Feb. 19, 2014
Reno, Nev.--Poise was the word of the night, and the San José State men's basketball team showed that poise as freshman Jalen James made the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds left in 66-64 Mountain West win at Nevada Tuesday night.
After Nevada's Deonte Burton tied the game with two made free throws with 10.3 seconds left, San José State (7-19, 1-13) brought the ball down the floor, and James took his first of two shots. His first shot was blocked by AJ West, but James got the offensive rebound (his only one of the game), elevated in the key and shot it over the Nevada defender for the game winner.
Nevada (12-15, 7-7) had one last shot with 1.8 seconds left, but a three-point attempt by Michael Perez went left of the rim. As the clock ran out, the Spartans got its first Mountain West win in school history.
The Spartans showed a lot of poise throughout the game, going down five early in the game (12-7), fighting back to tie it at 19-19 and take the first of 15 lead changes in the game. For the second consecutive game, San José State took a lead into the locker room at halftime, this time 33-26.
After halftime, San José State went out to a nine point lead on two Jaleel Williams made free throws just 22 seconds into the half. The Spartans held the lead, but Nevada slowly chipped away and took a 42-41 lead with 13:50 left. The two teams battle back and fourth the rest of the half.
Nevada went cold from the field the final 8:40 of the game. After taking a 53-50 lead, the Wolf Pack missed eight shots from the field the rest of the game and scored all 11 of its points from the free throw line (11-of-14).
All nine Spartans scored in the game. Freshman Isaac Thornton led the team in scoring with a season-best 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting including 3-of-6 from three-point range. He also had a team-best six rebounds. Jaleel Williams added 12 points.
Rashad Muhammad tied the Mountain West Freshman record for three-pointers made in a season during the game. He made two of his five attempts and now has 65 on the season, tying Utah's Marshal Henderson (2009-10) and UNLV's Katin Reinhardt (2012-13). Muhammad is also tied for the sixth-highest total in school history with Brett Lilly. He finished the game with 11 points.
After no scheduled game this Saturday, the Spartans return to the court next Tuesday, February 25, at #6 San Diego State. The game tips at 8 p.m., and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
San José State vs Nevada
02/18/14 7:05 p.m. at Reno, Nevada (Lawlor Events Center)
SAN JOSÉ STATE 66, NEVADA 64
SAN JOSÉ STATE (7-19, 1-13 MW)
Thornton, Isaac 5-11 2-2 15; Williams, Jaleel 3-7 5-5 12; Muhammad, Rashad 3-7 3-4 11; Wilson, Devante 3-8 0-0 7; James, Jalen 3-7 0-0 7; Brown, D.J. 2-4 0-2 5; Cunningham, Chris 1-3 2-3 4; Pollard, Matt 1-1 1-2 3; Mitchell, Brandon 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 21-48 15-20 66.
NEVADA (12-15, 7-7 MW)
HUFF, Cole 4-11 6-7 14; BURTON, Deonte 4-10 5-9 14; PEREZ, Michael 5-11 0-0 13; EVANS, Jerry, Jr. 3-9 4-4 10; WEST, AJ 2-7 4-7 8; COLEMAN, Marqueze 1-3 0-0 3; STEVENS, Ronnie 1-3 0-0 2; STIVRINS, Lucas 0-1 0-0 0; FENNER, D.J. 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 19-27 64.
San José State................ 33 33 - 66
Nevada........................ 26 38 - 64
3-point goals--San José State 9-25 (Thornton, Isaac 3-6; Muhammad, Rashad 2-5; Wilson, Devante 1-4; James, Jalen 1-2; Brown, D.J. 1-3; Williams, Jaleel 1-5), Nevada 5-21 (PEREZ, Michael 3-7; COLEMAN, Marqueze 1-2; BURTON, Deonte 1-2; EVANS, Jerry, Jr. 0-4; HUFF, Cole 0 6). Fouled out--San José State-THORNTON, Isaac, Nevada-None. Rebounds--San José State 39 (Thornton, Isaac 6), Nevada 34 (WEST, AJ 9). Assists--San José State 9 (Brown, D.J. 3), Nevada 7 (BURTON, Deonte 4). Total fouls--San José State 21, Nevada 15. Technical fouls--San José State-MUHAMMAD, Rashad, Nevada-BURTON, Deonte.
A-5994.
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