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 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 The Utah Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak saw his offense get it in gear against the Cal Bears instantly on offense, but the defense took awhile to get it in gear, but once they did, the Bears were pretty much done.
#2 The home floor didn’t help for Cal. They lost 82-64. They’ve struggled at home and have not won game this season.
#3 Krystkowiak said in the postgame presser that the first half was a shootout and that the offense was expending with a lot more energy. Knowing the struggles of the Bears and with the Utes climbing on offense did the Bears even have a chance to shut the Utes down in that first half.
#4 The Utes helped their own cause in the Pac-12 standings with their fourth straight win and now in a second place tie with USC.
#5 Cal’s attendance is shrinking with each loss and the fans and alum can’t give away a ticket as Cal drops to a 5-15 record. Cal’s next home game this Sun Feb 3 against the Stanford Cardinal.
#1 Udoke Azubuike is out with an injury and Silvio DeSousa is in ineligible. Wihout their key players, the Kansas Jayhawks (16-4) couldn’t turn the corner to the Kentucky Wildcats (16-3) 71-63. The score is reflective of the lack offense needed by the Hawks.
#2 Duke (17-2) got a win over Georgia Tech (11-9) on Saturday 66-53. The Blue Devils got hoop help from RJ Barrett with 24 points and 11 rebounds Duke won it coming back from behind.
#3 Washington Huskies (16-4) defeated the Oregon State Beavers (12-7) 79-69 Saturday . The Huskies’ Jaylen Nowell (19) and Nahziah Carter (18) both led in scoring and the Beavers’ Stephen Thomson Jr (30) and Tres Tinkle (18) led OSU in scoring.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball was still seeking its first conference win of the season and the Air Force Falcons made it difficult, despite the home advantage inside the Event Center Saturday evening.
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau went with a starting lineup, which featured the likes of Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Craig LeCesne, Ashtin Chastain, and Michael Steadman.
SJSU got off to a fast start to open the scoring in the first half. The Spartans went on a 8-0 run in the opening 3:44, which was eventually snapped by the Falcons’ A.J. Walker, who made a layup at the 14:40 mark of the first.
Air Force climbed its way back into the game, but SJSU maintained the lead, whether it was big or small. Steadman was being Steady Steadman and scored 10 points early on, which helped him record his 15th game of the season where he entered the double figure scoring territory.
SJSU continued to hold a 9-point lead, 25-16, with 3:13 left in the half. Baumann also helped the Spartans extend their lead to 28-16 with his second 3-pointer of the game late in the half.
SJSU achieved its first halftime lead, 31-19, in conference play so far this season.
Unlike the first half, the second half was all Air Force in the early stages. Sid Tomes hit a 3 just 46 seconds in, Lavelle Scottie followed up with a fastbreak layup, and then Tomes was at it again by knocking down a jumper.
Both teams exchanged points throughout the half. A notable Spartan moment was when Steadman amazed the home crowd again. Steadman used the high glass to beat the buzzer with 5:43 left in the half.
As the clock continued to run and pause, SJSU realized that they had to do something to win or at least even the score. It was a down-to-the-wire type of game, and at the final media timeout, Air Force led 51-48, with 3:38 left in the half. The Spartans continued to trail by 3, then the Falcons made it a 5-point game with 1:07 left. Steadman hit a 3 to pull the Spartans within 2 with 42 seconds left.
Sure, Air Force extended its lead to 56-53, as Chris Joyce made a free throw with four seconds left. Then, SJSU changed the game, thanks to Brae Ivey, who hit a 3 right after Joyce’s free throw. The game was tied 56-56 at the end of the half.
The game went into overtime, which allowed SJSU to breathe a sigh of relief. Though, SJSU still had work to do, so they were unable to look at overtime with a grain of salt.
SJSU wasted absolutely no time in overtime. Ivey started things off with a pair of free throws, Baumann hit a 3, and Steadman added a free throw. The Spartans led 62-58 with 2:38 left in overtime.
Air Force used back-to-back 3s by Caleb Morris and Chris Joyce to take their first lead, 64-63, in overtime with 54 seconds left. AJ Walker made it a 1-point game with a fastbreak free throw with 30 seconds left. Then, SJSU tied the game 65-65, thanks to Ivey’s layup, and forced a double overtime.
Air Force jumped out to a 68-65 lead early in the double overtime, as Morris hit a 3 just 16 seconds in. The Falcons took a 70-66 lead on Ryan Swan’s layup; but the Spartans made it a 1-point game, thanks to Ivey’s 3. Knight added a layup to help the Spartans get ahead 71-70, but the Falcons stunned the home crowd when Joyce hit a late 3 to get back on top 73-71.
SJSU (3-16, 0-7 MW) lost to Air Force (9-11, 4-4 MW) by a final score of 73-71 in double overtime.
SJSU heads to Logan, Utah to take on the Utah State Aggies next Wednesday at 6:00 pm PT.
PALO ALTO — Coming off a disappointing four-point loss to the Utah Utes at home two nights ago, the Stanford Cardinal (10-10, 3-5 Pac-12) hosted the Colorado Buffaloes (11-8, 2-5 Pac-12) at Maples Pavilion for a Saturday evening tip and won by a score of 75-62 in front of 3,648 fans.
Stanford looked to avenge last year’s close loss to Colorado on the road. Down by 16, they roared back with help from then-senior Pickens when he scored a game-high 18 points before Colorado bounced back with 6 straight points, mostly from then-freshman Tyler Bey) to close out the win.
Cormac Ryan did not play. He continues to sit out with ankle concerns.
Sophomore Oscar Da Silva scored all of Stanford’s first eight points which included a pair of threes in the first five minutes. He would add another three and top out at 13 points to pair with 5 rebounds in the first half. His third first-half three-pointer gave Da Silva his 20th three in the last 12 games.
KZ followed up his conference-leading 11th 20+ point game on Thursday night against the Utes by failing to score in the first half for the Cardinal, despite playing 12 minutes.
With about four minutes to play in the first half, freshman Jaiden Delaire and junior Marcus Sheffield nailed consecutive threes to bring the Colorado lead down to 6. Stanford would head to the locker room at half down by the same margin with the score 37-31 in favor of the Buffs. Ahead of the Colorado game, Stanford was just 1-9 on the season when trailing at the half.
Colorado spread out their scoring in their first half, making it difficult for Stanford to defend. Sophomore G/F Tyler Bey, junior forward Lucas Siewert, and senior guard McKinley Wright each finished with 8 points in the first half. The first two of whom also collected 4 rebounds respectively. Junior guard Shane Gatling also finished the first half with 7 points.
Stanford stifled the Buffaloes with three minutes of shutout defense at the beginning of the 2nd half and was able to crawl within 2 points with the score 43-41. A number of possessions later, a Daejon Davis alley-oop to Josh Sharma got the Cardinal within a single point before Sharma threw another dunk down to give Stanford the lead. Immediately after, Daejon Davis hit a three to put the Card up by four with just under 11 minutes left in the game and the score 50-46.
With four minutes left in the game, sophomores Daejon Davis and Oscar Da Silva collected consecutive three-point plays on and-one layups to put Stanford up 68-56. Stanford would go on to win by a score of 75-62. In the second half, Stanford shot 72% from the field and outscored the Buffs by 19 points.
Stanford finished by shooting 55% from the field, 35% from beyond the arc, and an impressive 88% from the free-throw line. Colorado shot 41% from the field, 19% from beyond the arc, and a disappointing 54% from the free-throw line. By the end, Stanford finished almost or exactly even with Colorado in rebounds (29-29), points in the paint (42-40 advantage to the Buffs), and assists (14-13 advantage to the Card). Stanford and Colorado finished with 16 and 11 turnovers, respectively.
Individually for the Cardinal, Oscar Da Silva missed tying his career high in points by 2 when finished with 21 alongside 7 rebounds. Daejon Davis scored 16 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. Bryce Wills missed tying his career high in points by 1 when finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. KZ Okpala finished with five points (2-8 from the field), 2 rebounds, and an assist.
For the Buffaloes, Tyler Bey finished with 17 points, McKinley Wright finished with 14 points, Lucas Siewert finished with 13 points, and Shane Gatling finished with 10 points.
Jerod Hasse credited tonight’s game as the best performance he’s seen from his young team in terms of playing simple and controlled basketball once they penetrate and get into the lanes. He, Oscar Da Silva, and Daejon Davis all said playing with joy tonight allowed for every facet of the game to flow better, especially in the second half.
What’s next?
The Cardinal will play three consecutive road games: first, they will battle the rival California Bears on February 3rd at 1:00 PM PT before they take on the Oregon schools on the road on February 7th and 10th.
The Buffaloes will host the Oregon schools on January 31st and February 2nd. Before traveling to face the Los Angeles schools.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball will welcome the Air Force Academy to the Event Center for a 6:00 pm tip Saturday. The game can be streamed online on the Mountain West Network. Justin Allegri will have the radio call on KLIV 1590 AM, broadcasting their final men’s basketball game of the season.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s game.
Game No. 19
Air Force (8-11, 3-4 MW) at San Jose State (3-15, 0-6 MW)
Saturday, Jan. 26, 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.
What Would a Win Mean?
SJSU’s fourth win over Air Force in the last six games. After the Spartans won three straight in 2016 and 2017, the Falcons swept both games last season (78-71 and 83-61). A win would also put an end to SJSU’s nine-game losing skid.
Newcomers Amp up Offense
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 66.9% of the Spartans’ offense (783-1170).
Steadman alone is accounting for nearly 19% of the Spartans’ offense with 222 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 MW in 3-point percentage at 50.6 percent. Baumann also ranks in the top-10 in the MW in 3-pointers per game (2.4)
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 top two scoring performances by a Spartan this season with 29 vs. USU and 23 vs. Northern Arizona. He’s averaging 10.2 points in conference play, which is tied for the team lead and is shooting 48% from 3-point range in conference games.
Baumann has hit at least one 3-point basket in 16 straight games this season. It’s the longest such streak since Devante Wilson hit 17-straight in 2013-14.
Last season as a freshman, Baumann finished the year 40-for-87 (.460) from the 3-point range. Entering Saturday’s game, he is 44-for-87, with 12 regular season games remaining.
Staff Shakeup
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 12.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the MW with 8.4 rebounds per game. He has six double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 15-of-18 games. He also has eight games with double-digit rebounds.
Changes
Prioleau has used seven different lineups throughout the season with no player starting each time out. Senior Oumar Barry had started the first 17 games before an injury kept him out of the lineup at Wyoming. Seven newcomers have made starts, including freshmen Seneca Knight, Zach Chappell, and Trey Smith.
Series History vs. Air Force
Saturday’s game will be the 14th overall meeting between the Spartans and Falcons. SJSU has a pair of three-game win streaks in the series. The Spartans have won three of the last five games, however, Air Force is on a two-game win streak.
Air Force checks in with an 8-11 overall record and 3-4 mark in conference play and is tied for sixth in the conference standings. The Falcons are led by a great offensive weapon in Lavelle Scottie, who ranks fifth in the MW in scoring, in conference play with 17.3 points per game. Junior forward Ryan Swan will prove to be a big test for Michael Steadman for the boards as he checks in right behind Steadman with 8.0 rebounds per game and is second in the conference with 2.7 offensive rebounds per game.
The Falcons are led by seventh-year head coach Dave Pilipovich.
#1 The Stanford Cardinal (9-10) hosted the Utah Utes (10-8) on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal dominated in the first half, but the Utes came back for the win 70-66.
#2 The last time the Utes won at Stanford was in 1971. Before last night’s game, the Utes had lost six straight games. but snapped that loss steak with a big win at Maples.
#3 Sedrick Barefield led the Utes with 18 points, and for Stanford, KZ Okpala led with 22 and Daejon Davis right behind with 17.
#4 The Cardinal’s Bryce Wills is the youngest player in the Pac-12. Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase says Wills is one of the most mature players that he’s coached for being the youngest player in the Pac-12.
#5 The Cardinal’s coaches discovered Wills at Iona Prep College on the New York Rens. He was a teammate of Stanford guard Cormac Ryan.
San Jose State men’s basketball looked to notch their first conference win of the season, but the Wyoming Cowboys sort of gave them a hard time Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau set a starting lineup, featuring Trey Smith, Noah Baumann, Zach Chappell, Michael Steadman, and Ashtin Chastain.
SJSU won the tip and the conference game went underway in Laramie, Wyo. The Spartans were unable to get off to a good start, which might’ve been a good thing considering the fact that they tend to blow leads, but they opened the game 0-6 from the field, which was downright awful. Wyoming led 7-0 at the first media timeout.
SJSU mustered just four points and trailed 13-4 at the second media timeout. But things slowly came into place as Baumann hit a 3-pointer for the 16th straight game for the Spartans, who went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead 20-14 with 6:45 left in the first half. The Spartans proceeded to cut the lead even more with what became a 10-0 run to cut the lead 20-18 with 4:51 left in the half.
The tables turned when Chastain converted his second free throw to tie the game 22-22 with 1:20 left in the half. The Spartans used a 16-4 run in the final 7:44 to tie the game 24-24 at halftime. Isaiah Nichols recorded excellent minutes off the bench with 14 minutes, 7 points, 3 assists, and no turnovers.
The Spartans held onto a 1-point lead, 28-27, but that changed when the Cowboys’ Justin James wanted a dunk in transition, but ended up making a steal and hitting a 3 to take regain the lead, 30-28, at the 17:46 mark of the second half.
The Cowboys went on a 11-0 run for a 35-28 lead at the 11:37 mark of the half. The Cowboys didn’t stop there as they took advantage of the Spartans, who went cold all of a sudden, and made it a 18-2 run for a 42-30 lead with 8:42 left in the half.
The Spartans got just what the doctor ordered, but it was too little, too late. Both Baumann and Ivey sanked a pair of 3s and SJSU chipped their way back into the lead, but continued to trail 47-38 with 4:40 left in the half. The Spartans (3-15, 0-6 MW) eventually took a 59-46 loss for their ninth consecutive loss. The Cowboys (5-14, 1-5 MW) picked up their first conference win of the season.
SJSU returns home to host the Air Force Falcons this Saturday at 6:00 pm PT.
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