Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

Spartans visit conference leader No. 24 Nevada
San Jose State travels to Reno this Wednesday to face the Mountain West-leading No. 24 Nevada Wolf Pack. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN3 and can be heard on KLIV 1590 AM with Justin Allegri.

Game #26
SJSU (3-22, 0-14 MW) at Nevada (23-5, 12-2 MW)
Wednesday, February 21, 2018, 7:00 pm PT
Lawlor Events Center (11,536)
Reno, Nevada

TV: ESPN3
Radio: KLIV 1590 AM

SJSU-Nevada history
Nevada defeated SJSU earlier this season, 71-54, on January 17 in San Jose, California. It was the sixth straight loss for SJSU in the series, which Nevada leads 58-50. The Wolf Pack have won 18 of the last 19 and 26 of the last 28 meetings, dating back to 2003. SJSU’s last win over Nevada came on February 18, 2014 in Reno, when Jalen James hit the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds remaining.

SJSU’s last meeting with Nevada
SJSU played one of its best halves of the season defensively, holding the Wolf Pack to 26.7% shooting and took a 26-24 lead into halftime. It was a two-possession game with under five minutes to play in the second half, but Nevada’s Caleb Martin, who had a game-high 24 points, pulled away for the 71-54 victory. SJSU’s leading scorer for the season Ryan Welage was limited to just nine points, one of only two games this season without a double-figure scoring game.

Fisher III extends career-scoring high again
Redshirt freshman Keith Fisher III extended his career-scoring high twice in one week with a 23-point performance at Colorado State on February 10, followed by 26 points on Saturday at Wyoming. Fisher has finished eight of the last 10 games in double-figure scoring. Over the last five games he is averaging 16.4 points and 8.6 rebounds while hitting 51.6% of his shots.

Hillsman returns to starting lineup vs. Wyoming
Jaycee Hillsman not only returned to the starting lineup for the first time since December 5, but he also played a career-high 39 minutes on Saturday at Wyoming. He finished the game with a double-double, including 15 points and 10 rebounds. The junior from Champaign, Illinois, is averaging 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 23.9 minutes during conference play.

Team defense holds Spartans back
Just a few weeks ago, the Spartans had a top-five field goal percentage defense in the Mountain West of 42.5%. However, in the last five games, Spartan opponents have been hitting 47.2% of their field goal attempts and averaging 80.6 points per game. It will be a tough task for the Spartans to get back on track defensively against Nevada, which ranks second in the MW, averaging 83.1 points per game. Although, the Spartans did hold the Wolf Pack to just 40.4% shooting in the first meeting this season, and 26.7% in the first half.

Welage continues to climb career ranks
With 19 points last game against Wyoming, Ryan Welage climbed up into seventh place on SJSU’s all-time scoring list, passing Coby Dietrick. Welage comes into Wednesday’s game with 1,178 career points, looking up at Chris McNealy in sixth place with 1,236 career-points. Welage is currently second all-time at SJSU with 149 made 3-pointers, and he’s right on the heels of the program leader, Tim Pierce, who finished his career with 153.

SJSU all-time scoring leaders
1,767 – Ricky Berry (84 games)
1,750 – Adrian Oliver (80 games)
1,504 – Stu Inman (123 games)
1,432 – Wally Rank (102 games)
1,272 – Justin Graham (119 games)
1,236 – Chris McNealy (81 games)
1,178 – Ryan Welage (86 games)
1,173 – Coby Dietrick (72 games)
1,139 – Terry Cannon (97 games)
1,136 – Johnnie Skinner (73 games)

SJSU career three-point field goals made leaders
153 – Tim Pierce (86 games)
149 – Ryan Welage (86 games)
138 – Adrian Oliver (80 games)
134 – Rashad Muhammad (58 games)
125 – Robert Owens (61 games)

Spartans to honor Welage Saturday night
Spartan fans should get to their seats just moments before tipoff on Saturday night against the San Diego State Aztecs as the Spartans’ men’s basketball program will honor Ryan Welage for joining the 1,000 point club this season. Welage is only the 15th player in program history (108th season) to reach 1,000 career points, and he’ll be honored for it minutes before the 7 pm PT tipoff on Saturday.