Tag: NCAA Basketball

Five new players to join San Jose State men’s basketball team for 2018-19 season

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By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Five promising prospects are joining the San Jose State men’s basketball program beginning in the 2018 fall semester.

Those prospects include guard Zach Chappell, the 2018 Golden Empire League Most Valuable Player for Capital Christian High in Sacramento; guard Brae Ivey, a two-time first-team Orange Empire Conference choice for Riverside City College; forward Craig LeCesne, a San Bernardino Valley College transfer, who played as a freshman at Pepperdine University; forward Michael Steadman from City College of San Francisco; and center Samuel Japhet-Mathias, a transfer from Wake Forest University, according to Spartan head coach Jean Prioleau.

“All of these guys fit what we are looking for in terms of offense and defense. They are skilled, versatile and athletic players,” said Prioleau, who also is proud of the combination of in-state and geographic diversity of the Spartan newbies.

“We recruited most of these guys all year. We’re going to build this program on the guys believing in what we’re doing and the message we’ve been talking to them about.”

Chapell was a two-time Sacramento Bee All-Metro selection who earned first-team honors as a senior and second-team recognition as a junior. He averaged 20.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He also had shooting averages of 55.2 percent from the field, 46.8 percent from three-point range and 88.8 percent from the free throw line as a senior. His teams were the 2017 and 2018 Golden Empire League champions, respectively.

Ivey averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season at Riverside City College. At Edison High School of Huntington Beach, Calif., he was a two-time first-team All-C.I.F. Southern Section Division I-A honoree and led the Chargers to 48 wins as a junior and a senior.

Japhet-Mathias played his first two seasons of college basketball for Wake Forest. He appeared in 23 games. As a high school prospect in London, England, he was ranked #90 overall by 247Sports. Japhet-Mathias will be eligible to see his first action as a Spartan in the 2019-20 season.

LeCesne (pronunciation: Le-sain) was a sophomore last season at San Bernardino Valley College, the 2018 Pacific Coast North Conference champion with a 27-5 overall record. He was third on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game and second in rebounding at 5.8 per contest. At Pepperdine, LeCesne averaged 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in the 26 games he played during the 2017 season. The Swedish native played his high school basketball at St. James School in Hagerstown, Md. He played for his native country in the 2013 U-16 European Championships.

Steadman was the starting center for the City College of San Francisco team that won the 2018 California Community College state championship. He averaged 8.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game. Steadman played high school basketball at  James Logan High School in Union City, Calif.

Opinion: After Ryan Welage leaves, San Jose State men’s basketball isn’t going to be the same

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Photo credit: @KyleNeddenriep 

By: Ana Kieu

After an extended recruitment process, San Jose State forward Ryan Welage tweeted an unexpected announcement Wednesday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/ryanwelage32/status/984220786905907200

Three years out West was apparently enough for Welage, who will be heading back to the Midwest and being much closer to his hometown of Greensburg, Indiana. Xavier University is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their men’s basketball team, the Musketeers, were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Oh yeah, and they’re a rival of the Butler Bulldogs of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The former Greensburg High School star didn’t necessarily have to transfer to another school, but it’s a decision he made and I respect it. I’ll never forget the first time I watched Welage shoot hoops at San Jose State. I wasn’t a sports journalist as I was still enrolled at SJSU as a senior in 2015-16, but I attended a Spartans basketball game and enjoyed watching him dominate on the court. He finished that season in third place with 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in 31 games played and 26 starts. He was fun to watch.

Welage went on to continue his dominant ways in 2016-17. He averaged 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 30 games played and 27 starts. He scored a career-high 22 points in SJSU’s win over Southern Utah on December 21, 2016.

Things continued going in Welage’s favor in 2017-18 as he was named an All-Mountain West honorable mention and became the sixth-leading scorer of all-time in SJSU history with 1,258 points. He also became the Spartans’ all-time leader in three-pointers with 155 made threes after he hit a three against Utah State on February 28, 2018. In addition, he led the Spartans in scoring a whopping 19 times.

Welage was not only a tremendous offensive player for a new era of college basketball, he was also an intelligent young man who was named an Academic All-Mountain West honoree twice and a CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII honoree once in 2018. Not only that, he was a friendly, low-key guy who was normal and healthy as he didn’t let the extra attention get to his head.

After Welage leaves, the SJSU hoops program isn’t going to be the same. Sure, there will likely be another star who will help out the Spartans, but this team is trying to find its identity and that might take some time. Let’s not forget that head coach Jean Prioleau will enter his second year at SJSU this fall, so he still has a lot of things to figure out as his team is currently taking a turn for the worse.

The Spartans need more than just a new star who will light up the team. They need to revamp their defense and offense. They also need to be more consistent, especially against teams who are below them and/or on a longer losing skid.

But in the meantime, I wish Welage the best of luck with his new team.

NCAA Championship podcast with Michelle Richardson: Anyway you cut it, Loyola Chicago were March’s darlings of the sports world; NCAA Championship tips off

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On the NCAA Championship podcast with Michelle:

#1 How shocked was Michelle when Loyola Chicago was eliminated on Saturday 69-57  and what do you say to those who said that Loyola Chicago were playing over their heads?

#2 Loyola Chicago were the NCAA media darlings, and to get this far, the farthest they’ve come since 1963.

#3 It’s Michigan (33-7) and Villanova (35-4) for the NCAA Championship. Who do you like in this one?

Michelle’s Final Thoughts

Michelle Richardson covered the NCAA for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

NCAA March Madness Podcast with Michelle Richardson: Ingram’s 3-point buzzer beater keeps Cinderella Loyola Chicago alive; Michigan’s Poole hits a 3-point buzzer-beater for 64-63 win; Coach K passes Summitt for all-time wins

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On the NCAA March Madness Podcast with Michelle:

#1 It’s getting exciting about this time of the season as March Madness as Loyola Chicago’s Donte Ingram shot a three-point buzzer beater that got the win past Tennessee 63-62 as the Cinderella story continues.

# 2   Another buzzer beater a three-pointer from Michigan’s Jordan Poole to defeat Houston 64-63.

#3 Duke head coach Mike Kryzewski picked up his milestone 1,099th win, passing Pat Summitt for the wins in Division One history.

Michelle’s Final Thoughts

Join Michelle Richardson for the NCAA March Madness Podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NCAA March Madness/Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Matt Harrington: After narrowly getting by BYU, Cardinal have work cut out for them at Oklahoma State

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On the NCAA March Madness/Stanford Cardinal podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 Stanford (19-15) got by the BYU Cougars 86-83 in close fashion last Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion to take the first step towards the Big Dance.

#2 Reid Travis led Stanford with 25 and 14 rebounds. Travis has been solid all season.

#3 The Cougars had defeated St Mary’s before losing to Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament, but it shows beating St. Mary’s, how potent BYU was and Stanford battled to edge them out.

#4 The Cougars got within two points with nine seconds left in the contest as the Cardinal were leading 85-83 towards the end. BYU made two last shots from the field, but could tie the ball game.

#5 It’s off to Oklahoma State (20-14) Monday night as the Cardinal try to advance it’s a 4:00 pm PDT start

Matt Harrington does podcast commentary on Stanford basketball during March Madness at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Opinion: San Jose State Is Taking a Turn for the Worse

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By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State Spartans’ football and men’s basketball teams have something in common: They both represent San Jose State in NCAA Division I in FBS college football and college basketball, respectively, as a member of the Mountain West Conference. They’re also far from winners. Well, at least not recently.

I’m well aware that 132 Spartan football players have marched on to play in the NFL, but I haven’t seen the Spartans compete in a bowl game since my senior year at SJSU in 2015 when they faced–and defeated–Georgia State by a score of 27-16 under head coach Ron Caragher. Before that, Kent Baer served as an interim head coach in 2012, Mike McIntyre served as a head coach from 2010 to 2012, and let’s not forget the legendary Dick Tomey, who served as a head coach from 2005 to 2009.

In 2017, the Spartans hired Brent Brennan as the new head coach for the team. Brennan previously worked at SJSU as an assistant coach alongside Tomey from 2005 to 2010. Brennan originally lettered in college football at UCLA as a wide receiver from 1993 to 1994 and also graduated from the university in 1996.

The Spartan football team, however, didn’t fare well under first-year head coach Brennan. Sure, the majority of first-year head coaches experience struggles adjusting to a larger platform, but the Spartans mustered just a record of 2-11, 1-7 Mountain West in 2017-18.

The Spartan football team is having quite the offseason as they made plenty of additions and promotions among their roster as well as coaching staff. They also confirmed their 2018 football schedule. In addition, SJSU alumnus, business leaders and philanthropists, Larry and Deidre Solari, gave a $5 million gift to SJSU Athletics–the largest gift ever to the program–to support SJSU football personnel and facilities. That was an extremely generous gift, and I hope Brennan and his team will put the money to good use.

Let’s switch to Spartans’ men’s basketball, who are on a similar boat–minus the $5 million gift. In 2017, the Spartans hired Jean Prioleau as the new head coach for the team. Like Brennan, Prioleau entered SJSU as a first-year head coach. Prioleau previously worked as an assistant coach at the University of Colorado from 2010 to 2017. Prioleau played college basketball at Fordham University as a point guard from 1988 to 1989 and 1991 to 1992 and also graduated from the university in 1992.

The Spartans have appeared in five postseason tournaments, but have yet to win a playoff game. They’ve appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times in 1951, 1980 and 1996, the NIT one time in 1981 and the CBI one time in 2011. Of course, the only appearance I’ve watched and remembered was the CBI in 2011. I was a high school senior who was getting ready for college at–you guessed it–at SJSU.

Moreover, the Spartans had six basketball stars who went on to play in the NBA. Their names are Coby Dietrick, Darnell Hillman, Wally Rank, Chris McNealy, Ricky Berry and Tariq Abdul-Wahad.

As of right now, the Spartans had a season to forget as they went 4-26, 1-16 MW in 2017-18. Despite their best efforts in this year’s Mountain West Tournament, they were handed their third consecutive first-round exit. This time, they fell to the Wyoming Cowboys 74-61 on March 7 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Ryan Welage and Jaycee Hillsman combined to score 49 of the Spartans’ 61 points in the game.

Speaking of star players, it has been reported by various sources that four Spartan starters–Welage, Hillsman, Keith Fisher III and Walter Graves III–are going to leave the program in the near future. These four aren’t just random players either. They’re some of San Jose’s finest. This isn’t the NBA where a lot of top-notch players leave their hapless teams just to win a championship or two.

As if that wasn’t enough, Noah Baumann recently posted a vague tweet about how he felt at the moment.

We don’t have a definite answer in regards to Baumann’s tweet yet, but he might’ve been hinting that he’ll also leave SJSU. We’ll see what happens. But enough damage has been done and the Spartans can’t afford to suffer anymore.

At the end of the day, the Spartan faithful deserve better.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Ryan Welage was selected to the NBAC All-District 17 Second Team on March 13.

Press release below:
Ryan Welage was fourth in the Mountain West in 2017-18 at 18.1 points per game.

March 13, 2018

NABC All-District Teams

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the Division I All-District teams and has selected San José State’s Ryan Welage to the All-District 17 Second Team. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC in NCAA Division I, these student-athletes represent the finest basketball players across America.

Welage was given All-Mountain West honorable mention after scoring 18.1 points per game during the regular season. He had 14 games of 20-plus points and had a pair of 30-point games. He was the league’s most accurate free throw shooter at 87.7 percent.

The Greensburg, Ind., native also achieved two major career milestones in 2017-18 including becoming the program’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers with 161 and climbing up to sixth on the all-time career scoring list with 1,258 points.

NABC DIVISION I All-District 17

First Team

Chandler Hutchison, Boise State
Caleb Martin, Nevada
Justin James, Wyoming
Deshon Taylor, Fresno State
Jordan Caroline, Nevada

Second Team

Hayden Dalton, Wyoming
Brandon McCoy, UNLV
Shakur Juiston, UNLV
Koby McEwen, Utah State
Ryan Welage, San José State

Stanford Cardinal scratch BYU Cougars 86-83 in first round of NIT

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO — The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team (11-7 Pac-12, 18-15 overall) qualified for the National Invitation Tournament and kicked off Game 1 against the BYU Cougars (11-7 WCC, 24-10 overall) on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

Following the opening tip-off, Cougars’ Jahshire Hardnett acquired the ball. The Cardinal played solid defense and managed to make their way to the other end of the court, though Dorian Pickens missed a three-pointer for the Cardinal. Cougars’ Elijah Bryant then dunked a minute into the period. Cardinal’s Reid Travis was given two free throw opportunities after Luke Worthington was fouled, both of which he missed. TJ Haws came back with a jumper for the Cougars, making the score 4-0 just over two minutes in. Haws was then fouled, allowing Pickens two free throws. He made only one. Travis then added a layup, as did Daejon Davis, and the Cardinal claimed a lead. Michael Humphrey then made a three-pointer to double the Cardinal’s lead. Dorian Pickens also got a three, sustaining the lead. A dunk from Pickens followed solid defensive plays (and a pass) by Travis and Humphrey. With a dunk. Payton Dastrup helped the Cougars catch up and the score was 13-12 with three and a half minutes remaining in the first 10. Bryant got a three for BYU, as did Travis for Stanford, keeping their lead. Bryant then got another three, giving the Cougars a two-point lead (18-16) over the Cardinal. Dastrup attempted a buzzer-beating three, but missed.

The next 10 minutes of the first half opened with a foul on Cougars’ Zac Seljaas and a layup from Dastrup. Josh Sharma attempted a three for Stanford, rebounded by Haws, then passed to Yoeli Childs, who got a layup for the Cougars to make the score 22-16, BYU. Pickens got a three for the Cardinal, then Hardnett got a layup for the Cougars to maintain their lead. Humphrey made a dunk shot, then Pickens made another three just before the shot clock timed out. The Cardinal were then down by only one point (24-23). Humphrey missed a jumper and was then fouled, giving the Cougars the ball, though they missed all attempted shots. Oscar da Silva got a layup for the Cardinal, as did Childs for the Cougars, who sustained their lead by a point with just over four minutes remaining. A dunk from Humphrey reissued the Cardinal a one-point lead, which would shuffle over the course of nearly 30 seconds. Hardnett got a layup with 3:22 left, and Travis made two free throws to give the Cardinal another one-point lead advantage, then turned over to the Cougars after a layup and free throw from Seljaas. The Cougars then had a seven-point advantage with 1:53 left after a jumper by Bryant and a three from Rylan Bergesen. The lead then went up to nine briefly after Bergesen made two free throws.

At halftime, the score was 39-35 BYU. Pickens exceeded the Cardinal with 11 points in the first half, Bryant for the Cougars with 14 points.

Humphrey and Travis opened the third quarter with a layup and a jumper, respectively, to tie the score 39-39. KZ Okpala then handed the lead to the Cardinal again with a jumper, followed by a free throw from Humphrey. Childs added a layup as did Travis, and then Hardnett. The Cougars were determined to reclaim their point lead, and the Cardinal were determined to keep theirs as the one-point lead remained active. Travis got a layup, followed by Haws, to keep the one point difference. Da Silva dunked to bring the Cardinal’s lead to three. A foul on Pickens issued Bergersen two free throw opportunities, both of which he made. Dastrup fouled Travis, who made both free throws and brought the Cardinal’s lead to three. Haws missed a critical three which would have tied the score, and then Okpala got a jumper to give the Cardinal a five-point lead, cut back to three by Bryant, then increased to five again when Travis got a jumper. The Cougars carried the ball swiftly to their side of the court, where Dastrup got a three. Davis then got a layup and the score was 56-52 BYU with 2:11 remaining in the quarter. Another layup from Travis brought the Cardinal to a six-point advantage, which they maintained as Seljaas missed a three and Worthington a layup. Oscar da Silva made a three with seven seconds left, leaving the Cardinal on the brink of a double-digit lead over the Cougars.

The final quarter commenced with layups from Childs and Bryant for the Cougars and Okpala for the Cardinal. Pickens made a three just under two minutes in, and a jumper and a dunk from Travis finally brought the Cardinal’s lead to the double digits (69-58) with seven minutes remaining. This was the first point in the game where either team had exceeded the other by more than 10 points. Humphrey then added a point when he made one free throw, and Pickens added two more with two free throws. Worthington got a layup to bring the Cardinal’s lead to 10 even, and then was brought back to single digits after one layup from Haws and two from Hardnett. The Cougars then only trailed the Cardinal by four points.

Over the course of the final two and a half minutes, a free throw from Pickens, a three pointer from Davis, a layup from Dastrup, two free throws from Davis, a layup from Haws, another two free throws from Davis, a free throw from Worthington, a dunk from Okpala, a jumper from Bryant, a free throw from da Silva, a layup and a free throw from Bryant, a free throw from Pickens, a layup and a three pointer from Hardnett, and a free throw from Davis, the Cardinal took home an 86-83 win over the Cougars.

At the end of the game, Travis exceeded the Cardinal with 25 points, and Bryant led the Cougars with 28 points.

The Stanford Cardinal will face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on March 19.

San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu: SJSU caves in to yet another first round exit in MW Tournament; SDSU wins conference title; plus SJSU football updates

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On the San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu:

1. San Jose State caved in to yet another first round exit, a 74-61 loss to Wyoming, in the first round of Mountain West Tournament last Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

2. Ryan Welage led all scorers with 25 points and Jaycee Hillsman came a close second with 24 points. Hillsman also got a new career-high of 22 points. What went wrong for the Spartans?

3. San Diego State beat Fresno State in the quarterfinals, upset Nevada in the semifinals and defeated New Mexico in the championship. What could the Spartans learn from the Aztecs?

4. San Diego State will take on Houston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday in the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. What’s your prediction for that game?

5. Brent Brennan and the Spartans have been putting in work lately. What’s new with the football team?

NCAA March Madness Podcast with Michelle Richardson: NC and Duke fail to win ACC Tournament; Virginia gets a sweep in the ACC; Villanova and Kansas win conference tournaments

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On the NCAA March Madness Podcast with Michelle:

1 Michelle, the choices for the NCAA committee for a top seeded school selection was easy when North Carolina or Duke didn’t win in the ACC tournament?

2 Virginia (31-2) has clinched for a No.1 overall seed. They won the ACC in a sweep of the tournament that puts them up by four games. The Cavs had a most impressive record against quadrant one opponents going 12-1.

3 Villanova (30-4) and Kansas (27-7) won their conference tournaments. Kansas who won their title are 18-3 going up against the top two quadrants and swept Xavier and got wins from Tennessee and Gonzaga no easy tasks.

4. Michelle’s final thoughts.

Michelle Richardson invites you to listen to the March Madness Podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

San Diego State beats New Mexico 82-75 to win Mountain West title

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Photo credit: @Aztec_MBB

By: Ana Kieu

LAS VEGAS — There won’t be any San Jose State Spartans men’s basketball games until next season, but college basketball fans rejoiced as the San Diego State Aztecs took on the New Mexico Lobos in the Mountain West championship game Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The beginning featured plenty of back-and-forth action as the Lobos opened the scoring as Vladimir Pinchuk made a layup and Troy Simons hit a 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the opening half. Then, the Aztecs’ Malik Pope sank a pair of free throws to get his team on the board.

The Lobos pushed ahead for a 10-2 lead over the Aztecs as Sam Logwood hit a three and Antino Jackson followed up with a layup. Before the first media timeout, New Mexico led San Diego State 12-4 at the 15:34 mark of the half. At that time, UNM went 5-6 (83.3%) in FG% and 2-2 (100%) in 3FG%.

The Aztecs made it a one-point game as they trailed the Lobos 14-13 at the 11:37 mark of the half. At that time, SDSU went 5-11 (45.5%) in FG% and 1-3 (33%) in 3FG%, while UNM went 6-11 (54.5%) on FG% and 2-3 (66.7%) in 3FG%.

Thanks to a Kell jumper, the Aztecs took a 22-20 lead over the Lobos with 7:56 left to go in the half. At the time, SDSU went 8-17 (47.1%) in FG% and 2-5 (40.0%) in 3FG%, while UNM went 8-18 (44.4%) in FG% and 2-5 (40.0%) in 3FG%.

These two teams exchanged leads late in the half.

The Aztecs added to their lead for a little over a minute; the Lobos tied the game on Jackson and Mathis’ 3-pointers, respectively; and then the Aztecs’ Kameron Rooks sank a pair of free throws to put SDSU back on top 31-29 with 4:03 left to go in the half. At that time, SDSU went 11-25 (44.0%) in FG%, 2-6 (33.3%) in 3FG% and 7-7 (100.0%) in FT%, while UNM went 11-24 (45.8%) in FG%, 5-10 (50.0%) in 3FG% and 2-2 (100.0%) in FT%.

In a wilder string of exchanges, Simons hit a three to tie the game at 37 apiece, Aztecs’ Jalen McDaniels made a jumper and then the spotlight went back on Simons as he made a free throw with just one second left to go in the half. The Aztecs carried a 39-38 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Here are the halftime stats: SDSU went 14-30 (46.7%) in FG%, 2-8 (25.0%) in 3FG% and 9-11 (81.8%) in FT%, while UNM went 14-31 (45.2%) in FG%, 6-11 (54.5%) in 3FG% and 4-5 (80.0%) in FT%.

The Aztecs went on a brief 4-0 run on Kell and Pope’s jumpers, respectively, and then McDaniel’s dunk. SDSU led UNM 49-47 at the 15:29 mark of the second half. At that time, SDSU outscored UNM 9-2 on second chance points. SDSU went 5-6 (83.3%) in FG%, while UNM went 4-7 (57.1%) in FG% and 1-3 (33.3%) in 3FG%.

The Lobos had a one-point lead over the Aztecs at the 11:41 mark of the half. At that time, UNM went 6-11 (54.5%) in FG%, 2-6 (33.3%) in 3FG% and 0-1 (0.0%) in FT%, while SDSU went 6-11 (54.5%), 0-1 (0.0%) in 3FG% and 0-2 (0.0%) in FT%.

The Lobos continued to build up its lead to six points for a 63-57 advantage over the Aztecs with 7:35 left to go in the half. At that time, UNM went 10-20 (50.0%) in FG%, 2-8 (25.0%) in 3FG% and 3-4 (75.0%) in FT%, while SDSU went 8-15 (53.3%) in FG%, 0-2 (0.0%) in 3FG% and 2-5 (40.0%) in FT%.

However, the Lobos’ lead was short-lived, partially because they went cold for more than five minutes. The Aztecs led by six, 71-65, with 3:57 left to go in the half. At that time, SDSU went 12-22 (54.5%) in FG%, 3-6 (50.0%) in 3FG% and 5-8 (62.5%) in FT%, while UNM went 10-25 (40.0%) in FG%, 2-9 (22.2%) in 3FG% and 5-6 (83.3%) in FT%.

The seconds on the clock slowly ticked away, and the Lobos unfortunately let a substantial amount of time slip away before fouling. The Aztecs led the Lobos by six, 81-75, with 7.1 seconds left on the clock. Pope made the final free throw of the game to help the Aztecs to a 82-75 win over the Lobos for the Mountain West title.

Here are the final stats: SDSU went 28-56 (50.0%) in FG%, 5-15 (33.3%) in 3FG% and 21-29 (72.4%) in FT%, while UNM went 26-63 (41.3%) in FG%, 8-24 (33.3%) in 3FG% and 15-17 (88.2%) in FT%.

Notes
No. 5 Aztecs’ starting lineup: Devin Watson (#0; G), Trey Kell (#3, G), Jalen McDaniels (#5; F), Matt Mitchell (#11; F) and Malik Pope (#21; F).

No. 3 Lobos’ starting lineup: Chris McNeal (#1; G), Sam Logwood (#2, G/F), Antino Jackson (#3, G), Vladimir Pinchuk (#15, F/C) and Troy Simons (#31, G).