CSU Rams keep dancing, pull ‘upset’ on Memphis

Led by a career-high 23 points on six made threes from Kyan Evans, No. 12 Colorado State pulled a comeback upset 78-70 win over the No. 5 Memphis Tigers on Friday.

The Rams were down seven at 38-31 just after halftime, before sparking up on a a 42-23 extended spurt—thanks to Evans shooting, the team hitting a few big ones too and some ferocious offensive rebounding. Nique Clifford was everywhere for the Rams, collecting eight rebounds and six assists to go with 13 points on a tough shooting day. But every Rams starter had at least eight points, playing their best ball late in the contest.

CSU was able to eventually slow down big Dain Dainja, scorching for 22 points and 12 rebounds but doing most of that work in the first half. The Rams really cooled the nation’s third-best scorer PJ Haggerty, holding him to 18 points on 23 shots while not letting him get to the line where he normally butters his bread.

“They just keep growing. They don’t flinch. They’re so tough-minded,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said on the television broadcast just after the win. “At halftime, we really challenged them. I just thought that the last seven minutes of the first half they wer the more aggressive team. Our guys just came out with a great mindset, and stayed on the attack. How about these guys making big shots?”

ANOTHER THREE FOR THE RAMS 🌧️#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/gauegNHgny

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2025

The Tigers had been one of the hottest teams in the country, riding an eight-game win streak—but it’s the Rams stretch everyone in the nation will be talking about—now winners of 11 straight.

Colorado State will meet the winner of No. 4 Maryland and No. 13 Grand Canyon, who square off on the same floor in Seattle just after the Rams game wrapped up. While the seeding says CSU was an upset winner on Friday, the spread had the Rams as the favorites, something that likely wouldn’t be true against the Big Ten regular season runners-up Terrapins.

“It feels great, it’s a lot different than last year when we beat Virginia, got into Charlotte at four in the morning and then played Texas 24 hours later,” CSU assistant coach Brain Cooley said on the Rams Radio Network postgame about this year’s win compared to last year’s First Four victory. “This is much different. Little bit of a challenge now emotionally, catch our breath. We wanted our guys to enjoy this, it’s something they grew up watching, and dreaming about enjoying. And quickly we got to find a way to move on.”

It’s CSU’s first time since 2013 that they’re advancing to the Round of 32, and just the third time in 55 years that the Rams have been able to dance this far.

"HOW ABOUT THEM RAMS" 🗣️@CSUMBasketball updates their bracket for Sunday 🐏#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/eCORrhm3pV

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2025