Tag: Pac-12

Rousted by Redhawks: Cal closes non-conference schedule with home loss to Seattle, 82-73

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Saturday was not the Pac-12’s finest hour, and the Cal Bears’ performance was partly responsible for what ranks among the darkest days for the Conference of Champions in men’s basketball.

The Bears (5-7) fell behind by as many as 18 points in the first half, only to rally, but ultimately lose to Seattle, 82-73 at Haas Pavilion. The loss concluded Cal’s non-conference schedule without providing much belief that they can right the ship with Pac-12 play next up beginning Thursday at UCLA.

Coach Wyking Jones surely didn’t get any assurances from his team that they’ll be engaged come Thursday, not after they led 2-0 Saturday, only to fall behind 21-4 with 12:11 remaining before halftime.

“I don’t know why, but I have to do a better job of making sure that we’re ready to play,” Jones conceded. “I could see it in shootaround. The energy level wasn’t there for whatever reason, but we can’t dig ourselves a hole. Typically we start games well, but we weren’t ready to play today. We fought back, and had some energy and spurts, but you can’t dig yourself an 18-point hole and expect to win.”

The Bears got hurt in the paint, primarily by Myles Carter who post a career-best 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead Seattle. Seattle’s leading scorer Morgan Means added 24, which included a school-record 16 for 16 performance from the free throw line, eight of those in the final two minutes of the ballgame.

Matej Kavas, Seattle’s second leading scorer who has 36 3-pointers this season, missed the game with ankle injury suffered in the team’s most recent practice. But even that setback seemed to bolster the Redhawks as they intensified their attack inside where they enjoyed a 38-30 edge on the glass and scored 19 second chance points.

“We showed a lot of grit and hung in there for all 40 minutes,” said Seattle coach Jim Hayworth. “Morgan did a great job of leading and was spectacular from the free-throw line. And (Cal) had no answer for Myles who had a great game.”

The Bears were led by point guard Paris Austin with 20 points, 17 of those after halftime. Darius McNeill added 19, and Justice Sueing added 15.

Cal was one of five Pac-12 schools to lose non-conference games on Saturday, including the league’s only ranked team, No. 17 Arizona State which fell at home to Princeton, 67-66. UCLA was shocked by Liberty, losing 73-58 at Pauley Pavilion, a loss that Steve Alford said was the most disappointing in his 28 years of coaching.

Utah lost at home to No. 5 Nevada, and Washington State lost at home to Santa Clara. The league’s 38-36 record in December is the worst won-loss record of any major conference (including the Big East) in this month in the last 20 years, a fact revealed on ESPN.com’s front page, much to the Pac-12’s dismay.

 

Duck Soup: Oregon poised to use Redbox Bowl as a springboard for a national title run in 2019

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — All college football bowl participants want to put their best foot forward, making a statement that caps a successful, winning season and serves as a springboard into the next.

The Oregon Ducks might be best positioned to capitalize on that formula.

With the announcement that prolific passing quarterback Justin Herbert will return for his senior year, along with the highest rated recruiting class in the history of the program, the Ducks are positioned to be the Pac-12 favorite and a national title contender in 2019.

For Oregon, the road to the top of the 2019 college football mountain starts Monday in Santa Clara where the Ducks face Michigan State in the Redbox Bowl.

Herbert, who passed for 2,985 yards and 28 touchdowns, was poised to be a top five pick in this spring’s NFL Draft. Instead he’s staying in Eugene in the hopes he can lead the Ducks to rarified air.

“We couldn’t be more excited for Justin to return for his senior season,” Coach Mario Cristobal said. “He is a special talent on the field, but, more importantly, a special person and leader off the field.”

“I have come to realize, is that nothing could pull me away from the opportunities that we have in front of us,” Herbert said. “As we prepare for our bowl game, I would like to ensure that there are no distractions outside of this game. My commitment to my teammates, our coaches, Duck fans, and the University of Oregon has never been stronger.”

To say Herbert’s decision to remain in school bucks current convention would be an understatement.  The 6’6″, 233-pound junior is rated as the No. 1 quarterback on ESPN’s draft board and a surefire top five pick in several other mock draft scenarios. That type of positioning along with the fact that Oregon is coming off an 8-4 season following a 7-6 campaign in 2017 under previous coach Willie Taggart, who bolted from Eugene after one year to coach Florida State, would suggest Herbert to be the next guy to leave town, in his case for millions of dollars courtesy of the NFL.

But that decision would discount the influence of first-year coach Cristobal on Herbert, his classmates, several of whom have also decided to return, and the highly-rated recruiting class. Simply put, something’s brewing with the Ducks, and it’s not just the opportunity to make a third trip to the BCS National Championship game like they did in 2011 and 2015.

It’s the opportunity to potentially win it this time.

Herbert’s return along with that of offensive  linemen Shane Lemieux, Calvin Throckmorton and Jake Hansen–all highly regarded prospects with a remaining year of eligibility–means the Ducks could return all 11 starters on offense, pending the decision of wide receiver Dillon Mitchell. Rarely does the unsettled landscape of college football yield 11 returning starters, but Lemieux made it clear that Cristobal has his entire roster thinking and dreaming.

“We talked this year about laying the foundation where we want our program to go,” Lemieux said. “I want to come back in ten years or so when we’re winning national championships every year and we turn into this dynasty like Alabama or these other schools, and really say, ‘We started that.’ A lot of these seniors right here are going to look back at the foundation that we started.”

Stanford and Pitt set to face off in Sun Bowl on Monday

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By: Ana Kieu

Sure, the playoff semifinals are set for Saturday, but that isn’t the end of the 2018 bowl season. There are two full days of bowl games set for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, respectively. In the Sun Bowl, it’s an ACC and Pac-12 showdown as Pat Narduzzi’s Pitt Panthers meet David Shaw’s Stanford Cardinal at the University of Texas at El Paso on New Year’s Eve.

Here’s what you need to know about the Sun Bowl.

Spread
Stanford -4.5

Over/Under
52

Analyses
Stanford is the clear favorite, while Pitt is the obvious underdog. Pitt started out the season just 3-4 before pulling off four straight conference wins to win a division title and a trip to the ACC Championship Game. The Panthers’ rushing attack was dominant, as Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison combined for over 2,200 yards and 20 touchdowns.  The backs had their fair share of explosive plays, which helped drive an offense that didn’t have quite the passing game it hoped with quarterback Kenny Pickett. The Panthers’ problems came on defense when they were prone to giving up the explosive plays and ranked 106th in Bill Connelly’s Isolated Points Per Play metric with 1.26.

As you can see, that’s not good news against a Cardinal offense that ranked 19th with a similar metric of 1.28. The Cardinal faded away from the limelight following a 4-0 start when they coughed up four losses in a five-game skid. But Shaw’s team finished strong with three straight wins heading into the Sun Bowl. Running back Bryce Love didn’t have the Heisman-caliber season that we had hoped for, but quarterback K.J. Costello stepped up in his absence. Costello threw for 3,435 yards for the third-highest single season total in Stanford history, trailing just Andrew Luck and Steve Stenstrom. Costello must continue that kind of output in the Sun Bowl as Love decided to skip the Sun Bowl to prepare for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Like the Panthers, the Cardinal have weak points of their own. This year, it was their defense. We’re used to seeing stout units from Shaw and company, but this year’s team ranked 51st in S&P+ and struggled against the run and pass. Still, Stanford has a slight edge in record against the spread as they’ve gone 6-3-1 as a favorite this season, while Pitt has gone just 5-4 as an underdog. I think the Panthers’ running game can prevent the Sun Bowl from getting out of hand, but I doubt the Panthers can stop the Cardinal’s passing attack.

Dons continue hot start with 74-65 win over Cardinal

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, December 22, 2018

San Francisco continued its best start in 19 years on Saturday with a 74-65 men’s basketball win over Stanford before a sellout crowd of 3,005.

The Dons (12-1) were led by Charles Minlend with 19 points, and Frankie Ferrari with 17. Jimbo Lull, USF’s 7-foot junior, hit double figures in rebounds for the first time in his career with 15; he also scored 11 points. Matt McCarthy added 10 points for the Dons.

Daejon led the Cardinal (6-5) with 19 points, followed by Oscar da Silva with 13 points, KZ Okpala with 11 and Bryce Wills with 10.

Da Silva hit a 3-pointer to cut USF’s lead to 60-52 with 1:36 to play, and, after Stanford pulled to within 64-60 in the final minute, Minlend responded with a three-point play.

USF led by double-digits through most of the second half after taking a 30-19 halftime lead, as Stanford endured one of its worst shooting games of the season. Stanford shot 23 percent from the field in the first half while committing 11 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

It was the Cardinal’s first game at USF in 23 years, the first game on the USF campus since 1987, and the 68th meeting between the schools. Stanford leads the series 46-22.

Next Saturday, the Cardinal host Long Beach State, while the Dons visit UC Santa Barbara.

Cal prevails over San Jose State to win 88-80

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By: Michael Duca

BERKELEY, Calif. — In a Christmas-break clash between two local rebuilding programs, the California Golden Bears and San Jose State Spartans met at Haas Pavilion Friday evening in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd. Cal prevailed, 88-80. Darius McNeil (season-high 22 points) and Andre Kelly (21 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs) led Cal, while Oumar Barry had a career-high 18 points, one of four Spartans in double figures.

The Spartans, behind five players in double figures, were coming off a loss to Stanford where they gave the Cardinal all they wanted, and more, before succumbing 78-73.  Cal was coming off a 95-73 drubbing at the hands of Fresno State.

While both teams opened the game shooting poorly (a combined 2-for-11 in the first three minutes), the Golden Bears (4-6) rode runs of 5-0 and 7-0 to double up the Spartans (3-7), 14-7, in the first seven minutes of play.  It would be misleading to attribute the low scoring to defensive aggressiveness, and each team committed just one personal foul in the game’s first 10 minutes of play.

After the first media timeout, at 16:00, the Bears found the range, hitting 4 of their next 5 shots including 3-of-9 shooting from long distance to extended their lead from 5-4 to 17-9 at the second media timeout.

When the third media timeout rolled around, at 7:27, Cal, trying to solve the Spartans’ 3-2 zone, was riding a cold streak of nearly 5 minutes without a field goal, and more than eight minutes with just a single layup. It got so bad, usually reliable Matt Bradley came up with a steal in the Spartan paint and ran the length of the floor, only to miss the cripple layup. A minute later, San Jose State tied the game at 19 apiece.

The teams traded scores until intermission, which came with the Spartans holding a 32-30 advantage, despite having a less-than-stellar 4/10 assist/turnover ratio.  San Jose State out-shot Cal 48% to 35% and outrebounded them 18-14. Andre Kelly led the Golden Bears with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and six rebounds. Post man Oumar Barry led San Jose State, also with 12 points (on 4-of-6 shooting) and six rebounds, en route to a career scoring high of 18.

Cal came out of the intermission smoking, shooting 70% in the first six minutes and opening a 14-point lead behind 9 points from Darius McNeil.

“They were packing in,” McNeil said, “they wanted us to shoot it (in the first half), we just started hitting them after halftime.”

“I talked to him at halftime,” noted Coach Jones, “and told him he needed to shoot the ball more.”

The Golden Bears were more aggressive to the hoop in a 26-11 run to start the half, and as a result were in the bonus with nearly 13 minutes left in the game.

“Coach had us start to press and we got some turnovers and opened a lead,” said McNeil.

The pesky Spartans refused to go away, however, cutting the lead back to 8 with 6:30 to play. A Matt Bradley block of a Michael Steadman layup at 5:00 produced the Bears’ third defensive stop in four possessions and led to a 12-point cushion with 4:46 to play, 77-65. The Spartans weren’t done yet, however. An 11-0 run in the game’s final three minutes saw the Golden Bears clinging to a 4-point lead inside a minute, after a 2:40 scoring drought.

San Jose State head coach Jean Prioleau said, “I think we have a very competitive group.  We are resilient, and in the beginning stages of building a program in the South Bay Area. I think we shot very well tonight, maybe the best in school history. We had a lot of live ball turnovers, and that’s very bad for us.  We switched up our man and zone, and they hit some threes, but we lost because of live ball turnovers.”

The Spartans committed 15 turnovers, while the Golden Bears had a season-low 5.

Paris Austin, who had a career-high 11 assists and zero turnovers, hit a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left, and a foul on Steadman on the ensuing possession all but sealed the deal, giving Austin another pair of free throws with a 6-point lead.  Austin netted both to give the Bears their final cushion. The 88 points are the most surrendered by San Jose State this season.

“It felt like this was a complete team effort,” said a smiling Coach Jones, “which is what you want. Paris Austin stands out, because we have been talking about sharing the ball, and 11 assists with no turnovers does that. He didn’t care about his points, but they took care of themselves.”

The double-double for Kelly was the first of his career.

“I just try to shoot a high percentage from the field,” Kelly said, “and I tried to make plays tonight. To be honest, I don’t look at the stat sheet, I didn’t know how good my night was.”

Coach Jones knew how good it was. “I would love to see him do that every night,” Jones said.

Next up for Cal is a December 29 game at Haas vs. the Seattle University Redhawks. Tipoff is at 5 pm.

San Jose State mounts comeback, but falls short against Cal 88-80

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans men’s basketball team was looking to pick up at least one win against a Pac-12 opponent this season. Unfortunately didn’t happen as the Spartans comeback bid wasn’t enough and they ultimately fell to the Cal Golden Bears 88-80 at Haas Pavilion on Friday evening.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau went with a starting lineup featuring Brae Ivey, Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Michael Steadman and Oumar Barry. Yes, another excellent lineup, but once again, SJSU fell short.

The Spartans won the tip and the game went underway at Haas Pavilion. The score was bad, but fixable early in the first period. SJSU trailed 5-2 at the first media timeout of the night.

The Golden Bears picked up the pace as they hit four of their last five field goals by the 11:19 mark of the period. That allowed Cal to take a 17-9 lead into the second media timeout of the night.

The Spartans, however, were resilient. Oumar Barry buried a 3-pointer at the top of the key, which helped SJSU make it a 1-point game at Cal 17-16. Barry continued pouring in the points along with Ivey, who had 7 points with 7:27 remaining in the period. SJSU trailed by just 2, 19-17.

Baumann changed the game with less than five minutes left in the period. Baumann hit back-to-back 3s to lift the Spartans to a 25-24 lead. SJSU made it a 32-30 lead and carried it with pride to the locker room at halftime.

The Golden Bears were on top 38-32 at the 17:10 mark of the second period. That wasn’t good news for the Spartans, who called a timeout after seeing their first period lead slip away in front of their very eyes.

If that wasn’t already bad enough, Cal went on a massive scoring run to take a 62-53 lead at the 10:24 mark of the period. If anything good came out of this, SJSU continued to dominate on the hardwood as Baumann hit four 3s for his eighth consecutive game hitting at least two 3s, Barry had a career-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Steadman collected his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Yet, SJSU was still down by 10 with 6:28 left in the period, despite shooting 52 percent from the field.

Despite the ups and downs, Baumann impressed Spartan Nation as he drained his sixth 3 of the game for a new career-high. As a result, SJSU pulled within 9 for a 74-65 deficit with 5:14 left in the period. Also, Barry recorded a career-high 18 points before he fouled out.

But things slowed down offensively for the Spartans. Well, at least for a little bit. The Golden Bears continued their onslaught from the 3-point line and hit 7-of-12 for a 82-67 advantage with 3:41 left in the period. This led the Spartans to play their hearts out, especially Knight. Knight drained a 3 to pull the Spartans within 6 for a 84-78 deficit with 1:20 left. Then, Knight poured in the points to make it a 4-point game with 35 seconds left.

The Golden Bears added 4 more points to secure a 88-80 victory over the Spartans. Cal improved to 5-6, while SJSU fell to 3-8.

SJSU returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 29 against Saint Mary’s at 5:00 pm PST.

San Jose State looks to rebound at Cal on Friday night

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By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball is set to take on its second straight Pac-12 opponent this Friday night as they take on the Cal Golden Bears inside Haas Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7 pm PT. Justin Allegri will have the radio call for KLIV 1590 AM, while Kate Scott and Mike Montgomery will broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

Game #11
San Jose State (3-7) at Cal (4-6)
Friday, Dec. 21, 7:00 pm PT
Haas Pavilion (11,877)
Berkeley, 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 for their first win over Cal since 1977. They are also looking for their first win over a Pac-12 opponent since defeating Washingtong State 88-76 on Nov. 27, 2016. A win would also be the fourth of the season, tying the team’s 2017-18 total for the whole year.

Heads held high
Despite falling to Stanford 78-73 in their last outing, the Spartans have a lot of momentum on their side after playing one of their best games of the Jean Prioleau era. SJSU shot 45.6 percent for the game and outshot the Cardinal 48.3-45.2 in the second half. The Spartans held the lead for all, but :02 seconds in the first half and regained the lead in the second half until the 12:15 mark. Late turnovers and several missed free throws proved costly down the stretch as the Spartans fell by five.

Michael Steadman and Oumar Barry became the first Spartan duo since Ryan Welage and Brandon Clarke to record a double-double in the same game. Welage and Clark achieved the feat against Washington State on Nov. 27, 2016 in Pullman.

Five players (Steadman, Barry, LeCense, Ivey and Baumann) scored in double-figures. It was the second time SJSU had five players do so this season, and first agaist a D1 opponent.

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 13.5 points per game and ranks fourth in the Mountain West with 9.4 rebounds per game. He also ranks 35th nationally in both total and defensive rebounds per game. Steadman has four double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 9-of-10 games, including seven straight.

Staff shakeup
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.

Another SJSU-Cal meeting
SJSU and Cal have met 22 times with the Golden Bears holding a a 19-3 advantage, including a 19-1 mark in Berkely. The teams last met on Dec. 11, 2011 in an 81-36 blowout loss. The Spartans are looking for their fourth win in the series and first since Dec. 27, 1977 (76-74).

The Golden Bears, led by second year head coach Wyking Jones, will be facing their second straight MW opponent after falling to Fresno State 95-73 on Dec. 19. Cal is 4-6 overall with wins over Hampton (80-66), Santa Clara (78-66), San Diego State (89-83) and Cal Poly (67-66).

Big game Baumann
Sophomore Noah Baumann is once again displaying his impressive 3-point shooting ability this season after finishing in the top 40 in the MW in 3-point percentage as a freshman. He is currently 22-for-40 from 3-point range (.550) and ranks second in the MW in 3-point percentage. He also ranks 10th in the conference with 2.2 3’s per game. Baumann is averaging 15.3 PPG in the last three outings (Bethune-Cookman, NAU, Stanford).

Baumann was a key cog for the Spartans in their two wins over B-CU and NAU. Against B-CU, after the team went 0-10 from 3-point range in the opening half, Baumann drained 3-of-5 attempts in the second half and finished with a then-season-high 12 points to help lead the Spartans to a victory.

Baumann followed up with his best performance as a Spartan in the win over NAU. He scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 18 in the second half to lead the Spartans to victory. He finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range and made four free throws in the final :37 seconds to close out the game.

Oumar coming on strong
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 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 two games.

What’s next on the Bay Area road trip?
After playing at Cal, the Spartans will bookend their nonconference slate on Dec. 29 against Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., completing their road trip against Bay Area opponents.

San Jose State podcast with Ana Kieu: Thoughts on Early National Signing Day; Men’s basketball loses to Stanford on Tuesday night

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB and sjsuspartans.com

On the San Jose State podcast with Ana:

1. Early National Signing Day began this morning. Have any football players caught your undivided attention?

2. Location appears to important as SJSU has been dubbed the No. 1 underrated school in America in more ways than one on Forbes’ most recent list of underrated colleges and universities.

3. SJSU men’s basketball wrapped up its homestand vs. Northern Arizona last Saturday night.

4. SJSU played Stanford last night and will take on Cal on Friday.

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

Despite a slow start, Stanford takes care of business vs. San Jose State 78-73

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By Eric Epstein

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Coming off of Saturday’s 78-62 win over Eastern Washington University, the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball faced off against the San Jose State Spartans in a Bay Area matchup at Maples Pavilion on Tuesday night. The Cardinal ended up besting the Spartans with a score of 78-73.

The Cardinal came out of the gates slow and the Spartans jumped out to a nine-point lead halfway through the first period. However, sophomores Daejon Davis and KZ Okpala helped the Cardinal make up the deficit by halftime. KZ Okpala’s buzzer-beating three point basket sent the Cardinal to the locker room with a one-point lead for their first lead of the game.

Although it was relatively back-and-forth for much of the start of the second half, the Cardinal eventually pulled ahead thanks to their superior three-point shooting and playmaking. Stanford finished the game with 18 team assists and went 13-34 from three, compared to the Spartans’ 10 assists and 4-13 clip from three.

Sophomore Oscar da Silva exploded to hit four straight three-pointers in the second half, adding to his two first-half treys. Although he came into the game shooting on 17% from deep on the year, he set a Stanford freshman record by shooting 55.8% on threes last year. On Tuesday night, he flashed the efficiency that made him so effective during his freshman year. Da Silva finished the night with 23 points on 8-13 shooting (6-11 on threes) as well as 10 rebounds.

KZ Okpala led both teams in scoring with 25 points on 8-15 shooting. Okpala had a lackluster game against Eastern Washington, where he scored only 7 points, but he bounced back by scoring from all over the court, including shooting 3-6 on threes.

In Daejon Davis’ first time coming off the bench in his collegiate career, he proved to be a spark plug for the Cardinal offense with 14 points and 8 assists. He also did not commit a turnover, which he has been prone to over the course of his relatively short Stanford career.

Stanford’s starting backcourt of freshman Bryce Wills and sophomore Isaac White had an extremely disappointing offensive night, as they scored a combined 1 point.

San Jose State’s five starters all scored in the double-digits, but they only got a combined three points from their bench. Spartan Coach Jean Prioleau played shooting guard Noah Baumann the entire game and only rested forward Michael Steadman and point guard Brae Ivey 1 and 4 minutes, respectively.

The Cardinal will travel across the Bay Area to take on the University of San Francisco Dons on Saturday, December 22 at 2:00 pm PST.

Effort isn’t enough as San Jose State falls to Stanford 78-73 at Maples Pavilion

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

Most recently, San Jose State wrapped up its homestand on a high note with two wins in a row. Fast forward to Tuesday evening when SJSU searched for its third straight win against Stanford at Maples Pavilion.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced a starting lineup consisting of Brae Ivey, Noah Baumann, Craig LeCesne, Michael Steadman and Oumar Barry. SJSU won the tip and the MWC vs. Pac-12 game went underway at Maples.

At the first media timeout of the game, SJSU held a 13-12 advantage over Stanford. At the second media timeout, SJSU upped its lead to 18-12, thanks to Baumann and Steadman scoring five points apiece.

The Spartans continued to hold onto a 22-13 lead over the Cardinal with 7:42 left in the first period. SJSU shot 45 percent from the floor.

The Spartans’ lead remained in tact, but the Cardinal hit five of their last six shots to make it a one-point game 28-27 with 2:49 left in the period. SJSU held a lead for 19:58 as Stanford hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to snatch a 34-33 lead at the end of the period. Obviously, that was rough for the Spartans, but they did shoot 42.9 percent from the field for their best mark in the first half since shooting 58.3 percent against Central Michigan at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas.

SJSU got off to a good, if not great, start to open up the second period. Barry drew attention to himself by blocking his third shot on the game and converted it to the other end of the court for his 10th point of the evening. The Spartans were back in front 39-37.

Barry upped his totals to 12 points and eight rebounds for his fourth consecutive game in double figures. The Spartans led 42-40 at the 15:44 mark of the period.

Though, the game reverted back to a one-point game. Stanford hit three triples over four possessions to snatch a 52-51 lead at the 10:56 mark of the period. Still, Ivey and Steadman led the Spartans with 11 points apiece.

And, once again, the game was tied at 54 apiece. Then, Oscar da Silva hit a three to lift the Cardinal up 57-54.

Things began to improve when Steadman laid one in to help the Spartans maintain a one-possession game. Yet, Stanford was up 61-58 with 7:36 left in the period at the under-eight timeout. Stanford then upper their lead to 66-58 for their largest lead of the evening. That large lead occurred as a result of the Spartans turning the ball over five times in a span of 2:43. So in order for the Spartans to get back into the game, they had to take care of the ball.

At the final media timeout of the game, Stanford led 70-61 with 3:45 left in the period. SJSU wasn’t out of it yet, but they had a lot to do to close out the game in a positive manner. SJSU trailed Stanford 72-67 in the final minute of play.

The game went down to the wire as LeCesne knocked down a jumper with 3.21 seconds left in the period. The score decreased to a three-point game with 20.6 seconds left in the period. Moreover, goaltending was the call on the Cardinal. The Spartans gave the Cardinal every bit and piece of effort, but lost 78-73. SJSU fell to 3-7 while Stanford rose to 6-4.

SJSU heads to Cal to take on the Golden Bears Friday, Dec. 21 at 7:00 pm PST on KLIV 1590 AM and the Pac-12 Network.