Jan. 16, 2015
SPARTANS FACE COLORADO STATE SATURDAY NIGHTThe San José State men's basketball team squares off against Colorado State Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., in The Event Center. The game can be seen live on the Mountain West Network. The game will also be broadcast on Stretch Internet Radio and KLIV 1590 AM. For tickets to the game, call the Spartan Ticket office at 408-924-7589.
SAN JOSÉ STATE (2-14, 0-4 MW) vs. COLORADO STATE (15-2, 2-2 MW)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 7:00 P.M. PT
THE EVENT CENTER (5,000)
SAN JOSE, CALIF.
COVERAGE
WATCH: SPARTAN DIGITAL NETWORK
LISTEN: STRETCH INTERNET RADIO & KLIV 1590 AM
FOLLOW: @SJSUMBB - @SJSUAthletics
SECOND-HALF RUN GIVES BULLDOGS EDGE OVER SPARTANS
San José State found itself down 10 points early in the game, but battled back to take a late first-half lead against Fresno State. But a 20-4 run lasting over eight minutes long in the second half created too much separation, and handed the Spartans a 73-62 loss in The Event Center on Wednesday night. Rashad Muhammad scored 16 points to lead SJSU in scoring for the eighth time this season.
MUHAMMAD APPROACHING TOP-10 FOR THREES
At 103 career made three-point baskets, sophomore guard Rashad Muhammad is nine shy of cracking SJSU's career top-10 list. D.J. Brown (2012-14) currently sits 10th at 112, closely behind Ricky Berry (1986-88) at 113 and Terry Cannon (1990-92, 94) at 114. Tim Pierce (2007-09) is San José State's career-leader for made three with 153.
ROAD TRIP RECAP
The Spartans fell to Air Force, 78-56, and UNLV, 74-40, in the team's first multi-game road trip during Mountain West play. SJSU had a six-point lead over Air Force midway through the first period, but a 19-2 Falcons run to close the half turned the tables for good. At UNLV, San José State was cold from the field all night, while the Rebels hit 15-of-21 shots in the first half. The Rebel's 15-point halftime lead grew to as many as 35 during the second period.
A PAIR OF SEASON-HIGHS COME ON THE ROAD
Rashad Muhammad got off to a hot start to the Air Force game, hitting his first four attempts from beyond the arc. He finished the game with six threes which led to a season-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Jaleel Williams played all 40 minutes against UNLV for the second time in three games and dropped a season-best 17 points.
SHORT BENCH MEANS EXTENDED MINUTES
San José State has had at least one player on the floor for all 40 minutes in three of the last five games. SJSU used its starting five for the entire first half against Wyoming and had three players,Rashad Muhammad, Jaleel Williams and Darryl Gaynor II in for all 40 minutes. Williams has rested a total of only four minutes throughout the last four games combined.
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES GROWING APART
In three MW games this season San José State has shot 33.7 percent from the floor while its opponents are shooting 53.4 percent. That's an 11 percent increase from the shooting clip of SJSU's nonconference opponents.
SPARTANS TAKE WYOMING DOWN TO THE WIRE
San José State led for nearly 26 minutes and went down to the wire in a 64-59 loss to the Mountain West's second-place Wyoming Cowboys on January 3. Nine made free throws in 12 attempts during the final minutes gave Wyoming the edge. Ivo Basor was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor including two three-point baskets. Darryl Gaynor scored 17 to lead the Spartans and was one of three to play all 40 minutes for SJSU.
GAYNOR MAKES IT FOUR STRAIGHT AS SCORING LEADER
Freshman point guard Darryl Gaynor II led the team for four consecutive games in scoring (12/13-1/3). He averaged 17 points per game during that stretch, which included a season-high 24 against Washington State (12/21). The graduate of Durango High School in Las Vegas led the state of Nevada in scoring as a senior at 24.9 points per game.
MORE ABOUT COLORADO STATE
Colorado State (16-2, 3-2 MW) comes into Saturday night's game with the best overall record of any Mountain West team. They got off to an incredible 14-0 start to the season and were ranked as high as 24th in the country. Their two losses came against New Mexico on the road, and Wyoming at home. J.J. Avila leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game. He's also the leading rebounder at 7.5 per game. The Rams are coming off of a 98-42 victory at home over Nevada. The 56-point win set a Mountain West record for largest margin of victory. Colorado State is coached by Larry Eustachy in his third season.
LAST GAME & SERIES HISTORY WITH COLORADO STATE
Jaleel Williams led the Spartans with 19 points but SJSU fell 78-66 to the Rams in the two teams' last meeting on March 5 in Fort Collins, Colo. SJSU was within four points, but the Rams ran away late to win it. San José State is searching for its first-ever win over Colorado State in men's basketball. The all-time series stands at 8-0 in the Rams' favor.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE NOW
For tickets to all San José State men's basketball games, call the Spartan Ticket Office at 408-924-7589 or visit the tickets section on SJSUSpartans.com. The Spartan Ticket Office is your one-stop shop for all single-game tickets and season ticket plans.
CONNECT WITH THE SPARTANS
Connect with the SJSU men's basketball team on Twitter @SJSUMBB and with all Spartans athletics teams @SJSUAthletics. Fans can keep track of in-game and news updates using #SJSU, #spartanup and #spartanstrong. If you are on Facebook, so are we! Check us out at facebook.com/SJSUSpartans.
CATCH EVERY GAME ON STRETCH
Every SJSU men's basketball game can be heard live on Stretch Internet Radio. Head to the schedule page at www.SJSUSpartans.comand click the link to hear all the action called by play-by-play announcer Justin Allegri with commentary from Joe Boylan.
WEEKEND BROADCASTS ALSO ON KLIV 1590 AM
Every SJSU men's basketball game played on the weekend can also be heard live on KLIV 1590 AM Radio with Justin Allegri and Joe Boylan on the call.