CSU committed its only three turnovers of the contest to this point. Then, the three-point shooting from the Rams dominated the half. They are a top-10 team in the nation in three-point shooting, and proved it in front of their home fans.

Colorado State racked off eight triples in the half in 19 attempts. The Aztecs had no clue how to stop it. They were not putting a body on the ball handler, and a majority of the attempts from deep went uncontested. CSU stole all the momentum that SDSU had early in the game.

Carey Booth played very well in the first half, going 5-8 from the field with 14 points. Booth slammed home a massive dunk on Heide, which was the beginning point of their insane run of points. CSU went from trailing 13-7 to leading by 13 at the half. Their largest lead was 15, thanks to an 8-0 run.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME‼️🤯#Relentless x #RAMILY pic.twitter.com/T8xyJJ94GJ

— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) February 21, 2026

San Diego State has played poorly for 40 consecutive minutes. The second half of the Grand Canyon game and the first half against the Rams were atrocious and not the level this program is accustomed to playing. Something needed to change, and it needed to happen quickly. Dutcher’s teams usually improve at this point in the season, but that is not the case for this squad.

Tae Simmons started the second half over Oden. Dutcher was trying to improve in the trenches with rebounding and physically. Despite Simmons not grabbing a rebound in this game to this point, his physicality was on full force in the second half. Simmons would grab five boards in the second half.

After trailing by 15, SDSU brought the score to within eight as BJ Davis nailed a critical three-pointer. SDSU needed to get back in this game quickly. The Rams’ three-point shooting remained excellent, but the Aztecs did not go away quietly. SDSU stayed close enough to the Rams to avoid the blowout.

The Aztecs needed a run, and they got one. They scored seven straight points to bring the score from 15 to seven with 13 minutes to go in the game. Simmons was playing big minutes, finishing with 19 total.

The run ended as Colorado State’s three-point shooting was masterful. They made their 12th of the game as Brandon Rechsteiner was lights out. The Rams used his two three-pointers to go right back up 13 with 11:22 remaining. The Aztecs had no answer for the Rams’ shooting.

After the triple from Rechsteiner, he taunted Newman Jr. and was given a technical foul. Davis made both from the line, and SDSU retained possession. Taj DeGourville hit a mid-ranger, and SDSU had a four-point possession. Byrd then hit his second three-pointer of the evening to bring the score to within seven. SDSU had cracked open the door, but they needed to find a way in.

The Aztecs could not get out of their own way. Fouling became a problem, and the Rams continued to get points while the Aztecs needed to stop them on possessions. SDSU tried to get the score back to within seven points, but they couldn’t, and time ran out for them. SDSU would turn the ball over three times in four possessions as the frustrations continued.

Tae Simmons’ technical foul in the final two minutes for yelling at the refs was a perfect example of how this season has gone for the Aztecs. The team looked out of sync. SDSU played better in the second half compared to the first, but they have not shown at all this season that they can play a full 40-minute game against a worthy opponent.

A win against Utah State on Wednesday would quiet a ton of noise, but things don’t look positive right now. They must make a run to the Mountain West championship game in order to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs are not usually in this position, but right now, it does not look like they are a team that will be playing in the NCAA Tournament next month.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.