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Clavell, Colorado State Beat New Mexico 68-56

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Gian Clavell scored 24 points and had an answer when Colorado State needed it as the Rams beat New Mexico 68-56 on Tuesday night.

The Rams (19-9, 11-4 Mountain West) never trailed in the game. Emmanuel Omogbo added a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Clavell had four 3-pointers, three steals and two blocks.

Clavell even took care of the boisterous opposing crowd, shushing it with a finger to his lips following a jumper to halt a 6-0 Lobos' run that had cut the score to 38-35. New Mexico got as close as 40-38 early in the second half, but the Rams went on a 15-5 run to regain control.

"I was having a blast," Clavell said. "I'm just having fun, just having fun with it. I like playing in front of big crowds. When it gets loud, I think they're cheering for me."
At one point, he scored 10 straight points for the Rams.
"They were big ones. They were tough ones. It's not like we just left him open," New Mexico coach Craig Neal said. "But when you let a player like that get going and get his confidence going, they're hard to guard."

Elijah Brown had 20 points for the Lobos (16-12, 9-7) and Sam Logwood added 11.
"We did something we haven't done all year because we think Brown is so special," Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy said. "We did a great job of getting the ball out of Brown's hands and then being in the right spot to steal the ball."

BIG PICTURE

After a late-game dust-up and postgame, parking-lot confrontation the last time these teams played — an 84-71 New Mexico victory in January — the rematch was much-anticipated. So much so that three Mountain West officials were on hand for the game. In addition, two university police officers were stationed behind the Rams' bench. And while the game had plenty of hard fouls and physical play, it never quite went over the top.

"It's just basketball," Clavell said. "It gets chippy. It gets physical, but at the end of day, it's just college basketball and that's what college basketball is all about."

Colorado State's win was its fifth straight on the road and its first in the Pit since 2007, but the Rams still have a 6-44 record in the arena. This win, however, puts Colorado State a half-game ahead of Nevada and Boise State in the conference race, while the latter two play Wednesday.

"We're in the running and we know what we have a head of us," Eustachy said. "Maybe our toughest game is the one we having ahead of us."

KEY STATS

New Mexico came into the game with the most foul shots in the conference, but it only went to the line 12 times as Colorado State committed just 11 fouls.

The Rams only turned it over five times, while adding nine steals.

"When we don't turn it over, you don't put a team like that in transition and it really changes the outcome of the game. We don't want to put those guys in transition," Eustachy said.

UP NEXT

New Mexico is at Wyoming on Saturday.
Colorado State is home to San Diego State on Saturday.

By GLEN ROSALES, Associated Press

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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