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.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State University was pleased to announce that they received a $1 million gift commitment from donors who prefer to remain anonymous. This gift will provide new lockers and Spartan-themed graphics for the football team locker room in the Simpkins Stadium Center adjacent to CEFCU Stadium, Home of the Spartans.
The upgrades are expected to be completed in May 2019. In addition to the refurbished locker room, the gift will support Head Coach Brent Brennan’s efforts to position the football program for success in the immediate future.
“These gracious donors looked Coach Brennan right in the eye and said, ‘We believe in you, coach, and we want to help you now,’ said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Marie Tuite. “This is a unique gift by two extraordinary folks who are simply vested in moving San Jose State football forward. I’m especially appreciative because our senior class will be able to conclude their careers in a first-class locker room. On behalf of our remarkable student-athletes and our entire department, a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to these two significant donors.”
“Locker rooms are a great place for the team to bond,” said the donors, who are long-time Spartan football season ticket holders. “We hope the new locker room will show the team that we support them 100 percent.”
“We were blown away by the generosity of this gift,” said Brennan. “While we are building our new football complex, this gives a huge boost to the Simpkins Stadium Center, which has housed many Spartan greats. This will directly impact our next recruiting class and give a sense of pride to the space where the players spend so much of their time.”
Brennan added that the expansion and upgrade to the training room will help Spartan football players with the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries, aided by SJSU’s certified athletic training staff.
“We are excited to see the momentum continue to build around our football program,” said Vice President for University Advancement and Tower Foundation CEO Paul Lanning. “This gift will have an immediate positive impact on the experience of our student-athletes and will greatly enhance recruiting efforts of our coaches. We’re so thankful to our donors for their investment in the future of Spartan football.”
To track fundraising progress and learn how you can support Spartan football, please visit sjsufootball.com or contact Josh Thiel, deputy athletics director for athletics advancement, at (408) 924-1697 or via email at joshua.thiel@sjsu.edu.
About San Jose State
The founding campus of the 23-campus California State University system, San Jose State provides a comprehensive university education, granting bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 250 areas of study offered through its eight colleges.
With more than 35,000 students and nearly 4,370 employees, San Jose State continues to be an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley and the state, annually contributing 10,000 graduates to the workforce.
The university is proud of the accomplishments of its more than 260,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom live and work in the Bay Area.
About San Jose State Athletics
San Jose State sponsors 22 (nine men’s and 13 women’s) NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports programs for approximately 470 student-athletes annually. In football, the Spartans are a member of Division I’s FBS, the NCAA’s highest level of competition.
The Spartans’ primary conference affiliation is with the Mountain West. Selected teams belong to the MPSF, the WAC, and the GCC.
San Jose State has 10 NCAA team championships and 52 NCAA individual titles. 62 Spartans competed in one or more Olympic Games. San Jose State athletes have won seven gold, six silver, and seven bronze medals at the Olympics.
Annually, about one-third of the student-athlete population earns either an institutional, conference or national recognition based on outstanding academic performance.
The Oakland A’s announced that former General Manager Sandy Alderson has been hired as a Senior Advisor to Baseball Operations. Sandy first joined the A’s in 1981 as General Counsel. He stayed with the club for seventeen seasons and was instrumental in building the club that won three straight pennants, and one World Series championship. Alderson turned over the reins as GM after the 1997 season and stayed on as President of the club until the end of 1998.
Three days after the 1998 season ended, Sandy left the A’s to become the number three man at MLB. He was an Executive Vice President there from 1998 until 2005. Sandy then became President of the San Diego Padres and held that post until the end of 2009. Sandy became the GM of the New York Mets from 2011 until 2018. He left that post due to health issues.
Sandy was a mentor to Billy Beane and handed him the job as GM when he stepped down from that position after the 1997 season. Beane is now the Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations for the A’s, and David Forst has the job of GM.
Beane had this to say about Sandy rejoining the club: “His mentorship and friendship have been invaluable to me over the course of my career, and I look forward to the expertise and perspective he will add at every level of the organization. David and I couldn’t be more excited to bring him back to Oakland.”
This will be Sandy’s 18th year with the club. All of those who know him including the media, players, and fans, are happy to see him back in Oakland. We all wish him great success in his new job and, most importantly, wish him good health.
#1 Maroon 5 has decided to forgo the traditional pregame Super Bowl LIII presser because of the number of other groups who have chosen not to participate in the halftime entertainment show due to the NFL’s policy about taking a knee.
#2 Rihanna led the way by telling the NFL that she would not do the Super Bowl halftime show because of the anti-taking a knee policy and said that former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick had a right to protest against police brutality and discrimination that still continues to this day.
#3 Comedian Amy Schumer has asked that Maroon 5 step down from entertaining at halftime for this Sunday’s Super Bowl because of what Kaepernick is doing is making a statement about racial discrimination and unequal justice to minorities and people of color.
#4 The NFL has promised Maroon 5 that they will donate $500,000 to the Big Brothers and Big Sister charity group if the band would entertain at this Sunday’s halftime performance. Adam Levine of Maroon 5 said of the NFL’s donation that he’s thankful for the donation and it would benefit children across the country.
#5 Maroon 5 didn’t want to take any questions about the other artists asking them not to perform and questions about Colin Kaepernick’s stance on racial discrimination in America.
#1 In a two-game series, the Grand Rapids Griffins took game two as they edged the visiting San Jose Barracuda last Saturday 3-2.
#2 The Cuda jumped out ahead with an early 2-0 lead with goals from Alex True and Rourke Chartier. That would be all the scoring San Jose would get for the rest of the evening.
#3 Flilp Zadina and Carter Camper both scored for Grand Rapids to tie it up 2-2 and the Griffins’ Matt Puempel scored the game-winner in the shootout.
#4 The Griffins’ goaltender Harri Setari stopped 24 of 26 shots and the Barracuda Antoine Bibeau stopped 30 of 32.
#5 The Barracuda head to Stockton for this Fri Feb 1st’s contest with the Stockton Heat.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball will face a familiar opponent this Wednesday as they take on Utah State for the second time this month. Wednesday’s game will be played in Logan, Utah, starting at 7:00 pm PT. Justin Allegri will have the call on the TuneIn app and fans can watch the game on the Mountain West Network.
Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s game.
Game No. 20
San Jose State (3-16, 0-7) at Utah State (15-5, 5-2)
Wednesday, January 30, 7:00 pm PT
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum
Logan, Utah
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 TuneIn.
What Would a Win Mean?
SJSU’s second win in the last three tries against USU. It would also put an end to the Spartans’ 10-game losing skid and give them their first win in conference play in 2019.
How About Them 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 67.2% of the Spartans’ offense (835-1241).
Steadman alone is accounting for nearly 20% of the team’s offense with 246 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 49.0%. Baumann also ranks in the top-10 in the MW in 3-pointers per game (2.5).
In the loss to USU, 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 10.4 points in conference play, second-most on the team (Steadman).
Baumann has hit at least one 3-point basket in 17 straight games this season, tying Devante Wilson in the 2013-14 season for the most consecutive 3-pointers made in the last 10 seasons.
Last season as a freshmen, Baumann finished the year 40-for-87 (.460) from the 3-point range. He has already eclipsed those numbers with 11 regular season games to go (47-96, .490).
Chastain Taking Over
Junior center Ashtin Chastain has been tasked to fill in the gap in the starting lineup with senior Oumar Barry, who has been sidelined with an injury. Chastain has started the last two games in his stead and is averaging six points and 8.5 rebounds in those starts.
Chastain scored a season-best 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.
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 12.9 points per game and ranks fifth in the MW with 8.6 rebounds per game. Steadman has seven double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 16-of-19 games. He also has nine games with double-digit rebounds.
Steadman is coming off his 7th double-double of the season in the double-overtime loss to Air Force. He put up a career-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.
Switch It Up
Prioleau has used eight 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.
Boards Up
In the loss to Air Force, the Spartans pulled down double digit rebounds (Ashtin Chastain: 13, Michael Steadman: 12, Craig LeCesne: 12) becoming the first SJSU trio since 2008 to achieve the feat since December 28, 2008 when Chris Oakes (17), Time Pierce (15) and C.J. Webster (10) against William Jessup.
Few and Far Between
SJSU has committed the fewest fouls in the MW this season with 16.8 per game and ranks 40th nationally in the category.
Series History vs. Utah State
USU holds the series lead at 61-22 and won the first meeting of the season, 81-63, in San Jose. SJSU defeated USU 64-62 last season at home on February 28. It was the first win for the Spartans in the series since February 18, 2008.
The Aggies, who are led by first-year head coach Craig Smith, are one of the most well-rounded teams in the conference. They lead the MW in scoring defense and rank second in scoring offense. They also lead the conference in field goal percentage defense, free throw percentage, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists and defensive rebounds.
#1 Both Super Bowl quarterbacks have local ties to the San Francisco Bay Area. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady formerly lived in San Mateo and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff played for the Cal Bears in Berkeley.
#2 Brady has won five Super Bowls. He’s a slam dunk for the Football Hall of Fame. Talk about his odds on getting that sixth ring.
#3 Brady is 42 years old playing in his 10th Super Bowl this coming Sunday. That’s a lot of Super Bowls and experience can prove to be helpful in winning another one.
#4 For Goff, it’s a real “pinch me am I here?”moment, Goff was in a media day situation when both Brady and Goff sat next to each other answering questions and Goff had some questions for Brady and Brady simply said he’s not answering. No tips before game day.
#5 What does Amaury expect out of Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta this Sunday?
Amaury Pi Gonzalez formerly covered the NFL Super Bowl for Radio and TV and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
#1 The Warriors’ Steph Curry led with 23 points in the first half of their game against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night in a game that was no contest 132-100.
#2 In games where the offense dominates like this, does Warriors head coach Steve Kerr end up deciding to rest some of his key starters?
Steph Curry scored 23 points in the first half to lead the Warriors to a 132-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Steph was 9-for-10 from the field and connected on all 5 3-point shots attempted. He connected on a 3 as the buzzer sounded to give the Warriors a commanding 69-48 halftime advantage.
The Warriors led from start to finish. With the score tied at 16, the Warriors went on a 24-6 run to finish the first quarter with a 40-22 lead. The Pacers’ leading scorer, Victor Oladipo, was not available as he injured his knee and underwent a season-ending surgery to correct the problem. His replacement, Tyreke Evans, also was not able to play. The Pacers started Edmond Sumner, who made his first start in the NBA.
The Warriors, behind Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney, continued to expand the lead. They finished the first half 69-48. The Warriors shot 59.6% from the floor. They made 6 3s in 12 attempts and recorded 20 assists in the half as they moved the ball well.
The Pacers played well in the third period. they scored 31 points against the Warriors defense. The Warriors, however, scored 32 and led by 22 heading into the final period of play. In the fourth quarter, DeMarcus Cousins played very well. He made several buckets and the score was 115-90 and 7:46 left to play, Steve Kerr had Curry, and Kevin Durant watching from the bench. Thompson exited with 6:50 left and Cousins departed with 4:50 to play. Kevon Looney, Quinn Cook, Damian Lee, Marcus Derrickson, Jordan Bell, and Shaun Livingston finished the game for the Warriors.
Game Notes and Stats: Draymond Green did not play Monday night as coach Steve Kerr gave him a night off. Jordan Bell started in Green’s forward position and played well. Bell, who has not been as consistent as he was a year ago, recorded 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson each finished with 16. DeMarcus Cousins had a season-high 22 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists in 34 minutes of action. Kevon Looney had a career-high with 15 points to go along with 5 rebounds and two assists. Curry led the Warriors with 26, and he made 6 3s.
The Warriors finished the 12-day, 5-game road trip undefeated. It was the fourth time in Warrior history that the team went undefeated on a road trip of 5 or more games. The Warriors won their 11th game in a row and the 10th road game in a row. The Warriors are now 36-14 for the year while the Pacers drop to 32-17.
Up Next: The Warriors return home to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at Oracle Arena. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.
