Playing in The Pit for the first time since 2018-19, Colorado State used a strong second-half all-around performance to earn an 83-68 Mountain West win at New Mexico Thursday night. With their fifth straight win, the Rams improved to 21-3 overall and 11-3 in the conference, while the Lobos fell to 11-15 and 3-9 in the league.

Colorado State jumped out to 12-2 lead to open the game, but New Mexico rallied back and took the lead. The two teams exchanged leads 14 times before the hosts went into the halftime intermission leading 42-40.

After five more lead changes to start the second half, the game was tied at 54 with 13:04 left and junior forward David Roddy on the bench with three personal fouls. From there, CSU went on a strong 13-2 run to take an 11-point lead at 67-56 with 7:49 left. The Lobos could only get as close as seven on two occasions, but the Rams closed the game on a 12-4 run to seal the victory.

Colorado State finished the game at 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the floor, hitting better than 50 percent in both halves. New Mexico was 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field but was limited to just 26 points in the final 20 minutes, hitting just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) and 1-of-9 from the arc. CSU won the board battle definitively, 36-27, including 10 offensive rebounds.

The Rams were led by Roddy with game highs of 31 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Isaiah Stevens had 12 points, seven assists and two steals. Junior guard John Tonje added 11 points. New Mexico also had three in double figures, as Jay Allen-Tovar and Jamal Mashburn, Jr. had 17 points each.

STAT OF THE GAME
• CSU dominated points in the paint, leading 14-4 at half and finishing with a 44-22 advantage.

NOTES
• This was the fourth consecutive game in a different city for the Rams.
• CSU sweeps the regular-season series, but New Mexico holds the lead in this series, 78-51, including 71-50 in conference play and 50-13 in Albuquerque.
• The Rams are now 9-0 when scoring 80 or more points and 12-0 when limiting opponents to 69 or less.
• This was the fourth game in a row and 13th time this season that CSU has shot 50 percent or better from the field.
• Roddy's 31-point performance was the second highest of his career and his third 30+ point game of the year.
• Roddy moved up to 11th on CSU's career scoring chart at 1,285 points, passing NBA veteran Jason Smith (2004-07) at 1,281 points.
• Stevens moved up into 15th at 1,219 points, passing J.D. Paige (2014-19) at 1,210, while the guard is now second in career assists at 415, passing Milt Palacio (1996-99) and Bobby Sellers (1992-96).

NEXT UP
• The Rams will head for their fifth different city in this stretch, playing in Las Vegas against UNLV on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. MT.
• The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
• The audio will be on the Colorado State Sports Radio Network (along with online at CSURams.com), with Brian Roth and Adam Nigon handling the broadcast.
• CSU Sports Network broadcasts can be also accessed on mobile devices through the Varsity Network app (free on all Apple and Android devices).