Tag: NCAA Basketball

Buzzer Beater Finish For The Spartans As They Lose 85-82 To Fresno State

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Tuesday, January 16th, 2024

The San Jose State Spartans made a valent effort against the Fresno Bulldogs at Save Mart Arena in Fresno on Tue Jan 16, 2024 (photo by the San Jose State Spartans)

By Troy Ewers 

The Fresno State Bulldogs hosted the San Jose State Spartans in a Mountain West Conference game. Three of the four conference games for SJSU have been decided by three points or fewer. They lost at Wyoming on a buzzer beater by the Cowboys’ Akuel Kot, fell by only three to No. 19 San Diego State and won at the buzzer at Air Force.

The Spartans have yet to play a conference game where the winning team won by more than ten points. Boise State came closest when they beat the Spartans by nine. This was a close three point game on Tuesday night in Fresno but the Spartans couldn’t hold on taking a tough 85-82 loss.

The first half of the game looked like Fresno State was going to run away with this early, but not if Tibet Gorener had anything to say about it. Spartans forward Gorener utilized every bit of his 19 minutes of the half. 22 points and 5 rebounds for Gorener led SJSU on a back and forth.

Spartans went 53% from the three point line which not only kept them in the game as halftime approached, but a one point lead at halftime. Fresno State hit 56% from the field, but it couldn’t stop Gorener and the Spartans from grabbing a lead. 40-39 Spartans at half. 

The second half was another close call for San Jose State. The whole half these two teams traded buckets Gorener adding another 10 points to his total, Trey Anderson had 21 points and MJ Amey Jr. came in with a clean 13 points.

The game was another heavyweight bout for the Spartans where no one had a real advantage, but the whole time these two never slacked off. When the final seconds ticked down Amey Jr. got a turnover off an offensive foul and after the Fresno State timeout with four seconds left.

The Bulldogs guard Isaiah Hill who walked out of here with 24 points, 16 coming in the second half, hit a contested three and once again the Spartans had a game decided by three points or fewer. Fresno State wins off a buzzer beater 85-82. 

Spartans can’t shake these late game pressure situations, making it the fourth out of five conference games that were decided by three points or fewer. The highlights for the Spartans, was Tibet Gorener having 32 points, but in SJSU’s case it’s another key player for them balling out, but can’t close it out.

The Spartans have a “long” break before their next game. An Eight day break and then the Spartans are back in San Jose at the Provident Credit Union Event Center against New Mexico on January 24th.

Cardinal hold off Beavers in OT 88-84

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Stanford Cardinal guard Michael Jones is excited after an overtime win over the Oregon State Beavers at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis on Thu Jan 11, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Stanford used big scoring nights from Canaan Carlyle and Brandon Angel, combined with a double-double for Maxime Reynard to earn an 88-84 Pac-12 men’s basketball overtime victory over Oregon State at Corvallis, Ore.

Carlyle led the Cardinal with 22 points and Angel scored 19 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in OT. Raynaud had 18 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.

Tyler Bilodeau’s jump shot gave the Beavers (9-7 overall, 1-4 Pac-12) a 76-75 lead with 3:28 remaining in overtime. Carlyle then made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game, Angel connected on a 3, and Stanford (8-7 overall, 3-2 Pac-12) maintained the lead over the final 2 minutes and 49 seconds.

Carlyle made his 22 points on 5 of 12 field goals with two 3-pointers and hitting 10 of 16 at the line; he also had six rebounds and six assists. Angel connected on 7 of 9 field goals along with two 3s, Michael Jones drained three from behind the arc and finished with 11 points.

Jordan Pope led the Beavers with 21 points on 8 of 14 field goals, including two 3-pointers. Bilodeau finished with 17 points, and Dexter Akanno added 14 points off the bench. KC Ibekwe contributed 11 points and six boards for OSU.

With the win, the Cardinal took a 77-76 lead in the all-time series. Stanford has won three of its last four games.

Stanford returns home to host Utah on Sunday. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.

Buzzer Beater Finish As San Jose State Loses 75-73 To Wyoming

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The San Jose State Spartans tangled with the Wyoming Cowboys on Tue Jan 2, 2024 at Arena Auditorium in Laramie Wyoming (San Jose State Spartans photo)

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

By Troy Ewers

 The San José State Spartans (7-7, 0-0 Mountain West) battled the Wyoming Cowboys (8-6, 0-0 Mountain West). The Spartans have not played since Dec. 20 when they won 81-78 over Santa Clara. In the victory, the Spartans were led by MJ Amey Jr. and Alvaro Cardenas. Amey Jr. registered 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block while Cardenas produced a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. Unlike their win against the Broncos the Spartans were defeated by the Cowboys on Tuesday night by a bucket 75-73.

Game recap: The first half for the Spartans was a high energy and high volume half that ended with them having a hefty lead 47-35. SJSU hit 51% from the field, 50% from the three point line, and 22 rebounds and despite having five turnovers, the Spartans maintained control against Wyoming the whole half.

Cardenas led San Jose State with 12 points, also leading in assists and rebounds by halftime. Wyoming’s biggest flaw was their shooting, only hitting 30% from the field, causing them to try and dig out of a 12 point hole. The Spartans are 5-3 this season when leading at halftime.

San Jose State held the lead the whole half, but the gap was closed by Wyoming as they matched the Spartans on the boards and on the scoreboard. With six minutes left Wyoming tied it up at 66 points a piece.

The remainder of the half was a back and forth where both teams traded baskets and even leads, but the final seconds wound down and Wyoming’s Akuel Kot hit a mid range buzzer beater to win the ballgame for the Cowboys 75-73. 

Now 5-4 when leading at half, but more importantly 7-7 in their overall record, the SJSU Spartans need to string together some wins if they want this season to result in a conference championship or even sniff a chance at it. Being 0-1 after this Wyoming matchup isn’t helpful, but they can bounce back against Boise State back in San Jose at 7:30pm PT on Friday, January 5th.

Buzzer Beater Finish As San Jose State Loses 75-73 To Wyoming

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Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

By Troy Ewers

 The San José State Spartans (7-7, 0-0 Mountain West) battled the Wyoming Cowboys (8-6, 0-0 Mountain West). The Spartans have not played since Dec. 20 when they won 81-78 over Santa Clara. In the victory, the Spartans were led by MJ Amey Jr. and Alvaro Cardenas. Amey Jr. registered 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block while Cardenas produced a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. Unlike their win against the Broncos the Spartans were defeated by the Cowboys on Tuesday night by a bucket 75-73.

Game recap: The first half for the Spartans was a high energy and high volume half that ended with them having a hefty lead 47-35. SJSU hit 51% from the field, 50% from the three point line, and 22 rebounds and despite having five turnovers, the Spartans maintained control against Wyoming the whole half.

Cardenas led San Jose State with 12 points, also leading in assists and rebounds by halftime. Wyoming’s biggest flaw was their shooting, only hitting 30% from the field, causing them to try and dig out of a 12 point hole. The Spartans are 5-3 this season when leading at halftime.

San Jose State held the lead the whole half, but the gap was closed by Wyoming as they matched the Spartans on the boards and on the scoreboard. With six minutes left Wyoming tied it up at 66 points a piece.

The remainder of the half was a back and forth where both teams traded baskets and even leads, but the final seconds wound down and Wyoming’s Akuel Kot hit a mid range buzzer beater to win the ballgame for the Cowboys 75-73. 

Now 5-4 when leading at half, but more importantly 7-7 in their overall record, the SJSU Spartans need to string together some wins if they want this season to result in a conference championship or even sniff a chance at it. Being 0-1 after this Wyoming matchup isn’t helpful, but they can bounce back against Boise State back in San Jose at 7:30pm PT on Friday, January 5th.

Aztecs overwhelm Cardinal 74-60

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Stanford Cardinal forward Max Murrell (10) and San Diego State Aztecs forward Miles Heide (40) grasp for the basketball at Viejas Arena in San Diego on Thu Dec 21, 2023 (photo by USA Today)

By Daniel Dullum

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Stanford hit the road for the final time before the start of conference play on Thursday, dropping a 74-60 non-league decision to San Diego State in front of 12,414 at Viejas Arena.

Lamont Butler led the Aztecs with a game-high 18 points on 7 of 13 field goal shooting, including three 3-pointers. He also had four assists and four steals.

Jaedon LeDee was next for San Diego State with 16 points, and Micah Parrish added 10 points.

Maxime Raynaud paced the Cardinal (5-5) with 15 points while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds, followed by Michael Jones and Brandon Angel with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cardinal connected on only 3 of 20 from 3-point range, and 40.8 percent from the field. Stanford made 17 of 19 free throws.

Stanford led most of the first half and used six points by Raynaud to take an early 10-5 lead. From there the Aztecs took control of the contest, leading 34-32 at halftime

The Aztecs (6-3) used a 15-3 run to open the second half to pull away. Andrej Stockovic scored all six of his points in the second half to help Stanford cut its deficit to 10 on three different occasions. But San Diego State maintained its distance for the remainder of the game.

The Cardinal play their next game on Friday, Dec. 29, for its Pac-12 Conference opener against Arizona State.

San Jose State Ends 2023 With A 81-78 Victory Against Santa Clara; Face Wyoming Jan 2nd

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Alvaro Cardenas (13) San Jose Spartans guard finished second in scoring with 14 against the Wyoming Cowboys at Provident Credit Union Event Arena in San Jose Wed Dec 20, 2023 (San Jose Spartans photo)

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose State Spartans host the Santa Clara Broncos in a matchup between Silicon Valley schools. The Spartans are coming off their first home loss of the season, an 86-75 defeat to Montana Sunday afternoon. 

The first half for San Jose State was them clicking on all cylinders, 55% from the field. Tibet Gorener and Latrell Davis led the Sparatans with 10 points each with MJ Amey Jr. with nine. Meanwhile Santa Clara was led by Carlos Marshall Jr. who had 23 points, but that wasn’t enough to put them up at the half as the Brocos were trailing by three as the half ended with 42-39 SJSU. 

The second half started and the Spartans went right on the offensive. Santa Clara was on their heels all first half, so San Jose State needed to separate themselves from this hungry Broncos team if the Spartans were gonna walk out of the event center with a W.

The whole game it felt like Santa Clara was right there with SJSU, but that’s because they were. Four different players in double digits (Amey Jr, Davis, Gorener, and Cardenas) contributed to SJSU maintaining a lead, but the Broncos were always within a fighting distance.

The last minute they were tied at 76 a piece and after a Santa Clara three. Amey Jr. hit two free throws to take the lead and after a missed three from the Broncos, the Spartans had Adrame Diongue at the free throw line, not being that great from the line, he missed one and made one, putting SJSU up three with  12 seconds left.

Adama Bal scored a layup to put the Broncos within one and had to foul the Spartans again to regain possession, this time Alvaro Cardenas who hit both free throws to make their lead a three point lead. The final chance buzzer beater three for Santa Clara hit rim, but no success and the Spartans won 81-78.

Amey Jr. with 19 points and Cardenas with a double double are just one of the many reasons the Spartans left with the win, but they won this by playing their game both halves. 

Spartans got a feel-good win before the holiday break and got a well deserved break. Their next game will be in 2024, specifically January 2nd 2024 in Wyoming against Wyoming. The San Jose State Spartans look to start their next year with more success than they did, ending 2023 7-6.

San Jose State Lose To Montana 86-75 At Home

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San Jose State Spartans guard Alvaro Cardenas (13) takes a shot against the Montana Grizzlies defense at Provident Credit Union Event Center San Jose on Sun Dec 17, 2023 (San Jose State Spartans photo)

Sunday, December 17th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San José State Spartans host Montana on Saturday afternoon inside the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The Spartans have had tremendous success on their home floor early in the season, playing to an undefeated record of 4-0 in San Jose with wins over UC Irvine, Bethesda, North Dakota State and New Orleans.

A first half that started off with Montana getting up early and hitting 60% from the field, led by Annen Moody with 10 points in eight minutes. The Spartans hulked up and got on a comeback hitting six of seven field goals in that comeback.

SJSU took the lead as the half winded down and held that lead all the way to the buzzer signaling halftime. San Jose State went 7-12 from 3 and 15-31 from the field as a team, but the man in the driver seat for the Spartans in the first half was Tibet Gorener, who had 13 points (5-7 FGs). The score at half was 40-37, Spartans up and in front of their home crowd kept the energy positive and high intensity. 

The second half was the story for SJSU earlier in the season, starting strong and ending low. Montana immediately tied with a three to start the half and never looked back. SJSU kept it close the whole half, even holding a lead, but Montana ended up with a 10 point lead with 2:30 left in the game.

The gap was too big to close for the Spartans as Montana won the game 86-75. Moody was the big dog for Montana scoring 21 points and even though MJ Amey Jr. scored 15 points and four assists, Montana just outplayed SJSU in the second half. 

The Spartans are 1-3 this month and have one more game left in December before they start 2024 with a bang. That last game of the month will be in San Jose against Santa Clara on Wednesday, December 20th and the Spartans are looking to get a W to close the year. 

San Jose State Undefeated At Home After 87-82 Victory Over New Orleans

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The San Jose State Spartans guard Alvaro Cardenas takes the ball up the floor as the Spartans defeated the New Orleans Privateers at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose on Sat Dec 9, 2023 (photo by San Jose State Spartans Athletic Dept)

Saturday, December 9th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

San Jose, CA – The San Jose State Spartans (4-5) host the New Orleans Privateers (6-5) this Saturday afternoon in the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The Spartans have had tremendous success on their home floor early this season, playing to an undefeated record 3-0 in San Jose.

SJSU came off a difficult road trip in which they went 0-3 losses to Cal Poly, Montana, and North Dakota State. Two of the three games on that road trip went to overtime. 

A very competitive back and forth in the first half between both squads. Balanced on defense and scoring, both teams were playing like it was two heavyweight boxers. Jordan Johnson led New Orleans all the way through the half, but SJSU had a more even distribution of the ball.

New Orleans gained some distance on the scoreboard, until MJ Amey Jr. took over and closed the gap with three straight 3-pointers and ended up with 18 points in the first half. New Orleans was up four, 44-40 at halftime. Neither team had a good game from the free throw line, but from the field it was a battle. 

The second half was a way more physical half, but no lack of scoring. Johnson and Jah Short were leading New Orleans while Amey Jr. was the guy for the Spartans (29 points for the game).

DJ Seixas was the difference maker for the Spartans leading the team to gain their first lead since early in the first half. Alvaro Cardenas had a double double that took the Spartans to a late game lead and at the end Spartans won 87-82. 

Next game for the Spartans will be back at home against Montana, December 17th. Spartans continue their undefeated home record, 4-0.

San Jose State Lose Three Straight After 83-78 OT Loss At North Dakota State

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San Jose State Spartans took a tough loss against the North Dakota State Bison in Fargo North Dakota on Mon Dec 4, 2023 (San Jose State University photo)

Monday, December 4th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

The San José State Spartans (5-5) are looking to end a two-game skid as they take on the North Dakota State Bison (5-4). The Spartans are coming off losses to Cal Poly and Montana. For the Spartans’ head coach Tim Miles, Monday’s game will be a return to Fargo where he served as the Bison head coach for six seasons, from 2001-2002 until 2006-2007.  It wasn’t quite the visit that coach Miles was expected as the Spartans dropped their third straight game 83-78.

In the first half it looked like San Jose State couldn’t hit a stride all half, Spartans starting the half shooting 29% from the field, but ended up hitting 41% by the end of the half. North Dakota State hit 57% from the three point line and that’s what kept them ahead.

NDSU’s Jacari White led the Bison with eight points at half and SJSU’s Rickey Mitchell Jr. also led his team with eight points. When the buzzer hit for halftime North Dakota State was up 36-28 and thanks to a 7-0 run in the last minute of the half is what closed the gap to within eight points. 

The second half was a back and forth between both squads and it was also the first time the Spartans held a lead. The back and forth climaxed with the Bison having a two point lead with ten seconds left and the Spartans tying it up at 72 and we went to overtime. 

Overtime started out with a back and forth ball game, but North Dakota ultimately took over at the wheel and separated themselves in the last minute win 83-78. The Spartans have now lost three straight games and head back to San Jose in a slump.

San Jose State’s next game is December 9th against New Orleans and it’s back in the Provident Credit Union Event Center where the Spartans look to shake off this losing streak and get back into their winning ways before the new year. 

San Jose State Spartans Lose In Overtime To Cal Poly Mustangs 81-77

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The San Jose State Spartans forward Tibet Gorener (5) with center Adrame Diongue (4) stays ahead of Cal Poly Mustang center Kobe Sanders (3) in Montana on Wed Nov 29, 2023 (San Jose State Spartans photo)

Wednesday, November 29th, 2023

By Troy Ewers

Looking for their fourth win in a row, the San José men’s basketball team took on the Cal Poly Mustangs. The Spartans won their final two games at the 2023 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, against Norfolk State and Hampton, then returned home and defeated North Dakota State. The contest against Cal Poly was the first of three games on the road as the Spartans will play at Montana on Saturday and North Dakota State on Monday. The Spartans suffered the their first loss of this three game road trip 81-77.

The first half was all in the control of the Spartans with Trey Anderson leading the team in points with 10. 50% from the field and 50% from the three plus only three turnovers, the Spartans were feeling it on offense, but keeping Cal Poly from really catching a stride was a big key to maintaining a lead for SJSU. At the end of the half Spartans hold a lead 38-30. 

The Spartans biggest problem this season is when they lose, it’s usually because they aren’t able to close it out. This seemed to be the case early on in the second half when Cal Poly was able to bring the game within two with 13 minutes left in the game.

Cal Poly eventually took the lead for the first time in the half at 47-46, but it was clear the Spartans had to lock in. Late into the half the Spartans started to run away with the lead and it was because Anderson, Tibet Gorener, and MJ Amey Jr. who all had double digit points, but in the last minute of the game Cal Poly found a way to push it and bring the game within three points.

In the last 13 seconds, Cal Poly made a point game, but a clutch two free throws by Amey Jr. made it a three point game. Cal Poly’s Kobe Sanders made a three to tie and when Alvaro Cardenas missed the game winning three, we went to overtime. 69-69. 

Overtime it went back and forth between the teams, but with 18 seconds Cal Poly had a four point lead and SJSU missed three point opportunities, but settled for a two and were down two with three seconds left in OT. 79-77 Cal Poly and Kobe Sanders was at the free throw line. Sanders made both free throws and went back up by four and that was the end of the game, Cal Poly wins 81-77. 

Unfortunate loss for SJSU on the road to close out November, but they stay on the road for their next game against Montana in Missoula, Montana on December 2nd and hope to start the month back in stride before they begin conference play games.