SAN DIEGO -- Niko Medved turned away, shook his head and made a frustrated wave of the hands as he looked into the rafters.
A small gesture that seemed to say "this dang place..."
It came after San Diego State's Miles Byrd was so far off on an NBA-range 3-pointer that he banked it in.
That helped key a 7-0 second-half San Diego State run as the Aztecs pulled away from the Colorado State men's basketball team in a 75-60 victory for the hosts at Viejas Arena Tuesday night.
Here are takeaways from the defeat to end CSU's three-game win streak.
Road games at San Diego State when the Aztecs are coming off a loss are tougher still.
San Diego State entered Tuesday 36-1 in home games coming off a loss. Now it's 37-1. The Aztecs were blown out over the weekend at New Mexico and were sure to be locked in.
The Rams were right in it at the start, hitting early 3-pointers and leading in the opening stretch. But a lot has to go well at Viejas to win in the away colors.
San Diego State slowly started to assert force and took an 11-point lead with less than 4 minutes before break. But again, CSU fought back. The Rams had a 6-0 run of their own, but a banked 3-pointer at the buzzer made it a six-point SDSU lead at the break.
Six points down at San Diego State always feels bigger and the Aztecs quickly took control in the second half.
The lead grew back to double-digits as CSU struggled from the floor (the Rams started 3-12 shooting in the second half).
Then came Byrd's bank and the 7-0 run and CSU was all of a sudden down 17 with just over 10 minutes left.
CSU never really threatened after that.
CSU is one of the best two-point teams in the nation, shooting 57% inside the arc (No. 26 in Division I). San Diego State is even better defensively inside the arc, holding teams to 43% inside (No. 8 in DI).
The Rams are not great from deep (32%, which is No. 230 in DI) but through choice and San Diego State force the Rams were a largely perimeter team.
Ten of CSU's first 11 attempts were 3-pointers. The Rams shot 28 3-pointers (CSU's season high is 36), making nine of them (32%).
San Diego State had the game how it wanted the game to be played.
The banked 3-pointer was a frustrating make for CSU to endure for Byrd, but it was his kind of night.
The lanky wing did a bit of everything, from 3-pointers, ferocious dunk, excellent defense and some nice inside work.
Byrd scored a career-high 25 points and had seven steals as the Rams committed a season-high 20 turnovers.
Byrd was a serious CSU recruit who made an on-campus visit in Fort Collins but chose San Diego State. He had to bide his time to get a big role but he's shining now.
It wasn't just, Byrd though. San Diego State's depth out-shone CSU.
The Rams didn't get their first point from the bench until free throws from Kyle Jorgensen with 5:56 remaining and the Rams down 17.
Bench points were 20-2 for San Diego State.
Losing at San Diego State is not a "bad" loss in any way. Most teams lose at Viejas.
Still, this wasn't the statement of intent CSU hoped for to show the Rams are going to battle for the top of the league. It's not a bad defeat either CSU is still 2-1 on the road in Mountain West play, with victories at Nevada and San Jose State (New Mexico losing at San Jose State Tuesday highlighted how tricky the road can be).
So, it's not a huge setback but puts an even bigger highlight on Saturday, if that's needed.
The Rams play at Wyoming (2 p.m. Mountain, Jan. 18) in the always fierce rivalry game.
Wyoming is coming off a lopsided 96-55 loss at Boise State.
Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said after the Boise State loss: "They're in a must-win situation now, because we've got the Sheep coming in on Saturday. That's a must-win for them," according to Alex Taylor of Wyo Sports.