FORT COLLINS >> Jaylen Crocker-Johnson laid the ball in to score the first points of the season for Colorado State and the Rams never trailed in a season-opening 82-56 victory over North Dakota on Monday at Moby Arena.

With a much different team than the one that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season, the Rams dominated the Fighting Hawks with contributions from the few returning players as well as the many new faces on the roster. “Great win here on opening night,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said. “I really loved our team’s mindset. I thought it was terrific. I thought we came out with a great defensive edge and set the tone that way. We did a great job sharing the ball. Those are two things that have shown up in practice, and I thought that got us through.”

The closest North Dakota got after CSU scored the game’s first points was a 5-5 tie about 90 seconds into the contest.

After that, the Rams went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 13-5 with 15:57 to go in the first half and never looked back. Purdue transfer Ethan Morton scored the first four of those eight points, and the Rams’ lone returning all-conference selection, Nique Clifford, scored the other four.

Clifford finished the game with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. He was only a rebound short of reaching it at halftime.

“It was so fun to get back out there,” Clifford said. “Just with a whole new group of guys, just for our fans to see the new players. It was a lot of fun. You don’t really know how good you are until you step on the floor against another opponent.”

North Dakota cut the CSU lead to four points at 19-15 with 11:31 remaining in the first half, but the Rams answered with a 20-7 run to end the half with a 39-22 lead.

Clifford had 10 points and nine rebounds to lead the Rams in both categories at halftime. The second half was more of the same from the former CU transfer, who tested the NBA draft waters before returning to CSU for his final year of eligibility.

He scored another 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in the final 20 minutes.

“He’s had a great mindset,” Medved said of Clifford. “I think he’s mature enough to know that when he came back, he didn’t have to do anything different. He needs to play his game and do what he does to affect winning.”

The Rams ran away with the game in the second half. Getting contributions from not only Clifford, but Crocker-Johnson, Morton, Jalen Lake and Keshawn Williams, the Rams took a 30-point lead at 62-32 on a layup by Kyle Jorgensen with 13:09 left in the game.

CSU took its largest lead of the game at 67-33 with 11:03 to go after a pair of free throws by Williams. North Dakota managed to cut into the Rams’ lead in the final 10 minutes to make it a 26-point game at the end of regulation.

In addition to Clifford’s 20 points, Williams added 14 and Crocker-Johnson had nine.

CSU will be back home Friday when the Rams host Tennessee State at 7:30 p.m. at Moby Arena.