March 4, 2016
SPARTANS CELEBRATE THREE SENIORS BEFORE SATURDAY'S GAMESan José State and the Spartan community will celebrate the careers of three seniors: Ivo Basor, Princeton Onwas and Frank Rogers, prior to Saturday's regular season finale versus Boise State. The three seniors will unite to try and avenge the Spartans' 94-69 loss suffered to the Broncos back in January. The win would halt a six-game slide, and would mark the first victory against the Broncos since 2010.Game #30San José State (8-21, 3-14 MW) vs. Boise State (20-10, 11-6 MW)Saturday, March 5, 2016, 2:00 p.m. (PST)The Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.WATCH: Campus InsidersLISTEN: KLIV 1590 AM & Stretch Internet Radio
QUICK HITS FOR SATURDAY
Cody Schwartz's 52 made three-point baskets are the most of all Mountain West freshmen ... Brandon Clarke's 36 blocks this season rank eighth on SJSU's single-season record list; two short of seventh place and four short of sixth ... Clarke is the only freshmen on SJSU's single-season blocks top-10 list ... Frank Rogers has made a three in 10 of the last 11 games ... Rogers has led SJSU in scoring 12 times this season ... Jalen James tied a career-high with three baskets from beyond the arc in the last game at Wyoming (3/2) ... Gary Williams, Jr., is coming off of his conference season-high of 14 points ... Isaac Thornton is SJSU's assist leader (76) and is averaging 3.4 per game over the last eight ... #11-seed San José State will meet the #6-seed in the opening round of the MW Championship ... The sixth seed is yet to be determined, but will either be UNLV or Colorado State.
COME AND CELEBRATE THE SENIORS!
San José State will honor three seniors: Ivo Basor, Princeton Onwas and Frank Rogers before playing in the final home game of their Spartan careers on March 5, versus Boise State. Be sure and show up to The Event Center by 1:40 p.m. to be a part of the ceremony!TOURNAMENT TIMEThe Mountain West Championship begins on March 9 in Las Vegas. San José State will be playing as the No. 11 seed in the 4:00 p.m. opening round game. The question of whom the Spartans will take on in that contest still remains, but will be settled by the end of the night on Saturday. The Spartans want to see you in Las Vegas during the tournament! Contact the Spartan Ticket Office today to purchase tickets to the championship and find out more information on single-game and all-session ticket information.
SPARTANS CELEBRATE ROGERS' SECOND CHANCE SUCCESSThere will be added meaning to San José State's Senior Day celebration for Frank Rogers. He's had an excellent season, leading the Spartans the entire way in scoring and rebounding. But, the essence of his SJSU career is the fact that he made the very best of a second chance given to him by head coach Dave Wojcik. After being dismissed from the team for violating a team rule early last season, Frank overcame some serious adversity and worked together with Wojcik to resurrect both himself and his Spartan basketball career. Saturday, the SJSU community will celebrate Frank's dedication to redemption, and how he came back better than ever in his final year of college basketball.CLARKE CONTINUES STEADY GROWTHWhen you watch Brandon Clarke play Saturday in the regular season finale, he won't look like an 18-year-old true freshman. His steady growth throughout the year has turned him into one of SJSU's toughest interior players, who averages 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during conference play. Clarke gets most of his baskets right at the rim, and is shooting a team-high 63.8 percent from the floor. However, he's beginning to polish a second phase of his game, a mid-range jumper, which he connected on a couple of times in the last game at Wyoming. He was 6-for-6 shooting in that game. The Phoenix, Ariz., native is also SJSU's leading shot blocker with 36, which is seventh on SJSU's top-10 list for swats in a single-season.WHEN HE'S HOT.. HE'S HOTSpartan freshman Cody Schwartz is shooting just 35.6 percent from downtown this season, but that's no indication of how badly he can hurt the opponent from beyond the arc. Schwartz has hit three or more shots from deep in nine games this season. He connected on a season-high six from deep on the road at Colorado State (1/27). He knocked down four in the first half alone against San Diego State (2/21), helping the Spartans erase a 14-point deficit. The ESPN four-star recruit from West De Pere, Wis., has been a game-changer this season with his bursts from downtown.TRIAL BY FIRESan José State's four true freshmen: Ryan Welage, Cody Schwartz, Brandon Clarke and Jaycee Hillsman have combined to account for 43.6 percent of the team's scoring in 2015-16. That's second in the county, trailing only Kentucky with 49.2 percent of scoring coming from true freshmen. San José State's mark is by far the highest percentage among Mountain West teams, with UNLV next at 32.8 percent.DUNCAN'S DISPLAY PUT SPARTANS DOWN AND OUT IN FIRST MEETINGWhen San José State arrived at Taco Bell Arena an hour and a half before the first meeting of the season with Boise State, Broncos' Nick Duncan was on the court getting up three-point shots. He made at least 15 in a row then, and his warmup session continued right into the first half of the game, where he made his first six from downtown. His flurry of threes put SJSU in a 17-point hole midway through the first period, and Boise State never looked back in a 94-69 win. The 25-point loss for San José State remains the largest of the season.SAN JOSé STATE vs. BOISE STATEThe Spartans are 2-27 all-time versus the Broncos dating back to the first meeting in December of 1988. The most recent victory for San José State came on January 14, 2010, by a score of 76-74 inside The Event Center. The two programs have met twice in each of the last three regular seasons as members of the Mountain West, and many other times over the years as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Earlier this year, Boise State beat San José State 94-69 at Taco Bell Arena.SPARTRANS HAVE LARGEST SCORING TURNAROUND IN THE LEAGUESan José State is averaging 70.9 points per game heading into Saturday's tilt at Utah State. That's a difference of 17.2 points per game compared to last year, giving SJSU the largest scoring improvement in the league. All 11 Mountain West teams are scoring more points than they did a year ago. Nevada at +15.6 and New Mexico at +15.2 are the other most improved scoring teams after the Spartans.SPARTNS GO FLAT AT UTAH STATEA common theme for the Spartans throughout the last couple of games has been hanging tough with their opponent for a certain amount of time before going flat. Ivo Basor's three with 6:08 left in the first half gave SJSU the 31-29 advantage. But the Aggies answered right back with a three of their own to regain the lead, and the Spartans would never see the lead again. San José State went scoreless over the final 4:08 of the first period, and hit just one bucket throughout the first eight minutes of the second. Utah State shot 55.1 percent for the game and ran away with an 88-70 win.