March 9, 2016
Las Vegas, Nev. - The #11 San Jose State men's basketball team endured shooting woes throughout its opening round game of the 2016 Mountain West Basketball Championship and lost to the #6 Colorado State Rams 80-61 on Wednesday night in the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Spartans struggled from the floor from the start. They hit just 1-of-7 in the first five minutes and trailed 8-2 at the first media timeout. CSU extended its lead to 12-2, part of a 9-0 run, which was finally halted by a Jalen James layup at the 13:05 mark.
The Spartans (9-22) trailed 23-10 with 8:07 to play in the half, when Princeton Onwas, who ended the game with 11 points, sparked a 9-2 run over a 90 seconds span.
He got things started with a jumper, then hit a layup and converted a free throw for a three-point play. His steal on the next Rams possession led to a James layup and after Frank Rogers, who led the team with 11 points and 11 rebounds, made a layup with 6:24 to go, SJSU was within six points, 25-19.
The six-point deficit was as close as the Spartans would get. Colorado State closed the half on an 18-5 run, took a 43-25 lead into the locker room and maintained at double digit lead the rest of the way.
While SJSU played virtually mistake free with just six turnovers in the game, a season low, it was the shooting which let them down. The Spartans were 9-of-17 in the first half (33 percent) and finished the game at 36 percent (23-of-64).
Meanwhile, CSU hit 61 percent (17-of-28) in the first 20 minutes and finished the night at 55 percent (28-of-51). They were led by Emmanuel Omogbo with 13 rebounds and 10 points. Antwann Scott and Joe DeCiman each had 17 points.
To go along with his nine points and five rebounds, Brandon Clarke, who was named Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year yesterday, had two blocks in the game, giving him 39 for the year. He moved past Menelik Barbary into seventh place on the program's single-season list.
Newspaper Box Score
San JosE State vs Colorado State
03/09/16 5:00 pm at Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
At Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
COLORADO STATE 80, SAN JOSE STATE 61
SAN JOSE STATE (9-22)
Onwas, Princeton 4-12 3-6 11; Rogers, Frank 5-13 1-4 11; Clarke, Brandon 3-8
3-5 9; Thornton, Isaac 2-4 3-4 8; Welage, Ryan 2-10 0-0 6; James, Jalen 2-4
0-0 4; Hillsman, Jaycee 2-4 0-0 4; Williams, Jr., Gary 1-3 2-2 4; SCHWARTZ,
Cody 2-6 0-0 4; Bahner, Leon 0-0 0-0 0; Basor, Ivo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64
12-21 61.
COLORADO STATE (17-15)
DE CIMAN, Joe 6-9 3-4 17; SCOTT, Antwan 7-13 1-2 17; GILLON, John 5-8 0-1
12; OMOGBO, Emmanuel 4-7 2-2 10; PAIGE, J.D. 2-3 4-4 10; DANIELS, Tiel 2-5
4-8 8; RICHARDSON III, Fred 1-4 2-2 4; NIXON, Prentiss 1-2 0-0 2; JACKSON,
Kimani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 16-23 80.
San JosE State................ 24 37 - 61
Colorado State................ 43 37 - 80
3-point goals--San JosE State 3-21 (Welage, Ryan 2-6; Thornton, Isaac 1-1;
Clarke, Brandon 0-1; James, Jalen 0-1; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1; WILLIAMS, JR.,
Gary 0-1; Schwartz, Cody 0-3; Rogers, Frank 0-5; Onwas, Princeton 0-2),
Colorado State 8-20 (PAIGE, J.D. 2-3; SCOTT, Antwan 2-6; DE CIMAN, Joe 2-4;
GILLON, John 2-3; NIXON, Prentiss 0-1; RICHARDSON III, Fred 0-2; OMOGBO,
Emmanuel 0-1). Fouled out--San JosE State-None, Colorado State-None.Rebounds--San JosE State 28 (Rogers, Frank 11), Colorado State 38 (OMOGBO,
Emmanuel 13). Assists--San JosE State 10 (Welage, Ryan 2; Rogers, Frank 2;
Onwas, Princeton 2), Colorado State 15 (GILLON, John 6). Total fouls--San
JosE State 23, Colorado State 18. Technical fouls--San JosE State-None,
Colorado State-None. A-5970
2016 Mountain West Men's Championships First Round
Winner Advances to Thursday's quarterfinals vs #3 Boise State at 8:30