CSU shy of being Ram-tough in '04

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Before the season began, Colorado State looked like the most likely Mountain West Conference basketball team to challenge BYU and Utah for the league title.

The Rams were the hottest team at the end of last season, knocking off the Utes in a late-season game at the Huntsman Center and then running through the MWC tournament in Las Vegas before losing to Duke in a fairly close NCAA first-round game back at the Huntsman Center.

They returned most of their top players this year, and it was logical for them to be picked third in the MWC preseason poll.

However, as they head into tonight's game at Moby Arena (7 p.m. KJZZ-TV) with Utah, the Rams are near the bottom of the league standings at 3-5 and just above .500 at 11-10 on the year.

So what happened?

Injuries have been the main culprit, although many other teams in the league can use the same excuse, including Utah. Inconsistency from key players is another.

The Rams have a total of 20 missed games so far this year due to injury, several by the team's two best players, Matt Nelson and Micheal Morris. It's caused CSU coach Dale Layer to use 12 different starting lineups in 21 games.

Nelson, the Rams 7-foot senior center who was picked as the preseason player of the year, has missed four games, all in MWC play, but has seen limited action in others because of a sore knee. He's questionable for tonight's game after missing the past three games.

Morris, who sat out of last month's game in Utah with a bad hamstring, is back in action but not shooting well, just 38.7 percent from the field in five MWC games. Ute fans will never forget Morris for his last-second bomb to beat the Utes last March.

Nelson is averaging 14.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action per game. Senior forward Matt Williams is second in scoring at 11.1 per game and is the top rebounder with 6.0 per game, while senior forward Ronnie Clark averages 9.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Freshman point guard Dwight Boatner, who didn't even play in the earlier game in Salt Lake City, has come on strong since, scoring 11 points in each of three straight games. He's slated to start tonight. However, senior guard Jon Rakiecki, who leads the team with 35 3-pointers, has struggled during MWC play, making just 20 percent of his shots and 18.8 from 3-point range.