Nov. 21, 2016
SPARTANS VISIT NO. 15 SAINT MARY'SSan José State University begins a three-game road trip at #15-Saint Mary's on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. (PT). The Gaels are coming off of a hard-fought 61-57 victory at Dayton, while the Spartans are looking to get back on track after two straight losses. It is the first meeting between the two teams since the 2009-10 season, and fans in the Bay Area can watch the game live on Comcast Hometown Network.Game #4San José State (1-2) at #15-Saint Mary's (3-0)Tuesday, November 22, 2016, 7:00 p.m. (PT)McKeon Pavilion (3,500)Moraga, Calif.Watch: Comcast Hometown Network (819 HD, 104 SD)
Online Streaming
Live StatsListen: KLIV 1590 AMBAY AREA BLISSTuesday's game at Saint Mary's will be special for San José State since it hasn't faced another Bay Area team besides Santa Clara since a meeting in 2011 with San Francisco.
BROADCASTING LIVE ON TWITTER
The San José State vs. Saint Mary's basketball game will br broadcast live on Twitter via TheW.tv and Campus Insiders. Click here to access the broadcast and use #SJSUvsSMC to join the conversation while the game is going on.CLARKE NOTCHES PAIR OF DOUBLE-DOUBLESLast week Brandon Clarke (6-8, So., F, Phoenix, Ariz.) recorded double-doubles in both contests with points and rebounds. He scored a career-high 28 points against the University of Portland and grabbed 10 rebounds. Two nights later Clarke went for 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Denver University.Jalen James OFF TO HIS BEST STARTPoint guard Jalen James (6-4, Jr., G, Chicago, Ill.) is out to the best start of his Spartan career. In three games as a reserve, James is the team's second-leading scorer (10.7 ppg) and rebounder (4.3 rpg). Both health and confidence has helped James to be one of the squad's most accurate shooters in the early goings at 52.4 percent. James took a medical redshirt two seasons ago, and was hampered by an injury again last year while playing in 23 games.NICHOLS & DIMESWe've seen Isaiah Nichols (6-5, Fr., G, Oxnard, Calif.) the scorer, and the distributor throughout the first three games. Nichols didn't score a point in the game against Portland, but made his mark with a Mountain West single-game best 10 helpers. In the first game of the year, he scored 10 points on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting night. Unlike last year when the Spartans had three and sometime even four freshmen starting the game, Nichols has been the only freshman starter thus far.SECOND-CHANCE SPARTANSSJSU is averaging 13.0 offensive rebounds per game, helping them to 39 second-chance points through three games. Compare that to the opponents which have combined to record 11 second-chance points. The Spartans are outrebounding their opponents by 5.3 per game.BENCH OUTSCORED FOR FIRST TIMELast time out against Denver University was the first time the Spartan bench had been outscored in a game. They were edged 40-36 by the Pioneers, but still have a 121-69 total scoring advantage over opponents for the season.SPARTANS VS. TOP-20 TEAMSIt's been a tough go for San José State against top-20 ranked foes, as you can count the number of wins on one hand. The last time SJSU beat a top-20 team was in 1996 with a 60-59 overtime win against #19-Alabama. That same year, the Spartans were Big West Tournament champions and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.SJSU-SMC SERIES HISTORYSaint Mary's comes into Tuesday night's tilt with a five-game win streak against the Spartans. The Gaels control the all-time series 41-39 dating back to 1922 when the programs first met. A win for the Gaels would match their longest win streak against SJSU. The Spartans managed to string together 11 straight wins against the Gaels between 1964-69. The last win in the series for San José State was on Nov. 26, 2000 in Moraga.The most recent meeting on Nov. 20, 2009 inside the Event Center resulted in a 78-71 Saint Mary's win.MORE ON SAINT MARY'SAfter grinding out a 61-57 win at Dayton last time out, Monday's Associated Press Top-25 Rankings lists the 3-0 Gaels at No. 15. The three wins have come against Nevada (81-63), Prairie View A&M (110-72) and Dayton (61-57). Jock Landale leads the Gaels at 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Saint Mary's was picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference preseason poll. The Gaels are coached by Randy Bennett in his 16th season.BOUT WITH SAINT MARY'S BEGINS THREE-GAME ROAD TRIPA tough road trip continues after the game at Saint Mary's. Following a short Thanksgiving break, SJSU takes off for the Palouse where the team visits Washington State (11/27) and the University of Idaho (11/29).