2002–03 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team represented Colorado State University during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Dale Layer in his 1st season. They played their home games at the Moby Arena on Colorado State University's main campus in Fort Collins, Colorado and were a member of the Mountain West Conference. They finished with a record of 19–14 overall, 5–9 in Mountain West for a sixth-place finish. They went on to win the Mountain West tournament by defeating Wyoming, BYU, and UNLV. They received an automatic bid in the 2003 NCAA tournament as No. 14 seed in the West region. The Rams played tough, but were defeated by No. 3 seed Duke in the opening round.^[2]

2002–03 Colorado State Rams men's basketball
MWC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Record	19–14 (5–9 Mountain West)
Head coach	Dale Layer
Home arena	Moby Arena
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Mountain West Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Utah	11	–	3		.786			25	–	8		.758
BYU	11	–	3		.786			23	–	9		.719
Wyoming	8	–	6		.571			21	–	11		.656
UNLV	8	–	6		.571			21	–	11		.656
San Diego State	6	–	8		.429			16	–	14		.533
Colorado State †	5	–	9		.357			19	–	14		.576
New Mexico	4	–	10		.286			10	–	18		.357
Air Force	3	–	11		.214			12	–	16		.429
† 2003 Mountain West tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

2002–03 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 Andy Birley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr   Vancouver, WA G 32 Michael Morris 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr   Katy, TX F 33 Brian Greene 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr   Thornton, CO C 54 Matt Nelson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 270 lb (122 kg) So	Head coach Dale Layer (Eckerd) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

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Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 16, 2002*		Purdue-Fort Wayne	W 80–62	1–0	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
Nov 27, 2002*		at Southern Illinois	L 71–83	4–1	SIU Arena  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 14, 2002*		Washington State	W 90–79	8–2	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
Dec 27, 2002*		Prairie View A&M	W 85–73	10–2	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
Dec 30, 2002*		at Purdue	L 56–84	10–3	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Jan 7, 2003*		at Colorado	L 72–93	11–4	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Mountain West regular season
Jan 13, 2003		New Mexico	W 74–58	12–4 (1–0)	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
Feb 8, 2003*		Utah	L 66–71	14–7 (3–3)	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
MWC tournament
Mar 13, 2003*		vs. Wyoming Quarterfinals	W 74–71	17–13	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 14, 2003*		vs. BYU Semifinals	W 86–80 OT	18–13	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 15, 2003*		at UNLV Championship game	W 62–61	19–13	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 20, 2003*	(14 W)	vs. (3 W) No. 7 Duke First round	L 57–67	19–14	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region W=West.

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References

1. sports-reference.com 2002-03 Mountain West Conference Season Summary
2. "Tough Time for Duke in Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 21, 2003. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
3. "2002-03 Men's Basketball Roster". Colorado State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
4. "2002-03 Men's Basketball Schedule". Colorado State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2023.