Tag: NCAA Basketball

San Jose State concludes homestand against Utah State Wednesday

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball will host the Utah State Aggies at the Event Center Wednesday night. The Spartans are looking for their first win in conference play this season. The game will be streamed online on the Mountain West Network and can be heard on KLIV 1590 AM. Justin Allegri will have the Spartans’ call.

Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s game.

Game No. 16
Utah State (12-5, 2-2) at San Jose State (3-12, 0-3)
Wednesday, January 16, 7:00 pm PT
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 is looking to win back-to-back games against USU for the first time since 1996. That season, SJSU won both games by a combined four points as they edged USU 68-65 at home on February 8 and again in the Big West Tournament Championship game 76-75 in overtime to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

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 fourth in the Mountain West with 8.9 rebounds per game. On the national scale, he ranks 49th in the country in rebounds per game and 43rd in defensive rebounds per game. He has six double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and 40th nationally and has scored in double figures in 13-of-15 games. He also has eight games with double-digit rebounds.

Staff Shakeup
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff 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.

Winning the Boards
Wednesday’s matchup with USU features a pair of very good rebounding teams. USU leads the MW in rebounding margin at +10.8 while SJSU is just behind in third at +3.3. SJSU has the upper hand in offensive rebounds with an average of 11.3 per game, which is second in the conference, however, USU leads the MW in defensive rebounds at 30.8 per game. SJSU averages 25.5, tied for sixth.

Oh my, Oumar!
Senior center Oumar Barry is playing his best basketball as a Spartan as of late. Against Bethune-Cookman, he finished with a then-career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. He followed that up with his most dominating performance at SJSU as he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his first-career game with double-digit rebounds. Barry also blocked two shots and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line to help the Spartans to the victory.

Barry followed up with another double-double against Stanford (15 points, 10 rebounds). After playing 38 career games without recording a double-double, he recorded two in as many games.

Barry then scored a career-high 18 points before fouling out with 4:36 to play at Cal and led the team with 11 points at Saint Mary’s.

Barry is coming off his seventh game this season in double-figure scoring after dropping 16 points in the loss to Boise State.

Up-and-Coming Baumann
Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season. So good in fact that his 52.3 percent clip leads the MW. He is also averaging 2.3 3’s per game, which ranks in the top-10 in the MW. He has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 13-straight games.

Series History With Utah State
USU holds the series lead at 60-22, however, it is SJSU who has the latest win. 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, under 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 MW in FG% defense, FT%, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists and defensive rebounds.

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris and Michael: Cal Bears has now lost 11 straight conference games and are 0-4 in the Pac-12 this season

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Photo credit: @CalMBBall

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris and Michael:

The Cal Bears have not had a winning Pac-12 conference game this season. Now at 0-4 and the attendance at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley has been low with all the screaming Arizona Wildcats fans in attendance last Saturday. Also how Cal played on the hardwood in their 87-65 loss.

The one good thing is Cal plays Washington State next at Pullman on Tuesday night. Pullman is a tough place to get to and a tough place to get a win. Even when WSU is not playing well, they defend their home floor pretty well. This is not going to be a cake walk for Cal.

Morris and Michael do the Cal Bears podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal’s struggle on offense equates to another Pac-12 loss to Arizona

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photo by: azcentral.com

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 The Cal Bears (5-11) were no match for the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday night, getting whipped 87-65 at Haas Pavilion

#2 Arizona went eight minutes without a field goal, but Cal was still behind 14-10.

#3 The Bears just couldn’t get anything going shooting 34.5. Bears head coach Wyking Jones didn’t say much in the postgame presser about the offense

#4 Jones was focused on the defense trying to patch holes in the leaky boat as the Wildcats had an offensive free for all.

#5 Winless in the Pac-12 conference at 0-3, the Bears take on Washington State University on Thursday at 7 pm.

Morris does the Cal basketball podcast each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NCAAB podcast with Michelle Richardson: Three players tie for leading scorer with 17 as Louisville defeats NC; Oklahoma and TCU play it right to the end; NM wins shocker, smokes Wolf Pack in MW thriller

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Photo credit: @LouisvilleMBB

On the NCAAB podcast with Michelle:

#1 Louisville (11-5) got a big win past North Carolina (12-4) in an 11-point win 83-62 for the Cardinals three shooters tied for the top spot at 17 points: Dayne Sutton, Jordan Nwora, and Steven Enoch.

#2 Oklahoma Sooners (13-3) got a close win past the TCU Horned Frogs (12-3). Two great teams and the Sooners got a two-point win 77-75 Kristian Doolittle was the leading scorer for the Sooners with 24 points.

#3 The New Mexico Lobos (8-6) have won three of their last four, including a win over the Nevada Wolf Pack (15-1) Saturday 85-58. The Lobos lost to UNLV on Tuesday, but it was the win last week over an undefeated Wolfpack team that had everyone talking, including Lobos head coach Paul Weir.

Catch Michelle each Sunday for the NCAAB podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford turns it around for an 85-71 win over ASU

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Joey Friedman

PALO ALTO — Coming off three straight losses to open conference play, Stanford (8-8) welcomed the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-5) to Maples on Saturday afternoon and won by a final score of 85-71. Stanford has won seven of their last eight home games against the Sun Devils.

The Sun Devils, who are currently unranked, have had a turbulent season with highs like upsets of #1 Kansas and #15 Mississippi State and lows like losses to Princeton and Utah. Nonetheless, prior to the game, ASU led the Pac-12 in scoring offense and rebounding margin.

Stanford jumped out to a quick start and was able to go on a 10-0 run capped by an Oscar Da Silva dunk to put the score at 12-4. That dunk five minutes into the game also gave Da Silva 9 points in just minutes.

Arizona State was able to crawl back, however, and on the back of freshman Luguentz Dort’s three consecutive three-pointers, ASU took a 16-14 lead with about 12 minutes left in the first half.

The two teams remained neck-and-neck for the rest of the half before Stanford took a two-point lead to the break with the score 40-38.

Stanford offense flowed well in the first half as they only turned the ball over three times, definitely an improvement from past performances. On defense, Stanford rolled and forced a number of shot clock violations which prevented ASU for gathering momentum. For the Cardinal, Oscar Da Silva finished the half with 14 points and seven rebounds while KZ Okpala and Daejon Davis each collected 10 points. For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort had with 15 points and shot 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Stanford opened the second half on a 12-0 run fueled by a Cormac Ryan three-pointer and an Oscar da Silva slam dunk. ASU scored their first points of the half on a jumper from senior Zylan Cheatham at the 14:33 mark which brought the score to 52-40 in favor of the Cardinal.

Freshman Cormac Ryan, who had 4 points, exited the game with a left ankle injury 5 minutes into the second half. He would return to the bench in the final minutes of the game, but he wouldn’t receive any further playing time. Jerod Hasse said he and his staff are highly concerned after repeated injuries to both of Ryan’s ankles in recent games.

The Stanford lead shrunk to as few as 5 points with 10 minutes left in the game but Daejon Davis quickly got the crowd back into it and shifted the momentum back in Stanford’s favor when, after he was doubled-teamed and got the back stolen away, he sprinted down the court and blocked an open ASU layup in transition.

With that momentum Stanford caught fire and pulled away once again and, with help for 8 straight points from KZ Okpala which included a pair of threes, the Cardinal stretched their lead to a deciding 19 points with just over 4 minutes left in the game and the score 76-57. Stanford would go on to win with the final score 85-71.

The Cardinal finished with a 53% field goal percentage and 39% three-point percentage while Arizona State finished by shooting 41% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc. Stanford forced 19 turnovers from the Sun Devils and turned those into 26 points— a deciding margin. The Cardinal’s 18 total assists and 3 first-half turnovers were noted by head coach Jerod Hasse as evidence of better offensive play which also received high praise from Da Silva and Okpala after the game. They credited a new mentality, which was caused by having their backs against the wall after starting conference play winless, for making the difference in tonight affair. Jerod Hasse called the ASU victory the best win for the Card of the season considering the energy and the execution of the game plan.

Oscar Da Silva finished a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. KZ Okpala also had 21 points and collected 9 boards. Daejon Davis collected 13 points and 9 assists.

For the Sun Devils, Luguentz Dort, who was held to a single point in the second half, had a team-high 16 points before fouling out. He sat for much of the second half after collecting four fouls early. Sophomore guard Rob Edwards had 13 points while Zylan Cheatham finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kimani Lawrence collected 10 points and 6 rebounds.

What’s Next?
Stanford will take on the Washington schools on the road and will look to even their Pac-12 record on against UW on January 17 and WSU on January 19.

Arizona State will host the Oregon schools at home first with OSU on January 17 and then UO on January 19.

San Jose State drops third straight conference game in 87-64 loss to Boise State

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball was looking to rebound following five straight losses. SJSU returned home to host the Boise State Broncos inside the Event Center Saturday afternoon.

 

Prior to the midday tip-off, Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced his starting lineup of Michael Steadman, Brae Ivey, Oumar Barry, Noah Baumann and Craig LeCesne.

The Spartans won the tip and the game went underway on the SJSU campus. The Broncos got on the board first, thanks to Alex Hobbs’ 3-pointer, but Steadman hit a jumper in the paint to make it a 1-point game at the 18:53 mark of the opening half.

The half turned out to be a back-and-forth affair. Pretty much every time BSU expanded its lead, SJSU countered with a shot or two to pull within for a reduced deficit. Midway through the half, however, big game Baumann showed up, knocking down a jumper and hitting a 3 on a fastbreak to help the Spartans reduce its deficit to just six, 21-15, at the 10:52 mark.

 

 

 

Though, SJSU was just getting started. With 7:26 left in the half, SJSU made four of their last five shots from the field and shot for a 2-pointer after a media timeout. That attempt for a 2 was successful as the Spartans’ ascending play was finished off by Ivey, who helped his team pick up an extra two points. After that, SJSU proceeded to pour in the points for a 7-0 run to make it a 2-point game. BSU ended SJSU’s impressive run when Hobbs knocked down a jumper to extend his team’s lead to 28-24 with 4:48 left in the half.

Despite the deficit, SJSU received some much-needed assistance from Barry, who shot a layup and a lone free throw to make it a 1-point game. BSU responded with a 3 by Pat Dembley, but a brand-new response turned out to be easy as 1-2-3 as Ivey was fouled from beyond the arc and somehow made all three shots at the free throw line to make it a 1-point game again.

As the clock winded down, Hobbs hit two consecutive 3s, while Ivey made a pair of free throws. But the late efforts weren’t enough for SJSU, who trailed Boise State 37-34 at the half. The Spartans sulked on their way to the locker room, but remembered that a second half comeback was possible as they trailed by only three points.

The Spartans’ shooting went cold for quite a while in the second half. Meanwhile, the Broncos heated up at the right time, which wasn’t good news for the Spartans, who had hoped to mount a comeback to pull off the upset. Hobbs, Zach Haney and Justinian Jessup all recorded double-digit points in the half.

If there was a silver lining for the Spartans, it was the freshman guard Kaison Hammonds, who wowed the home crowd with a 3 to put three points on the board to reduce the deficit to 17, 58-41, at the 13:47 mark of the half.

Sure, SJSU’s chances of tying the score to force overtime were dim, but Zach Chappell gave the crowd something to cheer about as he had a steal and a 2 for the layup on a fastbreak. Yet, SJSU trailed 73-51 with 6:54 left in the half.

 

 

Chappell continued to work wonders as he made a pair of free throws on a fastbreak with 2:58 left in the half. Yet, SJSU trailed 83-55 at the final media timeout of the game, so the last few minutes were pointless on the Spartans’ end of the court. SJSU lost to BSU 87-64.

SJSU’s record fell to 3-12, 0-3 MW, while BSU’s record increased to 8-8, 3-0 MW.

SJSU welcomes the Utah State Aggies on Wednesday, January 16 at 7:00 pm PT.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: With Arizona’s developed offense, Stanford got outpaced

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 The Arizona Wildcats (12-4) have really stepped up their offensive game and it helped in their 75-70 win against the Stanford Cardinal (7-8) on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.

#2 KZ Okpala topped Stanford scorers with 29 points and Deajon Davis had 15 points.

#3 Brandon Randolph had 17 points, topping five Wildcat scorers on Wed in double figures.

#4 The Cardinal are struggling with the Pac-12 at 0-3. In early conference play, it can get late early.

#5 Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said the team is going to improve and get better.

Joey does the Stanford podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

San Jose State back home to host Boise State Saturday afternoon

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball is set to host Boise State for a Mountain West clash on Saturday afternoon. Justin Allegri will have the Spartans call for KLIV 1590 AM and fans can watch the game on the Mountain West Network.

Game No. 15
Boise State (7-8, 2-0) at San José State (3-11, 0-2)
Saturday, January 12, 12:00 pm PT
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?
The Spartans are looking for their fourth win on the season and their first in conference play since February 28, 2018 against Utah State. SJSU will also look to win their fourth game of the series with Boise State.

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 13.4 points per game and ranks second in the Mountain West with 9.4 rebounds per game. On the national scale, the big man ranks 30th in the country in rebounds per game and 26th in defensive rebounds per game. He has six double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and 23rd nationally and has scored in double figures in 12-of-13 games, including 11 straight. He also has eight games with double-digit rebounds.

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.

Oh My, Oumar! 
Senior center Oumar Barry is playing his best basketball as a Spartan as of late. Against Bethune-Cookman, he finished with a then-career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. He followed that up with his most dominating performance at SJSU as he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his first-career game with double digit rebounds. He also blocked two shots and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line to help the Spartans to a victory.

Barry followed up with another double-double against Stanford (15 points, 10 rebounds). After playing 38 career games without recording a double-double, he now has two in the last four games.

Barry has then scored a career-high 18 points before fouling out with 4:36 to play at Cal and led the team with 11 points at Saint Mary’s. In his last five games, he is averaging 11.4 points per game.

The Baumann Factor
Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season. So good in fact that his 52.4% clip ranks second in the MW. He is also averaging 2.4 3’s per game, which ranks in the top 10 in the MW. He has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 12-straight games.

Series History with Boise State
Boise State holds a 31-3 lead in the all-time series. The Spartans’ three wins all came at home: February 2, 2002 (62-51), January 14, 2010 (76-74) and March 5, 2016 (68-63).

Boise State currently leads the MW with a 2-0 record in league play and are 7-8 overall. The Broncos began conference play with wins at Wyoming (69-55) and vs. San Diego State (88-64). Three players are averaging more than 10 points per game led by RJ Williams (13.3). The Broncos are led by head coach Leon Rice, who’s in his ninth season.

San Jose State podcast with Ana Kieu: Men’s basketball struggles in conference slate; Football offseason going swimmingly well

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB and sjsuspartans.com

On the San Jose State podcast with Ana:

1. SJSU faced a tough task at No. 10 Nevada Wednesday night.

2. SJSU defensive linemen Bryson Bridges and Boogie Roberts will play for the National team in the Spiral Tropical Bowl All-Star Game.

3. Former SJSU offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.

4.  SJSU congratulated Clemson on their second national championship title in three years. Clemson practiced at CEFCU Stadium in preparation for the College Football Playoff.

Ana Kieu does the San Jose State podcast each week for SportsRadioService.com

Forks Down, Forks Up: ASU starts slow, but finishes fast in 80-66 road win over Cal

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By Morris Phillips

The ASU Sun Devils came to Berkeley Wednesday night trying to forge an upward trajectory, something they could hardly claim two weeks ago when they beat Kansas, then lost to Princeton in an inexplicable eight-day span.

But 14 minutes in, the Bears’ active 2-3 zone was causing Arizona State problems, and they trailed Cal by 14. Yeah, the Bears have struggled, but double-digit leads can help a young ballclub gain wisdom in a hurry.

So how did ASU coach Bobby Hurley respond?

He turned to sophomore guard Remy Martin in hopes of giving his squad a boost. Martin fashioned his contribution in a mere, eight seconds.

The ASU sparkplug–a reserve who routinely plays starter’s minutes–sliced Cal’s lead to 11 with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Martin would go on to score or assist on every ASU basket in the six minutes leading to the half.

That run got Arizona State within 35-33 at the break. Then the Sun Devils took over in the second half, and they handled the Bears, 80-66, the 10th consecutive loss for the hosts in Pac-12 conference play.

To the Bears’ and coach Wyking Jones’ credit, their strategic wrinkle–playing a packed-in zone to limit penetration and put the onus on ASU’s shooters–worked. ASU opened the game by missing 11 of their first 12 shots. They just couldn’t sustain it once Martin started cooking.

“What changed was Remy Martin started hitting shots,” Jones admitted. “We can’t keep the zone as tight, and now we have to go out there and guard him. We have to guard the guy at the top of the key, and it opens up the high post, and then they started hurting us.”

Martin’s career-best scoring effort had symmetry: 12 points, 4 assists in the Sun Devils’ big run leading up to halftime, and another 12 during the period that ASU extended their 47-44 lead to 77-65 with 2:16 remaining.

As a freshman last season on an ASU team that was senior-dominated, Martin showed out at Haas Pavilion with 13 points, three assists in 18 minutes off the bench in the Sun Devils 81-73 win. This season, Martin still comes off the bench despite being more experienced than his teammates who start. But the speedy playmaker hasn’t complained. Instead he’s embraced the role and perfected it.

With ASU in the midst their first half run, Martin whipped a pass to a cutting Zylan Cheatham for a dunk, a pass thrown with so much force, the point guard came out of his shoe. The video replay shows the unaffected Martin putting his shoe back on at the moment Cheatham finishes the play at the rim.

“I’m here to help the team win whether I’m starting or coming off the bench,” Martin said. “I’m the same guy and I’ll do whatever is best for the team.”

What was best, was also fast and decisive, as the Bears found out Wednesday.  In a rare, statistical seismic shift, the shooting percentages for both teams changed dramatically after halftime. Cal shot 43.3 percent in the first half, 31.8 percent in the second, while ASU skewed more dramatically.  The Sun Devils were 39.4 percent before the break, and 57.7 percent after, and get this.. they went the final eight minutes of the game without being discredited with a missed shot. All that pace and execution to end it, after all the missed shots in the initial minutes of the game.

Matt Bradley was inserted into the starting lineup for second straight game, and scored in double figures for the third straight game. The freshman guard led Cal with 19 points, Darius McNeill added 16. Bradley also summed up the tale of two halves.

“The second half, they started knocking down shots. Once they spread us out, they got the bigs going down low. They played a lot harder and a lot more aggressively,” Bradley said.

The Bears host the Arizona Wildcats Saturday at 7:30 pm.