Category: NCAA

Bears steal one from Huskies for another late painful win 82-80

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Washington Huskies center Braxton Meah (34) forward Keion Brooks Jr (1), and guard Koren Johnson (0) battle against the Cal Bears guard Jaylon Tyson (20) and Fardaws Aimaq (far right back) at Alaskan Airlines Arena in Seattle on Sat Feb 17, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024

Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington

California Golden Bears 82 (11-15 Overall; 7-8 Pac-12)

Washington Huskies 80 (14-12 Overall; 6-9 Pac-12)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Bears came into Seattle, and beat the Washington Huskies, 82-80, thanks to a late steal and three.

Cal came in having lost their last two. They had lost a devastating nailbiter to the Oregon Ducks in Berkeley last Saturday, and then were rather easily defeated by the Washington State Cougars in Pullman on Thursday. Now, they were in Seattle to play a Washington Huskies team, who beat the Bears in a close one at Haas Pavilion on Jan. 18.

The Huskies won the opening tip, but there wouldn’t be any scoring for a minute and a half. That was when Fardaws Aimaq got Cal on the board with a hookshot. Aimaq and Jaylon Tyson combined to score the Bears’ first 13 points

The game was neck and neck in the early going with Cal up 13-11. Koren Johnson and Keion Brooks Jr. then combined to score seven unanswered points for the Huskies to put them up 18-13.

The Huskies held the lead until Jalen Cone laid one in with 7:20 remaining to tie it at 23-23. Tyson laid one in to give Cal a 25-23 lead, and the Bears took the momentum, as they opened a 40-33 lead with two minutes to go.

The Huskies bounced back, and they clawed their way back in to go into the half down four at 42-38.

Brooks hit a jump shot for the Huskies to make it 42-40 to start the second half, and Cone hit a three to make it 45-40, as the two teams see-sawed their way through the early minutes. Paul Mulcahy hit a three to give the Huskies a 47-46 lead, and then Tyson alley-ooped to Keonte Kennedy, who slammed it down to put the Bears back ahead, 48-47.

Koren Johnson hit a layup to make it 49-48 Washington, and the Huskies mostly took control from there. Cal did comeback to tie it on a free throw by Aimaq to make it 53-53, but the Huskies just as quickly retook the lead, and opened up a 61-55 lead with 10:44 to go.

However, the Bears were not going to let the Huskies pull away with it. Aimaq and Tyson hit layups to make it 61-59, and the Bears were now just down by two. The Bears hung in there, as they twice tied the game, but they were unable to get a lead.

Mulcahy was fouled and hit one of two from the line to put Washington up 75-70 with 4:23 to go. Grant Newell then hit a pair of layups to make it 75-74, and the Bears were headed for another thrilling finish in this painful season.

The Huskies kept their small lead, but Jalen Celestine sank a three with 1:40 remaining to tie it at 79-79. Sahvir Wheeler was then fouled, and he hit one of two from the line to put the Huskies back up, 80-79 with 1:16 to go.

The 80-79 Huskies’ lead held up going into the final seconds. With 15 seconds remaining, Jalen Cone stole the ball from Wheeler, and then called time. The Bears inbounded the ball, and got it to Jalen Celestine, who sank a three-ball with five seconds left to give the Bears an 82-80 lead.

Wheeler then tried to lay one in, but he missed, and the Bears came out with another painful win, as they somehow managed to win this one, 82-80.

In the midst of tonight’s epic win was Jaylon Tyson’s 28-point performance. It comes as no surprise that Tyson’s performance was not the main highlight, as tonight’s win was a team effort, just as most of the wins have been for the Bears this season.

The Bears improve to 7-8 in Pac-12 play, and 11-15 overall. Now, they will return home for their final home stand of the year. First, the Oregon State Beavers will come in for a 7 p.m. tip at Haas Pavilion on Thursday night, followed by the Oregon Ducks, who will be in for a 4 p.m. next Saturday.

Cougars use big second half to upend Cardinal 72-59

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The Stanford Cardinal forward Brandon Angel (23) is in pursuit of the Washington State Cougars forward Andrej Jakimmovski (23) at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman on Sat, Feb 17, 2024 (Washington State Cougars photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Washington State used a balanced attack and a big second half Saturday, as the Cougars routed Stanford 72-59 in Pac-12 men’s basketball at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash.

Jaylen Wells and Isaac Jones scored 15 points apiece to lead WSU (20-6 overall, 7-8 Pac-12). Myles Rice was next with 14 points and Andrej Jakimovski finished with 13 points. Oscar Cluff had three steals and pulled down 12 of the Cougars’ 37 rebounds and Rice collected five assists.

Brandon Angel led the Cardinal (12-13 overall, 7-8 Pac-12) with 15 points, hitting 6 of 9 field goal attempts. Kanaan Carlyle and Michael Jones were next with 12 points each. Carlyle dished out five assists, 6 hit two 3-pointers, and Maxime Raynaud grabbed five rebounds.

Stanford trailed 21-11 with 9:56 remaining in the first half, but rallied with a 23-12 run to take a 34-33 lead. Benny Gealer scored in the last seconds of the half giving the Cardinal a 36-35 lead at the break.

The Cardinal enjoyed their biggest lead, 47-42, with 15:32 to play. Washington State reeled off a 21-6 run to assume control of the contest. The Cougars outscored Stanford 37-23 in the second half.

Stanford returns home to Maples Pavilion this Thursday, hosting Oregon at 8 p.m.

San Jose State Loses To Wyoming 80-75

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San Jose State Spartans guard Latrell Davis takes a jump shot against the Wyoming Cowboys at the Provident Credit Event Center in San Jose on Sat Feb 17, 2024 (San Jose Spartans photo image)

Saturday, February 17th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The Wyoming Cowboys come to the Golden State for a matchup with the San Jose State Spartans in the Provident Credit Union Event Center. For Wyoming it’s the first of a two-game road trip. In these two teams’ first meeting of the season and the first conference game for the Spartans, SJSU lost at the buzzer, despite leading for most of the contest.

Wyoming heads into this game with a 12-12 record and a 5-6 conference record, while the Spartans are 9-16 with a 2-10 conference record. San Jose State comes into this game shooting 45.7% from the field and 35.2% from behind the arc and after a win against Air Force last game, SJSU looks to keep the fire burning against the Cowboys. The Spartans just couldn’t hold their own dropping the contest to the Cowboys 80-75 on Saturday night.

The first half was primarily dominated by Wyoming as three pointers were falling for the Cowboys. Wyoming hit 9-18, going 50% from behind the arc keeping a wide distance between them and the Spartans.

Wyoming’s guard Sam Griffin led the Cowboys in the first half in points (11), rebounds (4), and assists (3), while MJ Amey Jr. led the Spartans in points with eight. At halftime Wyoming had a clear cut lead 43-29 and if the Spartans needed to get any type of momentum to win this game, shots needed to fall both in the paint and behind the arc. 

SJSU started the second half generating a comeback, but it was halted when they went on a three minute scoring drought. Akuel Kot of Wyoming dropped 20 points before going to the bench with what appears to be an ankle injury.

The game went within five points for San Jose State  with five minutes left after Latrell Davis got a basket by goaltending. The game got closer and closer for the Spartans all the way to a one point game, but Wyoming pulled away and ended up winning the game 80-75. 

The Spartans lose another conference game making their record in the Mountain West record 2-11. San Jose State’s next game will be in Boise, Idaho against Boise State on February 20th.

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson: Cougars take out Cardinal 72-59; Wells and Jones leads WSU in scoring

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The Stanford Cardinal forward Isaac Jones was tied for first in scoring on Sat Feb 17, 2024 against the Washington State Cougars at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman (Stanford Cardinal file photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal (12-13) lost their fourth out of their last six games today in Pullman against the Washington State Cougars (20-6) 72-59.

#2 The Cougars had two players tied for scoring at 15 points Jaylen Wells and Isaac Jones. The Cougars have relied on Jones and Wells for the bulk of their scoring and wins.

#3 The Cardinal high scorers forward Brandon Angel with 15 points and tied for second in scoring guards Kanaan Carlyle and Michael Jones both with 12 points.

#4 Michael, how surprised were you that the Cougars were able to hold the Cardinal’s guard Maxime Raynaud to just eight points. How crucial was that for the Cougars as Raynaud has had some lights out games this season?

#5 The Cardinal host the Oregon Ducks (16-8) Thu Feb 22nd at Maples Pavilion. The Ducks have been playing just below .500 in their last seven games, they are fourth in the Pac 12 and have lost four of their last seven games.

Michael Roberson is a Stanford Cardinal beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bears show fight but trounced by Cougars up North in Pullman 85-65

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The Washington State Cougars forward Isaac Jones (13) puts up a prayer with the Cal Bears forward Fardaws Aimaq (00) putting on the pressure in the second half at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024

Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Washington

California Golden Bears 65 (10-15 Overall; 6-8 Pac-12)

Washington State Cougars 85 (19-6 Overall; 10-4 Pac-12)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Bears went up north to Pullman, Washington, and though they put up some fight, they were subdued, as they lost to the Washington State Cougars, 84-65, in the opener of the road trip.

Cal lost a tough one Saturday at home against the UCLA Bruins. The Bears came back from down 14 points to take the lead, but eventually fell in overtime. Tonight, they were going to have to bounce back on the road, and on the turf of the powerful Washington State Cougars.

The game started scoreless for a whole minute and 49 seconds until Jaylon Tyson made a pullup jumper. The Cougars then scored 10 unanswered points to pounce out to an early 10-2 lead.

The Bears then scored eight unanswered points. Rodney Brown Jr. hit a three; Tyson hit a driving layup; and Grant Newell sank a three-ball to tie it at 10-10 with 11:28 to go in the first half.

The game remained tight as the first half went along. Jaylen Wells hit a three to put the Cougars back ahead at 13-10. From there, the Cougars kept the small lead for the next several minutes, but the Bears were able to stay closely behind.

Fardaws Aimaq was fouled and hit two from the line to put Cal within three at 22-19 with 4:22 to go. However, Andrej Jakimovski hit a three, and Myles Rice laid one in to open Washington State’s lead to 27-19.

Jalen Celestine hit a three to make it 27-22 with 2:48 left, but the Cougars closed out the first half with seven unanswered points, and altogether a 12-3 run, to go into the half uo 34-22.

Aimaq slammed one down to start the second half, but the Cougars kept adding. Wells hit a jumper, and Rice hit a three to make it 41-26.

Being down by double digits in the early minutes of the second half was nothing new to the Bears, who have come back from many such deficits this season. There was no reason to believe they couldn’t do so tonight.

The Bears had already come back from a large deficit early in this game. When the Cougars jumped out their 10-2 lead out of the gate, the Bears immediately scored eight unanswered points to tie it up. The Bears had all the confidence in the world that they could come back again.

Keonte Kennedy hit a three, and Tyson dunked one to make it 41-31. The Bears definitely believed they could come back, but the Cougars just would not relent, as they jumped out to a 51-33 lead with 15:17 to go. Brown and Newell then hit threes to make it 53-39, but the Cougars were too powerful, and they put the game away.

The Cougars opened their lead to 20 at 66-46 with 9:51 to go, and it was apparent that the Bears were not going to come back tonight. To Cal’s credit, they didn’t fall much further behind, as they never trailed by more than 23 points.

However, once all was said and done, Washington State comfortably won, 84-65.

Tyson led the scoring with 18 points for the Bears, but there was no stopping Myles Rice, who scored 25 for the Cougars. Isaac Jones wasn’t too far behind Rice, as he scored 21.

The Bears fall to 6-8 in Pac-12 play, and 10-15 overall. Now, they will head across Washington State to Seattle, where they will take on the Washington Huskies at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Huskies rout Cardinal 85-65 in Pac-12 hoops

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Stanford Cardinal conferenced but just couldn’t figure out how to stop the Washington Huskies offense at Alaskan Airlines Arena in Seattle on Thu Feb 15, 2024 (Stanford Cardinal image)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Stanford opened its penultimate Pac-12 men’s basketball road trip Thursday with an 85-65 defeat by Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

Washington (14-11 overall, 6-8 Pac-12) was led by Deion Brooks Jr. with 30 points on 8 of 14 field goal shooting, and Koren Johnson with another 30 points off the bench, including six 3-pointers. Shaver Wheeler was next for the Huskies with 14 points, eight assists and two steals. Braxton Meah had 13 rebounds.

Maxime Raynaud and Brandon Angel were the Cardinal scoring leaders with 19 points each. Raynaud also had a game-high 16 rebounds to go with two steals. Angel was 7 of 7 at the free throw line, and Raynaud’s double-double was his 10th of the season, Andrej Stojakovic added 10 points off the bench.

There were 13 lead changes and seven ties throughout most of the first half. Raynaud scored 11 of the Cardinal’s first 17 points, and scored seven points in a 10-0 Stanford run that put the visitors up 16-8.

The Huskies responded with an 8-point run and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 40-38 halftime lead.

Washington opened the second half with a 12-0 run, and while the Cardinal (12-12 overall, 7-7 Pac-12) cut their deficit to single digits with 11:14 left on a Stojskovic 3-pointer, the Huskies methodically pulled away.

The Cardinal resume their Northwest road swing on Saturday, when they visit Washington State. Game time is 3 p.m.

Cardinal Bombarded the Men of Troy, 99-68; Many of the Capacity Crowd’s Eyes on the Farm were on Prince James

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The Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (left) who led with 25 points and 19 3’s celebrates a win over the USC Trojans with head coach Jerod Haase (right) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Sat Feb 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Michael Roberson

STANFORD, Calif. — A school record 19 threes helped propel the Stanford Cardinal (12-11, 7-6 Pac-12) to a 99-68 blowout win over the University of Southern California Trojans (9-15, 3-10 Pac-12) in front of a sold out (7,563) Maples Pavilion crowd.

An electric atmosphere surrounding the Northern/Southern rivalry between the two California conference rivals, was also exacerbated by the son (Bronny) of the NBA All-Time Leading scorer, Lebron James, making his first and only appearance at Stanford. The full house was cheering and booing Bronny James, in the same polarizing scenario his father has been through during his storied career. The jeers were apparently directed at James Sr. vicariously through his son.

James Jr. had an unimpressive 6 points and 3 assists, without his father being in the Palo Alto crowd. However, when the Trojans played Cal last Wednesday, King James was inside Haas Pavilion, to witness his son’s team lose an overtime battle to the Golden Bears.

Cal actually started the game off with a 4-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, that was the last lead they would possess in the game Bronny bounced a dime assist to put the Trojans on the scoreboard first, and later hit a three and got an exciting breakaway dunk, stuntin like his daddy. Other than that, it was all Stanford with the excitement and thrills.

The Cardinal stroked a school record 12 treys in the first half. They also had three players in double-figures after 20 minutes of play. Maxime Raynaud (15), 2 threes, Andrej Stojakovic (14), 4 threes, and Benny Gealer (11), 3 threes. The Trojans had 0 players with 10+ points.

After the early 4-point deficit, Stanford went on a 25-0 run and led by as much as 31 points before recess. USC was scoreless for nearly 7 1/2 minutes and approximately 9 minutes without a made FG. At halftime, the Cardinal led by 29 points, 55-26.

In the second half, the onslaught continued, as the team added seven more 3-pointers to their record tabulations. Their lead reached a margin of 33 points, and they managed to maintain that advantage – minus two points – at the final whistle, 99-68.

During the second 20-minute block two Cardinal players recorded career highs in scoring: Freshman Andrej Stojakovic (20) and sophomore Benny Gealer (14). Maxime Raynaud was almost perfect from the field (10-11) and contributed 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2-2 from threeland. Spencer Jones had 15 points on 5 made threes, and Kanaan Carlyle added 10 points, 4 assists and 2 blocks.

The Trojans only had a single soul reach double-digits, and it was not Bronny James. Freshman Isaiah Collier posted 18 points for his USC squad, but that was not nearly enough for the offensive barrage of their NorCal opponent.

After the impressive 31-point beatdown, the Cardinal will next be in action in the Great Northwest, as they will battle the Washington Huskies, Thursday, February 15, at 6 PM PDT on ESPN2. The Trojans will head to the Beehive State on the same date to take on the Utah Utes at 8 PM MST .

Bears nearly pull off another comeback but ultimately fall to Bruins 61-60

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The Cal Bears forward Fardaws Aimaq (00) gets the rebound in front of the UCLA Bruins forward Adem Bona (3) in the second half at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on Sat Feb 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024

Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, California

UCLA Bruins 61 (13-11 Overall; 8-5 Pac-12)

California Golden Bears 60 (10-14 Overall; 6-7 Pac-12)

By Stephen Ruderman

BERKELEY–After another thrilling win Wednesday night over the USC Trojans, the Bears’ momentum appeared to carry over into today, as they came back from down 14 points to take the lead, but ultimately fell to the UCLA Bruins, 61-60.

Following their epic win against the Trojans, the Bears were taking on the UCLA Bruins, whom the Bears beat on Jan. 6 in Los Angeles. That win snapped a plethora of losing streaks for the Bears. Most notably, it was their first win at UCLA since 2010. Today, the Bears would look to keep the mojo going.

It was a packed house for this Pac-12 matchup at Haas Pavilion. Bears fans were revved up and ready to go, and the Bruins fans who had made the trip north from Los Angeles made their presence felt as well.

The game started neck and neck in the early minutes. Cal won the opening tip, but Fardaws Aimaq missed a jumper. UCLA struck first on a layup by Lazar Stefanovic, and then Jaylon Tyson put the Bears on the board with a three.

The teams traded points and leads in the early going until Sebastian Mack put the Bruins ahead 9-7 with a three. From there, UCLA took control, and ended up opening up a 29-16 lead with 6:04 to go in the first half.

UCLA led 35-24 as the second half got underway, and they kept the momentum going. Adem Bona was fouled, and made one of two from the line; and Mack hit a jumper to give the Bruins their biggest lead of the day at 38-24.

It was 40-26 UCLA with 16:37 to go, and the Bruins appeared to be in complete control of the game. However, the Bears were once again down by double digits, and that meant only one thing: that it was time for another comeback.

Indeed, the Bears started to claw back, as they slowly chipped away at UCLA’s lead. Jalen Cone hit a three with 13:21 left to make it a six-point game at 41-35, which completely fired up the crowd at Haas.

The Bruins opened their lead back up to 47-37, but the Bears and the fans did not relent. Jaylon Tyson slammed one down to make it 50-43 with 7:36 to go, further firing up this crowd, and then a three from Fardaws Aimaq made it a four-point game.

Jalen Celestine then hit a three to put the Bears within one at 50-49 with 5:55 remaining, and the crowd was on fire. There would be no scoring for nearly three minutes, with both teams missing shots and turning over the ball.

With each missed shot and turnover came the loud and deafening cheers from both teams’ fans. Then with 3:01 remaining, Tyson hit a jump shot to put Cal back ahead, as the Bears had once again come back from a large deficit to take a late lead.

However, the Bruins were not going to go down quietly. Lazar Stefanovic hit a three to put UCLA back ahead, 53-51. Then Aimaq was fouled, and he hit both from the line to tie it up at 53-53.

Both teams’ fans were on fire, as the game entered the final minutes, and tension mounted as every single second that passed. With 1:01 left, Aimaq laid one in to put the Bears back ahead, but Adem Bona laid one in, and hit his shot from the line after he was fouled on the play to put UCLA ahead.

Aimaq laid one in with 36 seconds to go, and Dylan Andrews responded by hitting a jumper to make it 58-57 UCLA with 24 seconds to go. Tyson then tried to lay one in, but was unsuccessful, and then Stefanovic took the rebound and was fouled.

Stefanovic hit both shots for the line, and the Bears were in trouble. Celestine went for three, but he missed, and Mack took the rebound with just four seconds to go. At that point, there was no choice but to foul Mack, who missed his first shot from the line, but after he hit his second, that would be it, and the dejected Bears fans headed for the exits.

Celestine did hit a three with a second to go, but it was useless, and Bruins won, 61-60.

The Bears played their hearts out in what was almost another miracle win in this painful bounceback, but they were just unable to pull it off.

The Bears fall to 6-7 in Pac-12 play, and 10-14 overall. Now, they will go back on the road, this time up north to Washington. First, they will head to Spokane to take on the powerful Washington State Cougars for a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday night, and that will be followed up by a trip to Seattle to play the Washington Huskies Saturday night.

Cal Bears podcast with Stephen Ruderman: Cal defense can’t stop UCLA in final seconds in 61-60 loss at UC Berkeley

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Cal Bears guard Jalen Celestine (32) takes a jump shot against the UCLA Bruins at Haas Pavilion Sat Feb 10, 2024 (Cal Bears photos)

On the Cal Bears podcast with Stephen Ruderman:

#1 Cal Bears drop to 11-14 with a 61-60 loss, with four second left the UCLA Bruins Sebastian Mack hit a free throw that pretty much won it for the Bruins making it 61-57.

#2 The Bears Jalen Celestine right at the buzzer answered back with a three pointer but Cal fell short losing by just a point in a hard fought effort.

#3 Earlier in the game the Bears were turning the ball over and didn’t execute the shot in the early part second half as well as most of the first half.

#4 In the second half the Bruins Jaylon Tyson hit a go ahead shot with 3:05 left that put the Bruins ahead just to give you and the listeners an idea how tight and how close this game was at that point.

#5 UCLA had a ten point lead for pretty much most of this game but Cal caught up in the end it’s the effort of this team and the last couple weeks Cal has shown it’s competitive self.

#6 Cal hits the road against the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars have won five straight games and are 18-6 Cal could have their hands full.

Stephen Ruderman is a Cal Bears beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Spartans Lose Again As Colorado State Beats San Jose State 66-47

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Nique Clifford guard (10) goes for the easy lay up for the Colorado State Rams against the San Jose State Spartans guard Alvaro Cardenas (13) at Moby Arena in Fort Collins CO on Fri Feb 9, 2024 (image by Colorado State Rams)

Friday, February 9th, 2024

By Troy Ewers

The Colorado State Rams host the San Jose State Spartans in this Friday night Mountain West Conference battle. Friday night’s game was Tim Miles’ second time back at Moby Arena in Fort Collins since he left Colorado State after the 2011-12 season to become the head coach at Nebraska.

Miles was the head coach at CSU for five seasons, from 2007-08 through 2011-12, where he compiled a 61-78 record. Unfortunately Miles couldn’t turn back his old team as the Spartans were dropped by the Rams 66-47.

A shaky first half for the Spartans as Colorado State ran away with this game early. Scoring 22 points in the paint, the Rams were in top of the Spartans all half. Rashaan Mbemba led the Rams at the half with 10 points and was one of the pivotal pieces that was scoring in the paint.

San Jose State was not shooting well, especially from three. On Tuesday night against Fresno State, Tibet Gorener made his 162nd career 3-pointer, becoming the Spartans’ all time leader in 3-pointers made, but made none in the first half. SJSU at halftime fell behind Colorado State, 38-19 and needed a quick solution to the offensive takeover the Rams were providing. 

Even though SJSU made a slight comeback in the beginning of the second half with 12 points in the first four minutes, it didn’t matter as the Rams never stopped dominating the game. 23 points off the bench for CSU and 38 points in the paint made it difficult to gain any ground for the Spartans. The game was a runaway as it ended with Colorado State winning 66-47. 

The positive in this loss for the San Jose State Spartans was that Alvaro Cardenas continued putting up double digit points against the Rams just like he did in both games of the 2022-23 season. This game Cardenas scored 14 points going 6-13 from the field, but still didn’t equal a W for SJSU. The next game for San Jose State is back at home against Air Force on February 13th and as the season winds down before we approach March Madness, the Spartans want to end with pride and some noise in their favor.