Jan. 11, 2016
SPARTANS WELCOME WYOMING WITH HEARTBREAKER IN THE REAR VIEW MIRRORLeaving last weekend's 85-84 overtime loss behind, the San José State men's basketball team welcomes Wyoming into The Event Center Wednesday night for a 7:00 p.m. tip on the Mountain West Network. Among the tasks at hand for the Spartans - Stop the Mountain West's leading scoring in Josh Adams (24.8 ppg). Adams was a Spartan killer last season, averaging 23.0 points in two meetings. But the Spartans are out to continue showing that this is not the same SJSU team from a year ago. Come watch the Spartans and Cowboys battle it out Wednesday night in The Event Center. BUY TICKETS!GAME #17San José State (5-11, 0-4 MW) vs. Wyoming (9-8, 2-2 MW)Wednesday, January 13, 2016, 7:00 p.m. PSTThe Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.WATCH: Spartan Digital NetworkLISTEN: Stretch Internet RadioSPARTANS LOSE A HEARTBREAKER TO COLORADO STATESan José State played one of its best games of the season, and led for most of the way against Colorado State, but ended up falling 85-84 in overtime. San José State led 78-74 with 23 seconds left in regulation, and 82-78 in the early part of overtime. A turnover in press offense led to J.D. Paige's game-tying buzzer-beater to end regulation. John Gillon slashed right through the Spartans' defense and hit the game-winning layup with 10.9 seconds left in Overtime. San José State has one last chance, but Jaycee Hillsman's layup rolled off the iron as time expired.POINT TAKENSince the turn of conference play, senior guard Princeton Onwas has taken the point guard duties and has thrived in running the offense. He is eighth in the league averaging 17.8 points per game during conference play. In the last three games, he is shooting 53 percent and averaging 22.0 points per game. Onwas has done most of the damage coming off of the bench. His largest improvement of all though, is free throw shooting. He is shooting .645 for the season, but is 19 for 23 (.826) over the last three contests.SENIOR LEADERSHIP YEILDS FRESHMAN SUCCESSWhile Onwas has been taking care of his business, things have opened up even more for freshman forward Ryan Welage. He has averaged 19.5 points over the last two contests and has made over half of his shots from all over the floor. The Greensburg, Ind., native thrived on the big stage at San Diego State, scoring a season-high 23 points, and backed that up with 16 points against Colorado State. Welage leads all Mountain West freshmen with 27 made three-point baskets.CLARKE IS SNEAKY GOODIf you focus mainly on scoring, then it might be easy to overlook how big Brandon Clarke's contributions have been this season. Lost in all of the drama of last Saturday's heartbreaking loss versus Colorado State was Clarke's four points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He grabbed four offensive rebounds for the second time this season, and it was the seventh game with multiple offensive rebounds. The 6-foot-9 Clarke is the team's most efficient shooter, at .600 (39-65).JUST FOR GOOD MEASURESan José State has played enough close games in Mountain West play already to not be content anymore with just being competitive. But, a note about just how close these games have been compared to a season ago - San José State's average margin of defeat last season during Mountain West play was 22.0 points. This year, three of the four losses have been by single digits, and it all adds up to a margin of 8.0 points per game. Only San Diego State, at Viejas Arena, beat SJSU by double-digits (15), and San José State led that game early in the second half.SAN JOSé STATE VS. WYOMINGSan José State is 1-7 all-time versus Wyoming dating back to when the two programs first met in January of 1965. The lone win came on February 22, 1997, at home by a score of 67-62. Wyoming has beaten the Spartans by an average margin of 10.3 points. In last year's meeting at The Event Center, San José State pushed Wyoming to the brink, but Riley Grabau knocked down clutch free throws to get Wyoming the 64-59 win. Ivo Basor had a career-high 14 points in that game.MORE ON THE POKESWyoming has the league's leading scorer (24.8 ppg) and perhaps the conference's most exciting player to watch in Josh Adams. He'll connect on back-to-back threes and then drive for a dunk in the blink of an eye. That being said, Wyoming is ninth in the Mountain West scoring 70.2 points per game and is 2-6 in games away from the home floor. The Cowboys come into Wednesday's game with momentum from back-to-back wins over Air Force (64-52) and UNLV (59-57).