Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball faced another conference foe, the San Diego State Aztecs, in Viejas Arena Saturday night. SJSU previously held on for a 89-82 win over the New Mexico Lobos in the Event Center Tuesday night.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced a starting lineup featuring Zach Chappell, Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Michael Steadman and Ashtin Chastain.

As expected, Steadman was in full force, giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead just 43 seconds into the first half. The Aztecs got on the board, courtesy of Jalen McDaniels, who hit a 3-pointer to put the Aztecs up 3-2 at the 18:58 mark. SJSU responded with Knight’s 3 for a 5-3 lead at the 18:29 mark. SDSU countered with McDaniel’s jumper in the paint at the 18:08 mark, but Steadman made a layup in the paint to lift SJSU to a 7-5 lead at the 17:48 mark.

However, SJSU cooled off and SDSU heated up. The Spartans trailed 13-9 at the first media timeout. Then, the Aztecs used a 14-2 run to rise up 22-11 at the 12:19 mark.

The Spartans tightened up the score, 22-18, thanks to Knight’s 3 along with Chappell’s jumper and a pair of free throws by the time the scoreboard showed there was 9:35 left. Still, the Aztecs looked to extend their lead as Matt Mitchell made a pair of free throws for a 24-18 lead with 9:09 left. SJSU trailed 24-18 at the second media timeout.
Moreover, Baumann drew a foul and shot 2 of the timeout.

The Spartans trailed 39-26 at the final media timeout. Nathan Mensah made a layup in the paint with four seconds left. SJSU shrugged it off as they headed to their locker room, trailing 41-29 at halftime. Steadman led both categories with 10 points and 6 rebounds at halftime.

Devin Watson’s 3 extended the Aztecs’ lead 44-29 just 29 seconds into the second half. Though, back to back 3s by Chappell and Baumann at the 19:07 and 18:10 marks brought the Spartans within 9, 44-35.

The Aztecs shot 50% and hit 10 3s to keep the Spartans down by 20, 63-43, at the 11:10 mark. SJSU continued to score as Brae Ivey made a fastbreak layup in the paint and Baumann made a pair of free throws before Watson prevented the Spartans from using a run to catch up to the Aztecs.

Fast forward to the final timeout with 3:40 left. SJSU trailed 73-50, which was pretty darn bad. The Aztecs’ offense was stout, but that was sort of a given considering all the success their men’s basketball program has achieved in the past few years or so.

Michael Sohikish hit a 3 with 2:52 left, and just seconds after the 2-minute mark, Sohikish knocked down a jumper to extend the Aztecs’ lead 78-51 with 1:53 left. Ed Chang made a free throw and missed the other before he hit a fastbreak 3 to extend the Aztecs’ lead 82-51 with 1:11 left. Mensah closed out the Aztecs’ scoring with a jumper in the paint, while Chappell hit a 3 to call it a night for the Spartans.

SJSU (4-24, 1-15 MW) lost to SDSU (19-10, 11-5 MW) by a final score of 84-56 on the road.

SJSU returns home to host the Wyoming Cowboys Wednesday, March 6th at 7:00 pm PT.