Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans were looking to get a win in any way possible against the Wyoming Cowboys in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, but that win never came.

The Spartans found themselves in a similar hole as they suffered a huge blowout loss of 90-64 to the Utah State Aggies in the first round of the MW Tournament on March 8, 2017. San Jose State was hoping to turn things around, but Wyoming guard Justin James dropped 24 points on a perfect shooting night with a record of 9-9 FG, 3-3 3FG, 3-3 FT.

These two teams went back-and-forth after Spartan junior Jaycee Hillsman drained a 3-pointer in the first few minutes of the first half.

Then, Spartan freshman Caleb Simmons took the lead and the Spartan bench got fired up midway through the half.

Hillsman continued to pour in the points and led all Spartans with 16 points at the half. Welage scored 14 points. Yet, SJSU trailed Wyoming 40-30 at the half. Spartan head coach Jean Prioleau then shared his thoughts on his team during the intermission.

Hillsman stayed hot in the second half and even picked up a new career-high 22 points, but the Spartans were down by 20 with 7:48 to go in the half.

The Spartans never got their groove back and accepted a 74-61 loss from the Cowboys. Ryan Welage led all scorers with 25 points and Hillsman came in a close second with 24 points. SJSU’s disastrous season ended with a first-round Mountain West Tournament exit. Meanwhile, Wyoming advanced to the quarterfinals against the New Mexico Lobos at 6:30 pm PT on Thursday night.