Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
15-10,6-8Mountain West
Wyoming
13-12,4-10Mountain West
CSU Steadies Heartbeat in Border War Win
2/14/2026 5:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball
During decisive February, the Rams answered with conviction
Rivalries are never predictable. They tilt, twist, and turn — much like working up the courage to ask someone to be your valentine.
The Border War comes with its own risks and its own rewards, and Colorado State stepped into Moby Arena on Saturday knowing exactly what it meant. Playing Wyoming in Laramie earlier this season had given CSU the playbook: be aggressive but stay clean. And although the Rams closed out a 79–68 victory, the path there was anything but smooth.
From the opening possessions, it was clear the game would be sculpted by defense. CSU opened with the same burst of offensive energy it had shown in Colorado Springs earlier in the week, but the defense lagged, slow to find its rhythm. Wyoming took advantage, slicing into the lane and chipping away until CSU found itself needing to breathe, slow down and settle in. Whether down 12 or two, the Rams needed to keep their tenacity grounded.
"I think just, we've been kind of fighting that the whole year," Jase Butler said. "We've been in a lot of similar positions, and we haven't been able just to respond to adversity. I think it's a credit to our preparation. We're all clicking."
But the day didn't start out in the green for CSU. The early lead unraveled quickly, erased by a 14–2 Wyoming run with four minutes left in the first half. Moby quieted until the bench reignited it. And at the center of that spark was Carey Booth.
Booth played like a warning sign in the paint, a towering presence who stopped shots before they even fully formed. His four first‑half blocks — including two on back‑to‑back possessions — shifted the arena's energy. Opponents approached the rim and hesitated, forced into awkward angles or preventable fouls in the shadow of his wingspan.
"I thought Carey blocking as many shots as he did really deterred guys from going in there or made them second‑guess themselves," coach Ali Farokhmanesh said. "His presence down there just adds a little second‑guessing to you finishing inside the paint."
And those last ten minutes, those are the stretches which carve out winners.
For Butler, they defined a career night. 18 points, 6 assists and more trips to the free‑throw line than the entire Wyoming roster. He knocked down 11 of 12, each one a punctuation mark.
"From the start of the game, we tried to cut really hard," Butler said. "We wanted to make an emphasis on cutting hard, posting hard, sealing hard and then the rest of it was all the holding, so they just called the foul."
Once CSU found its flow, it didn't loosen.
And although the starters commanded the spotlight at tipoff, the bench carried the foundation. For the third straight game, the Rams got 20 or more points from their reserves. A testament to depth rather than hierarchy.
"Basically we have seven starters," Farokhmanesh said. "It's huge when you can bring Jevin off the bench or Rashaan's going against the back‑up big. It makes it difficult for them."
After falling in Laramie earlier this season, CSU didn't shy away from acknowledging what this game meant. Rivalry games may count the same in the standings, but they echo differently in the chest.
"Obviously, they call it a border rivalry," Booth said. "You can't act like it's just another game, because it's really not. It obviously means more… it's good for our overall season and helping us progress forward."
The fans felt the weight of it, too. As the final seconds thinned away, Moby Arena shook. Seats rattled beneath stomping feet. Voices grew hoarse in real time. The hardwood floor vibrated like a drum, pulsing with the heartbeat of a fanbase which had waited weeks for this rematch.
And once the noise crested, Farokhmanesh put words to what everyone in the building already knew.
"Border War is awesome," he said. "Moby was rocking tonight. I thought our guys really fed off that. Jase's steal changed the whole game. It brought the confidence and the juice to the arena."
In a rivalry defined by momentum and emotional swings alike, CSU found its way by leaning on depth and a little bit of vengeance. What began as a shaky first half transformed into a performance carved out of resilience.
And on this day, under the trembling rafters of Moby Arena, the Rams answered back what had been brewing since a trip north.
