Feb. 7, 2015
San Jose, Calif. --- Darryl Gaynor II scored a season-high 25 points, but the San José State men's basketball team was unable to convert from the foul line in an intense final two minutes of a 60-57 loss to Nevada in Mountain West action at the Event Center.
"We didn't execute down the stretch and had crucial turnovers there," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "You have to make plays down the stretch, and we didn't do that offensively or defensively."
Gaynor hit a layup with 2:02 left that cut Nevada's lead to one, 54-53. At that point the Spartans, a 64 percent free throw shooting team, had hit 16-of-20 in the game. However, in the final 1:08 San José State missed four attempts from the charity stripe.
AJ West quickly answered Gaynor with a layup of his own that pushed Nevada's lead back to three points. Tyron Criswell added a jumper to make it a five-point game, and San José State made a critical turnover and missed a wide-open three.
"We executed the game plan well in the first and the second half," Gaynor said. "But when it was crunch time, we got a little excited and made some turnovers."
West gave San José State fits in the first half, with eight of his 12 rebounds coming on the offensive glass. The Spartans fell behind by as many as 13 in the opening period, but remained within striking distance due to good free-throw shooting by Gaynor, who finished a perfect 9-of-9 from the line.
Jaleel Williams buried a three-ball to tie the game, 35-35, at the 15:21 mark in the second period. But West gave the lead right back to the Wolf Pack with a transition dunk. West finished the game with 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead Nevada despite being limited by foul trouble. The Wolf Pack gathered 19 offensive rebounds in the contest and beat SJSU on the glass, 51-33.
"This one definitely hurts because we are looking for that first conference win," Rashad Muhammad said after the game. "It definitely stings a little more than the other ones."
The Spartans will have a week off to prepare for the Mountain West's top team in the Wyoming Cowboys. That game is set for Saturday, February 14, at 4:00 p.m. MT.
Newspaper Box Score
Nevada vs San Jose State
2/7/15 3:00 p.m. at The Event Center
At The Event Center
NEVADA 60, SAN JOSE STATE 57
NEVADA (7-15, 3-7 MW)
WEST, AJ 6-9 5-11 17; COOPER, Eric Jr. 5-13 2-2 12; CRISWELL, Tyron 3-12 4-7
10; COLEMAN, Marqueze 1-4 4-4 6; STEVENS, Ronnie 0-0 6-6 6; STIVRINS, Lucas
1-2 2-4 4; FENNER, D.J. 1-5 1-4 3; PEREZ, Michael 1-5 0-0 2; RODRIGUEZ,
Kaileb 0-1 0-0 0; FOSTER, Elijah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 24-38 60.
SAN JOSE STATE (2-21, 0-11 MW)
Gaynor II, Darryl 7-14 9-9 25; Muhammad, Rashad 3-12 3-4 10; WILLIAMS,
Jaleel 2-8 2-4 8; Basor, Ivo 2-4 0-0 4; Mahoney, Danny 2-5 0-0 4; THORNTON,
Isaac 0-7 3-4 3; Mitchell, Brandon 1-4 0-3 2; Singer, Ryan 0-1 1-2 1. Totals
17-55 18-26 57.
Nevada........................ 27 33 - 60
San Jose State................ 20 37 - 57
3-point goals--Nevada 0-9 (; COOPER, Eric Jr. 0-4; CRISWELL, Tyron 0-3;
PEREZ, Michael 0-2), San Jose State 5-26 (Gaynor II, Darryl 2-7; WILLIAMS,
Jaleel 2-6; Muhammad, Rashad 1-7; Thornton, Isaac 0-2; Mitchell, Brandon
0-1; Mahoney, Danny 0-2; Basor, Ivo 0-1). Fouled out--Nevada-None, San Jose
State-SINGER, Ryan; Thornton, Isaac. Rebounds--Nevada 51 (WEST, AJ 15), San
Jose State 33 (Mitchell, Brandon 8). Assists--Nevada 9 (COLEMAN, Marqueze
3), San Jose State 8 (Williams, Jaleel 3). Total fouls--Nevada 27, San Jose
State 25. Technical fouls--Nevada-None, San Jose State-None. A-1085