Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball had lost 10 in a row and they met a familiar foe, the Utah State Aggies, for the second time this month. The Spartans and Aggies faced off in a conference matchup Wednesday evening at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.

The Spartans’ starting lineup featured the likes of Craig LeCesne, Noah Baumann. Seneca Knight, Christian Anigwe, and Ashtin Chastain.

SJSU won the tip and the game went underway. SJSU played a solid first four minutes of basketball to open the first half. SJSU trailed by just three, 10-7, at the 15:55 mark. SJSU had to thank Baumann, who recorded five points at the first media timeout.

Baumann’s big moment took place midway through the first when he drained a 3-pointer for his first 3 of the game. Baumann now had 18 consecutive games with a 3. SJSU trailed by just one, 13-12, at the 11-minute mark.

SJSU held tough with USU, who extended its lead by three, 19-16, at the 11:53 mark. But then the Spartans’ shooting cooled off and their Achilles heel–turnovers–exposed their offense in a negative way to say the least. As a result, the Aggies jumped out to a 30-18 lead with 6:21 left.

If there was a silver lining, it’d be Baumann, who had himself another big-time game against the Aggies. Baumann had 14 points late in the first. Yet, SJSU trailed 51-33 at the half. USU hit a deep 3 at the buzzer to take a large lead to the locker room. So the Spartans had a lot of work to do in order to win or at least tie the game.

SJSU continued to trail for a while, but they began chipping into USU’s lead by hitting four consecutive attempts–including a 3 by Zach Chappell, at the 12:19 mark of the second half. The Spartans trailed 69-53, which wasn’t too bad of a deficit considering some of their first half gaffes.

But SJSU’s attempt at a potential comeback never carried itself out. The Spartans shot 42.9% while the Aggies expanded their lead to 82-59 with 7:40 left. The Spartans (3-17, 0-8 MW) missed a few free throw shots in the final seconds and the Aggies (16-5, 6-2) dribbled the ball out en route to their fifth straight win by a final score of 103-73.

SJSU returns home to host the San Diego State Aztecs Saturday at 6:00 pm PT.