Nique Clifford was instrumental in helping his Colorado State Rams defeat the Colorado Buffaloes for the first time since 2017. Clifford had 15 points against his former team at Moby Arena in Fort Collins on Wednesday night.
The No. 20 ranked CSU improved to 7-0 with the 88-83 win and students rushed the court to celebrate with the players after the final horn.
Clifford played three seasons in Boulder before transferring north to join the Coach Niko Medved’s squad.
“I tried to get that in my head that it was just another game but in reality is not,” he said. “I have ties with those guys, I was there for three years, so I had some pride going into that game. It feels really good to come away with a win.”
Medved was impressed with Clifford’s performance, which included a dunk in the final minute.
“That’s not easy. He’s a human being and you’re playing against your former teammates and coaches, guys you know, guys you lived with,” Medved said.
“I thought his approach was tremendous. He just came out there, he was locked into the game. Cool moment for him to get that dunk at the end that kept them at bay.”
Isaiah Stevens had 21 points for the Buffs and Joel Scott also recorded 15 for CSU. The game was CU’s first true road game of the season. Their record is now 5-2.
