Ram tough: Men’s March Madness returns to Seattle, 12-seed Colorado State beats Memphis
The hero found his parents. They made eye contact from the center of the floor.
Kyan Evans and his victorious Colorado State Rams roared. They pumped their fists and grinned to the crowd of green-and-gold fans. They were yelling from Climate Pledge Arena’s lower bowl, opposite the CSU bench.
Colorado State coach Niko Medved loved the atmosphere Friday in the NCAA tournament’s return to Seattle for the first time in a decade.
“What an awesome venue,” Medved said of the fancy, few-years-old home of the NHL’s Kraken, and hoped-for future home of the Sonics’ return to the NBA. “What an awesome set-up here.
“Just incredible.
“I know this: This is a great basketball town. People love basketball here.
“What more can you ask for in an NCAA tournament game?”
Colorado State’s leader was struggling. So were the thudding Rams.
Then Evans’ rainbows saved their season.
The sophomore guard made six of his first eight shots from 3-point range. He sparked Colorado State’s comeback from down seven points. Evans finished with a career-high 23 points to lead the 12th-seeded Rams over fifth-seeded Memphis 78-70 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, men’s March Madness’ return to Seattle for the first time in a decade.
“It’s just a great feeling. It’s something you dream of,” Evans said in a Rams locker room that was more business-like than raucous following the win.
“I was looking into the stands and just seeing my family.
“It was a great feeling.”
Colorado State (26-9) followed its first NCAA tournament victory in a dozen years last year with the second upset of a 12 over 5 in this year’s tournament. McNeese stunned heavily favored Clemson Thursday.
The Rams were slight betting favorites in this one. The Mountain West tournament champions got their 11th consecutive victory to advance to the second round Sunday at Seattle Center. They will play the winner of Friday’s second game between fourth-seeded Maryland and 13th-seeded Grand Canyon, for a spot in the West Region semifinals next week in San Francisco.
Evans, a 10-points-per-game scorer this season, a reserve who played 8 minutes a game last season, had not made more than four 3-pointers in a game this season.
He was 3 for 4 from deep in Friday’s first half.
Then with 8:29 left he spotted up from the left wing and hit another 3, his sixth in eight tries Friday. That gave him his season high of 21 points, and the Rams their largest lead at 64-54.
It stayed at 10, 71-61 with 3 minutes left, when CSU season leading scorer Nique Clifford (3 for 13 from the field, 8 for 10 from the free-throw line, 14 points, nine below his average) broke a Memphis trap in the front court with a pass into the left corner. Jalen Lake hit the wide-open 3 to restore the Rams’ 10-point edge.
Dain Dainja was monstrous early from coach Penny Hardaway and Memphis (30-6), but when the Rams collapsed their defense more on him in the lane after halftime the Tigers, champions of the American Athletic Association, could not answer with outside shooting. They were 8 for 24 from the field the first 18 1/2 minutes of the second half, and finished 6 for 23 from 3-point range.
PJ Haggerty, Memphis’ 21-points-per-game scorer, made just seven of 23 shots. He finished his season with 18 points.
A 58.5% free-throw shooter coming in, Dainja made five of his first six from the line. The last two allowed Memphis to withstand an 8-2 run by Colorado State early in the second half. Memphis stayed ahead 45-42 with 15:54 remaining.
The Tigers then went scoreless from the field for 6 minutes. Colorado State took advantage to reclaim the lead. The Rams changed tactics, spreading their offense outside and driving into the lane instead of earlier post entries that unsuccessfully challenged the bullish Dainja.
Evans’ 3-pointer bounced high up off the rim, straight down and through to tie the game at 48 with 15 minutes left. A spin move and basket in the lane from 14 feet by Clifford over Dainja, then a steal and bounce-pass assist from Clifford to freshman guard Bowen Born put Colorado State ahead 52-48 and prompted a Memphis timeout with 13:20 to play.
Bowen’s two free throws put the Rams up 54-48.
While the Tigers were trudging without a basket, the Rams made eight of their first 11 shots after halftime.
While Evans shined, the teams’ top stars were mostly dim.
Clifford, the Mountain West tournament MVP last week, began 1 for 5 from the field for five points in the first half. Haggerty was 1 for 5 from the field for 3 points through 16 minutes. He missed seven of his first 10 shots in the game.
But Dainja was beastly for the Tigers. Memphis’ second-leading scorer all season dominated the Rams inside. The 6-9, 255-pound bull blocked shots. He made Colorado State think twice about shooting or even coming into the lane. On offense, he made six of his first eight shots, almost all of them off bold charges to the rim. His deft crossover dribble and drive to score off the glass through two defenders with 4:41 left sparked the change to the opening half, a 6-0 Tigers run into a 3-point lead.
Two minutes later, Dainja blocked his third shot of the half, ran the floor, set a high ball screen near the top of the key then rolled and scored off his own loose ball underneath. Memphis led by four.
Dainja finished the half playing all 20 minutes, going 7 for 9 from the field for 15 points, plus five rebounds and the three blocks.
He’s why Memphis rallied from down six early to its largest lead of the game by halftime, 36-31. Dainja was why the Tigers held a 22-12 edge in rebounding. He was also way Memphis shot 50% (15 for 30) in the opening half.
Colorado State had been holding opponents to 40.8% shooting during its 10-game winning streak CSU brought into the tournament. The Rams had won those 10 in a row by an average of 17 points.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 1:25 PM.
