NCAA Basketball – Page 46 – Sports Radio Service

Stanford heads to Arizona State for Pac-12 showdown Wednesday evening

Published on February 18, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: Ana Kieu

After a rough road trip in the Beaver State, Stanford men’s basketball rebounded with two straight home wins over rivals USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins, respectively. The Cardinal routed the Bruins 104-80 on February 16th and edged the Trojans 79-76 on February 13th. Not bad for two Bay Area versus Los Angeles style showdowns.

But Stanford (14-11, 7-6 Pac-12) now has a tall order with a brief stop in the desert, where they’ll take on the Arizona State Sun Devils, who currently stand tall with a 17-8, 8-5 Pac-12 record, and pay a visit to the Arizona Wildcats, who are third to last in the conference with a 14-12, 5-8 Pac-12 record. Tempe and Tucson are two different cities that are 100 miles apart, but I doubt the travel time and time difference won’t be factors in the Cardinal’s next two games. The Cardinal will bring a two-game win streak, while the Sun Devils will be looking to make it two wins in a row. ASU last defeated the Utah Utes 98-87 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on February 16th.

The Cardinal had won five of their last six games, which has been a positive sign for the wishy-washy team even though they likely won’t become a promising postseason contender this year. If you’re antsy for the game, you can check out GoStanford.com for their live countdown to the tipoff. You can thank me later, too.

Not only did Stanford beat UCLA, Josh Sharma–a Cardinal senior center–was voted the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week Monday. Sharma led the Cardinal to a sweep of the LA-based schools. The Cardinal’s win over the Bruins was their largest in 22 years. The Cardinal’s currently tied with Colorado and USC for fifth in the conference at 7-6 in Pac-12 play.

Sharma averaged a double-double for the week at 18.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. He posted his second career double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win over UCLA. His 22-point performance was one shy of his career-high, which was set earlier this season against Long Beach State.

Sharma, the Pac-12’s field goal percentage leader at 69%, finished 10-of-11 from the field in the win over UCLA, becoming just the 10th player in Cardinal history with at least nine field goals made and just one or no missed field goal attempts in a game. He finished Saturday’s win with seven dunks.

Sharma registered 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over USC on Wednesday.

Sharma was recognized by the Pac-12 for the second time this season. He was also named the conference’s player of the week on Dec. 31. He’s the first Stanford player to be recognized with the conference’s weekly award multiple times in the same season since Landry Fields in 2009-10. He’s also the sixth Cardinal to accomplish the feat all-time, joining Fields (2009-10), Matt Haryasz (2005-06), Matt Lottich (2003-04), Adam Keefe (1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92) and Todd Lichti (1988-89).

San Jose State continues homestand with conference matchup vs. Colorado State Wednesday night

Published on February 18, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Once again, San Jose State men’s basketball has nothing to play for but pride, but I still have to provide some of the best Spartan coverage out there, so there you go. The Spartans wrap up their two-game homestand with a conference matchup versus the Colorado State Rams inside the Event Center Wednesday night. The tipoff has been set for 7:00 pm PT.

SJSU (3-21, 0-12) most recently hosted UNLV (14-11, 8-5 MW) and dropped a 71-64 decision following a promising first half with the Spartans holding onto a mere three-point advantage, 31-28, to the locker room on Saturday, February 16th. Meanwhile, CSU (9-16, 4-8 MW) lost to the San Diego State Aztecs 71-60 at the Moby Arena on Tuesday, February 12th. As you can see, home court advantage failed to help out the Rams, but then again, they faced a challenging SDSU team who currently holds a 16-9, 8-4 MW record.

The Spartans are bottom-feeders as they’ve lost 15 games in a row, while the Rams have dropped three consecutive games. That’s a tough pill for the Spartans to swallow, but hey, it’s NCAA basketball and anything could happen so don’t rule anything out Spartan Nation!

After all, SJSU did play a pretty darn good game versus UNLV last Saturday. Michael Steadman, as you should already know, was being “Steady Steadman” as one of the three Spartans in double-figure scoring with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds. Moreover, Zach Chappell had his most complete game of the 2018-19 Spartans season with 11 points and season-highs of nine assists AND six rebounds in 29 minutes of play.

The Spartans failed to secure the upset over the Rebels, but there were quite a few silver linings like the two players I just mentioned as well as the reduced turnovers and increased rebounding. Since the Rams are third to last in the conference, I believe that the Spartans can beat them by 10 points or fewer. That being said, my prediction will be a Spartans 70-65 win.

Cal Bears podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal heads to ASU in hopes to pick up their first Pac-12 win of the season Wednesday

Published on February 18, 2019February 18, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @CalMBBall

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris:

#1 The Cal Bears (5-20) head into Wednesday night’s game to face the ASU Sun Devils (17-8). The Bears are winless in the Pac-12, could they go winless for the rest of the way at this rate?

#2 The Bears’ big highlight in their 89-66 loss to the USC Trojans (14-12) on Saturday night was a three-pointer from Jacob Orender in the closing minutes of the game.

#3 The Trojans’ Benny Boatwright made himself at home with 36 points and 10 assists. With Boatwright, was it a matter trying to contain everyone or was Boatwright USC’s go to guy all night long?

#4 Bears head coach Wyking Jones said that the defensive woes carried into the offensive woes. How so?

#5 It’s off to Arizona State University for a Wednesday night tip with the Sun Devils. What are the Bears’ odds to get their first win this season in this one?

Morris does the Cal Bears podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Baumann becomes record-setter, but San Jose State falls to UNLV 71-64 for 15th loss in a row

Published on February 16, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball has nothing left to play for except for pride and Saturday’s matinee versus the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels was a rather competitive Mountain West matchup inside the Event Center. SJSU had lost 14 in a row, while UNLV searched for its second straight win on the road.

The Spartans’ starting five consisted of the favorable likes of Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Ashtin Chastain, Michael Steadman and Zach Chappell. SJSU hosted Fight for Literary day, which encouraged fans to pledge and possibly donate for the literary of local schoolchildren in the South Bay.

The Rebels jumped out to a fast start as Cheikh Mbacke Diong made a layup and Joel Ntambwe hit a 3-pointer to make it a 5-0 game, but the Spartans got on the board, thanks to Baumann’s layup in the paint and jumper to make it a 1-point game. Knight’s layup gave the Spartans a 1-point lead 6-5 at the 16:54 mark of the first half.

The game turned into a back-and-forth affair between these two teams. UNLV entered the driver’s seat, but SJSU gave the road team a hard time on Walt McPherson court. Steadman made two jumpers–one regular and the other in the paint–and Chappell knocked down a jumper to put the Spartans ahead 22-18 with 7:38 left in the first.

The Spartans continued to pour in the points. Steadman added a jumper in the paint, while Knight came alive with a layup, jumper and lone free throw. Also, Christian Anigwe threw down a dunk with 10 seconds left on the clock to help the Spartans to a 31-28 lead to close out the first.

Baumann opened up the second half in one of the most exciting ways possible. Baumann hit a 3 to not only extend the Spartans’ lead to 34-28, but also to set a new school record with a 3 in 22 consecutive games. The Spartans followed up with Knight’s 3, Steadman’s jumper in the paint and Chappell’s layup. The latter allowed the Spartans to regain the lead 41-39 at the 16-minute mark of the half.

The Rebels regained the lead 46-41 at the 12:07 mark of the half. Mbacke Diong made a pair of layups along with a lone free throw plus a jumper. However, Steadman ended the Rebels’ 7-0 run with a jumper at the 11:27 mark of the half. Steadman then made a layup on the fastbreak to make it a 1-point game.

The Spartans attracted attention to themselves as Ivey hit a 3 on the fastbreak and then drew a questionable penalty for fouling, which was arguably uncalled for by the officials. Still, SJSU regained the lead 48-46, so there wasn’t much to complain about. Well, at least until the Rebels tied the game 46-46 on a pair of free throws by Noah Robotham and snatched a 1-point lead 49-48 on Kris Clyburn’s lone free throw on the fastbreak.

Fast forward to the final minutes (and seconds) of the game where the Spartans pulled within five, thanks to Anigwe’s pair of free throws with 53 seconds left on the clock. Ivey made a pair of free throws in response to Amauri Hardy’s pair of free throws, but Robothom heated things up by making three straight free throws on the fastbreak in a 12-second span. Sure, Anigwe made a free throw on the fastbreak, but that wasn’t enough as San Jose State dropped its 15th in a row by a final score of 71-64.

SJSU hosts the Colorado State Rams on Wednesday, February 20th at 7:00 pm PT.

San Jose State returns home to host UNLV in Saturday matinee

Published on February 15, 2019February 15, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The 2018-19 San Jose State men’s basketball season has been a lost cause for quite a while now, so the team has been playing for pride because they have nothing to play for until the end of the season against the rival Fresno State Bulldogs at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. on March 9th. But, until then, San Jose State has to endure seven more games and possibly seven straight losses as much as I don’t want to say the latter.

SJSU last played against the New Mexico Lobos at the Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. Wednesday and got ran over by a final score of 92-60. SJSU (3-20, 0-11 MW) lost its 14th consecutive game, while UNM (11-13, 5-7 MW) rebounded following a 91-62 blowout by the hands of the No. 7 Nevada Wolf Pack on February 9th. Moreover, UNM took out their anger on SJSU and that was an understatement as they pretty much had the conference game from start to finish. SJSU, however, put on a strong offensive show to open the first half, so let’s give them credit where it’s due, okay?

Anyways, I’m not ruling out the fact that SJSU can somehow pull off an upset over UNLV, but there’s a sad reality that all of us must realize and that’s how the Spartans struggle to close out the games as they tend to suffer second half scoring woes for some reason or more than a few reasons if you’re a glass half empty type of person…or a full blown troll who has too much time on his or her hands.

But I can confirm that Noah Baumann is like a boss as his most recent performance allowed him to lead the Spartans with 10 points. Not only that, Baumann hit two 3-pointers and extended his consecutive games with a 3-pointer streak to 21 games to tie SJSU’s record set in the 2009-10 season by Robert Owens. I’d also like to add that Ashtin Chastain has been having himself a game after what seemed like a long scoring drought that partially occurred due to injuries in the past year or so. Chastain recorded a team-high 11 rebounds along with seven points in the Spartans’ loss to the Lobos in Albuquerque. It was just that Lobos won the rebound battle 44-39 as the Spartans actually finished with just 11 turnovers. The Lobos were simply the better team as a whole and they weren’t anywhere near the likes of Nevada, Utah State, Fresno State, San Diego and UNLV.

SJSU will likely get blown out by UNLV. My prediction stands at 95-55, but hey, anything can happen, so let’s see if the basketball Gods will work wonders or not.

In case you missed it, SJSU had a productive Friday morning. The Spartans read out loud to the elementary school students at Horace Mann Elementary in San Jose. Moreover, Caleb Simmons, a 6-foot-6, 195 pounds guard from Desert Vista High in Phoenix, Ariz., talked to the students about positivity, perseverance, and prosperity. It’s good that Simmons did that and I hope those young kids learned a thing or two because today’s kids are supposed to be the future in the advancement of this country.

If you want to pledge to support Fight for Literacy before tomorrow night’s game, click on the “Pledge Here” link to the embedded tweet below. It’s a notable cause that will do good for the local students in the South Bay.

Join us and Fight for Literacy at tomorrow night's game! Info is below. Join together! #fight4literacy | #SpartanUp @sanjoselibrary @RPsiliconvalley @coachingforlit
Pledge here: https://t.co/jvbTvLJZNH pic.twitter.com/sJ4ml7CvZi

— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) February 15, 2019

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: Sheffield’s 16 points gets him some more minutes in Stanford’s win

Published on February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: ruleoftree.com

On the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 The Stanford Cardinal (13-11) got a key win over the USC Trojans (13-12) on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion 79-76.

#2 A big turn around from they’re game against the Oregon Ducks when the Cardinal scored just 46 points.

#3 How is Daejon Davis’ progress after his head to head collision?

#4 KZ Okpala scored 18 points and Marcus Sheffield scored 16 points for Sheffield’s personal high.

#5 The UCLA Bruins are headed to Stanford for 7:00 PM tip on Saturday.

Join Joey for the Cardinal podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bears Squander Another Opportunity, Fall to UCLA 75-67 in Overtime

Published on February 14, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @CalMBBall

By: Michael Duca

BERKELEY, Calif. — The second time was not the charm.

Cal opened its Pac-12 season against a UCLA team in disarray, with Interim Coach Murry Bartow coaching his first game after a mid-season change. The Bruins broke form and blew out Cal at Pauley. Wednesday night, the Bears got their shot at the Bruins at home, immediately after what should have been a soul-crushing loss to Utah Sunday afternoon.

It was not meant to be.

One of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation (62%), the UCLA Bruins rode 9-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe to a 75-67 overtime victory at Haas Pavilion. Led by Kris Wilkes 27 points, the Bruins, who did not lead until 11:04 remained in regulation, caught fire late from behind the arc to steal a sloppy game from Cal, which is still seeking its first conference win (0-12, 5-18). UCLA started the game shooting 3-of-16 from behind the arc, but finished hitting 7 of their final 16 treys, including back-to-back shots from the left corner in a 30-second span in the final 90 seconds of regulation. Those three-balls pulled the Bruins from a 59-55 hole inside 2:00.

Cal, which held a nine point advantage at the half, fell to 3-3 in games with a lead at the intermission. The Bruins played a sloppy game, with 13 turnovers in the first half (and only 4 assists). Those turnovers led to a 15-4 lead in points off turns for Cal, but they just could not hold it in the second half once the Bruins started to hit from outside.

Wilkes 16 points after intermission overshadowed a nice evening for Darius McNeil, who flashed his speed time after time in racking up a team-high 18 points, including four treys, but McNeil also committed a pair of thoroughly unnecessary fouls that gave the Bruins life. The taller Bruins owned the boards, with a 50-36 edge that included 17 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points.

Down 9 with 14:00 left in regulation, David Singleton hit three consecutive three-balls for the Bruins to close the game to 43-42 at 12:18.

Matt Bradley had a rollercoaster night, missing his first eight shots but draining a three to send the game to overtime.

Cal’s frustration will only increase when they watch film – they have suffered mightily in conference play from poor defense, but they held UCLA (averaging 80 points/game) to under 40% shooting on the night, but could barely exceed hitting one-third of their own shots (23-of-68).

Justice Sueing had a solid game with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, adding a team-leading 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Conor Vanover is beginning to show flashes of adapting to the speed of the college game, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, plus 6 rebounds and a pair of blocks (plus countless other shots altered), and a pair of plays where he created held balls that gave Cal possession.

It remains to be seen whether Cal will break through and avoid a winless conference season, but it is clear from watching this team that they have not given up on the season – they competed hard for 45 minutes, but just didn’t have the offense to put the game away in regulation.

Next up for Cal are the USC Trojans, Saturday afternoon at 5 pm.

San Jose State drops 14th straight game to New Mexico 92-60 at the Pit

Published on February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

It was a tale of two halves as San Jose State men’s basketball fell to the New Mexico Lobos, 92-60, at the Pit Wednesday evening. The Lobos shot 50% from the field while the Spartans were held to a 35.3 clip.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau chose a starting lineup featuring the talented likes of Zach Chappell, Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Michael Steadman and Ashtin Chastain.

Both teams came out with a strong offensive showing to start the game. SJSU (3-20, 0-11 MW) did most of their damage in the paint with 16 points while New Mexico (11-13, 5-7 MW) relied on the deep ball, making eight from the 3-point range. The Lobos would go on to finish with 14 threes (14-of-27).

Knight, making his fifth-straight start, drained a corner trey to give the Spartans a 14-11 advantage at the 11:56 mark and Baumann drained his second three of the half to give SJSU a 30-27 lead with 5:01 remaining in the, however that would be the Spartans final field goal of the half.

New Mexico took advantage and went on 15-2 run over the final 5:01 to close out the half and take a 42-32 lead into the locker room. The Spartans shot 41% from the field prior to the run, but finished with a 37% clip for the half.

The run carried over to the second half as the Lobos opened with three quick treys and took advantage of the Spartans’ scoring woes. New Mexico extended the run to 35-6 that spanned a total of 12:41 and was able to close out the game comfortably. New Mexico finished the half shooting 54%, while SJSU shot just 33.3%.

Turnovers, which have been an Achilles heel for the Spartans all season, were a non-factor as they finished with just 11 and didn’t commit their first until the 9:36 mark in the opening half. New Mexico, however, did take advantage of those few committed with 14 points scored off. The Lobos also dominated on fast-break opportunities as they outscored the Spartans 35-2.

Baumann led the Spartans with 10 points. With his two made 3s, the Phoenix, Arizona native, extended his consecutive games with a 3-pointer streak to 21 games, tying the school record set in 2009-10 by Robert Owens. Chastain had a team-best 11 rebounds to go with seven points, while Knight finished with nine points.

Keith McGee led the Lobos with 20 points while Corey Manigault added 17 of his own. The Lobos scored 18 points at the charity stripe (18-of-27), while the Spartans were 8-of-15. New Mexico won the rebound battle 44-39.

The Spartans return to the Event Center Saturday as they host UNLV. Tip-off set for 2:00 pm PT on AT&T SportsNet and TuneIn.

Stanford beats USC in a 79-76 thriller from Maples

Published on February 13, 2019February 14, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal (13-11, 6-6) hosted the USC Trojans (13-12, 6-6) at Maples and won by a final of 79-76 in dramatic fashion.

Just three days ago, The Cardinal displayed one of their worst offensive performances of the season on the road at Oregon. They were held to just 46 total points and shot a meager 27.3% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc after missing all of their first 13 shots.

Stanford wore their gray uniforms while USC donned their black ones, which in fact was the same uniform combination featured on highlight reels of last year’s matchup between these two foes during which then-freshman Daejon Davis hit a miracle half-court buzzer-beater to give Stanford the edge in a 77-76 victory.

To start in what was called “a redemption game” by Bryce Wills, Stanford couldn’t find their rhythm offensively without sophomore point guard Daejon Davis in the lineup. He remained out against the Trojans and has sat for the last two games after a head-to-head collision in the road game at Oregon State. He averages 12.6 points per game.

It was more of the same in the early going for the Cardinal at Maples against USC. For much for the first half, they were held to a shooting percentage below 30% and, with 6 minutes left to play, were at their greatest deficit with the score 34-20 in favor of the Trojans.

On the back of 3 first half blocks from Oscar Da Silva, however, they were able to shift the momentum and ended up shortening the deficit to only 5 points when Marcus Sheffield hit Stanford’s first three-pointer of the night with two and a half minutes to play until the break. The Card finished the half shooting just 1-9 from three-point range.

The Trojans took a 40-35 lead to the half while Stanford managed to inch their shooting percentage up to 35%. The only scorer with double digits in the point column in the first half was USC freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr. who had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Stanford sophomores Oscar Da Silva and KZ Okpala each finished the half with 7 points. Entering the game, Stanford was 5-0 in games in which Oscar Da Silva scores more than 13 points.

The Cardinal took their first lead of the night on senior center Josh Sharma’s jump hook with 12 minutes left in the game and the score 52-51. The jump hook gave Sharma his 9th and 10th points of the night. Both he and KZ Okpala combined for 14 of Stanford’s first 17 points in the second half.

Stanford capped a productive first 12 minutes of the second half with another Marcus Sheffield three-pointer by which time the Cardinal had extended their lead to 6 points with the score 64-58 after making 8 of their last 9 shots from the field. Through the first 12 minutes of the second half alone, both offense and defense flowed and Stanford had amassed a 65% shooting percentage, had forced 7 turnovers, and had converted those turnovers into 9 points.

The Trojans responded with a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a four-point lead before KZ Okpala made a jumper and Marcus Sheffield, once again, hit another three-pointer to give Stanford a 69-68 lead with 3:45 remaining.

The Trojans and Cardinal exchanged blows until, with a four-point deficit and under 50 seconds left in the game, Marcus Sheffield nailed a three-pointer to put Stanford within one point. Stanford defended well and forced a turnover on a poor pass from USC junior forward Nick Rakocevic.

On the next offensive possession, Stanford pulled ahead for the final time on an acrobatic Bryce Wills and-1 layup. After Wills’ missed a free throw, USC had a chance to respond with 12 seconds left, but the Trojans were once again well-defended by the Card and senior forward Bennie Boatwright missed what would’ve been a game-winning jumper. After a successive Bryce Wills rebound, USC hopelessly fouled Wills before he ironed out the 79-76 win with a pair of made free throws.

For the Cardinal, in Daejon Davis’ absence, 5 players stepped up and scored 10 or more points, most notably KZ Okpala had 18 points and Marcus Sheffield had a personal season-high 16 points (4-6 on three-point shots). Josh Sharma had 14 points and 9 rebounds, Bryce Wills had 11 points and 6 rebounds, and Oscar Da Silva had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Stanford finished by shooting a total of 46% from the field and 32% from three (6-19).

For the Trojans, Bennie Boatwright finished with a team-high 19 points and 6 rebounds, Jonah Matthews finished with 16 points, Nick Rakocevic finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, and Kevin Porter Jr. finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds. USC shot the lights out, especially from beyond the arc when they shot 48.1% from the field and 58.3% from distance.

What’s next?
Stanford will host UCLA on Saturday for a 7 PM evening tip before going on their last regular season road trip of the season as they visit the Washington schools.

USC will do battle with the struggling Cal Bears in Berkeley at 5 PM on Saturday before they host the Oregon schools in their last regular season homestand.