Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball welcomes conference foe San Diego State to the Event Center on Saturday for a 6:00 pm tip. Justin Allegri will have the call for the Mountain West Network and can also be heard on the TuneIn app.

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game.

Game No. 21
San Diego State (12-8, 4-3) at San Jose State (3-17, 0-8)
Saturday, Feb. 2, 6:00 pm PT
The Event Center (5,000)
San Jose, Calif.

Live Stats
Fans can view live stats of all SJSU men’s basketball games, home and away, by accessing the “Live Stats” feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the men’s basketball schedule page to follow the action

TuneIn
Check out the video below for a quick tutorial on how to access the Spartans’ radio call on the TuneIn app.

What Would a Win Mean?
The Spartans snapping an 11-game losing skid. It would also be the Spartans’ second win over the Aztecs in the last five tries.

The Power of Newcomers
The Spartans have played nine first-year players this season, including regular starters Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Craig LeCesne and Brae Ivey. The newcomers are accounting for 67.3% of the Spartans’ offense.

Steadman alone is accounting for 20% of the team’s offense with 266 points.

Baumann the Boss
Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season, so good in fact that he leads the Mountain West in 3-point percentage at 49.5%. Baumann also ranks in the top-10 in the MW in 3-pointers per game (2.5).

In the loss to Utah State, Baumann had one of the most impressive performances of his career as he scored a career-high 29 points and tied the school record with seven 3-pointers (7-of-10). He also set career highs in 3-point attempts and field goal attempts.

Baumann holds the first and third highest-scoring performances by a Spartan this season with 29 vs. USU and 23 vs. Northern Arizona. The sophomore is averaging 11.0 points in conference play, second-most on the team (Steadman).

Baumann has hit at least one 3-point basket in 18 straight games this season, which is the second-longest streak in school history with a 3-pointer made and longest since Robert Owens closed out the 2009-10 season on a 21-game streak.

Last season as a freshman, Baumann finished the year 40-for-87 (.460) from the 3-point range. He has already eclipsed those numbers with 10 regular season games to go (49-99, .495).

Chastain in Charge
Junior center Ashtin Chastain has been tasked to fill in the gap in the starting lineup with senior Oumar Barry sidelined by injury. Chastain has started the last three games in his stead and is averaging 6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in those starts.

Chastain scored seven points in the first start at Wyoming and followed up with with a career-high 13 rebounds in a season-high 39 minutes vs. Air Force. He tallied a season-high eight points in the loss at USU.

Ch-Ch-Changes
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason as he brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.

Steady Steadman
JUCO transfer Michael Steadman has made a big impact this season as a leader on and off the court. The 6’10” forward is averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game and ranks sixth in the MW with 8.8 rebounds per game. Steadman has seven double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 17-of-20 games. He also has nine games with double-digit rebounds.

Steadman is coming off back-to-back games with at least 20 points. He put up a career-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the loss to AF. He then followed up with 20 points at USU.

Change It Up
Prioleau has used nine different lineups throughout the season with no one player starting each time out. Barry had started the first 17 games before an injury kept him out of the lineup the last two games. Seven newcomers have made starts, including freshmen Seneca Knight, Zach Chappell, and Trey Smith.

Still One of the Best
The Spartans are one of two teams that rank in the top four in both offensive and defensive rebounds per game in conference play. SJSU ranks fourth in offensive with 12.4 per game and third in defensive with 25.8 per game. USU’s the other team.

Foul Play
SJSU has committed the fewest fouls in the MW this season with 16.8 per game and ranks 61st nationally in the category.

Series History vs. San Diego State
The Aztecs lead the series by a slim margin of 38-38, but have claimed nine of the last 10, including the last two. The Spartans’ last win came on February 7, 2017 at home in a 76-71 victory. Prior to that win, SDSU had a seven-game win streak, the second-longest streak in the series. The longest such streak belongs to the Spartans, who won nine-straight from 1948 to 1952.

The Aztecs, under second-year head coach Brian Dutcher, enter Saturday’s game on a two-game win streak after taking down UNLV (94-77) and AF (66-51). They have three players currently averaging more than 10 points per game led by Jalen McDaniels, a sophomore who nearly averaged a double-double with 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.