Jan. 10, 2017
San Diego, Calif. ---- The San José State men's basketball team went pedal to the metal throughout the second half against San Diego State, but the hole was just too deep after a long dry spell in the opening period and the Aztecs beat the Spartans 76-61 in Mountain West play.
First it was foul trouble that killed the Spartans (8-7, 1-3 MW) to start the game. SJSU forward Brandon Clarke was the most productive player in the game - when he was on the floor. Clarke was forced to the bench for good with 14:23 left in the opening period after picking up his third foul. Starting guard Gary Williams, Jr., also picked up a pair of fouls within the first three minutes of the game.
Ryan Welage hit a 3-pointer to make it 9-8 Aztec's advantage with 10:44 left, and from there the Spartans went scoreless for the next 5:20. San Diego State went on a 13-0 run during that time, and that eventually turned into a 23-5 run over 10 minutes.
San José State went into halftime trailing 42-23.
Clarke returned in the second half and so did the Spartans' offense, hitting their first three shots. Clarke scored nine of the team's first 13 points out of the break and his dunk at the 11:43 mark cut SDSU's lead to 13, 51-38.
But another punishing Aztecs run including a layup by D'Erryl Williams, a Max Hoetzel 3-pointer and a Jeremey Hemsley jumper, brought the SDSU lead up to 20 points. The spread of wealth during the run was the essence of the entire game for San Diego State (9-7, 1-3 MW).
Five Aztecs finished in double-figure scoring, with Hoetzel, Trey Kell and Hemsley all finishing with 12 points. Zylan Cheatham and Montaque Gill-Caesar each scored 10 points.
In 26 minutes Clarke scored 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists with two blocks. Welage ended with nine points and E.J. Boyce put in eight points.
The Spartans went 3-for-20 from downtown in the game. The Aztecs made 18-of-26 from the line while SJSU hit 8-of-12 from the stripe. San Diego State outrebounded San José State 42-30.
The Spartans stay out on the road and face Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday January 14.
Newspaper Box Score
San Jose State vs SAN DIEGO STATE
01-10-17 8:05 pm PST at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena
At Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena
SAN DIEGO STATE 76, SAN JOSE STATE 61
SAN JOSE STATE (8-7 (1-3 MW))
9; Boyce, E.J. 2-4 2-2 8; WILLIAMS, JR. GARY 2-9 0-0 4; Hillsman, Jaycee 1-3
0-0 2; Mitchell, Brandon 1-2 0-0 2; Nichols, Isaiah 1-1 0-0 2; CHASTAIN,
Ashtin 0-0 0-0 0; Schwartz, Cody 0-7 0-0 0; Singer, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0;
Thornton, Isaac 0-1 0-0 0; Brown, Terrell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-66 8-12 61.
SAN DIEGO STATE (9-7 (1-3 MW))
HEMSLEY, Jeremy 3-10 5-6 12; KELL, Trey 4-8 3-3 12; HOETZEL, Max 4-9 0-0 12;
CHEATHAM, Zylan 3-5 4-6 10; GILL-CAESAR, Montaqu 3-8 4-4 10; ALLEN, Dakarai
3-5 0-2 7; IZUNDU, Valentine 2-2 1-3 5; WILLIAMS, D'Erryl 2-2 0-0 4;
SHRIGLEY, Matt 1-3 1-2 4. Totals 25-52 18-26 76.
San Jose State................ 23 38 - 61
SAN DIEGO STATE............... 42 34 - 76
WILLIAMS, JR. GARY 0-1; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1; Schwartz, Cody 0-6; JAMES,
Jalen 0-4), SAN DIEGO STATE 8-23 (HOETZEL, Max 4-9; ALLEN, Dakarai 1-2;
SHRIGLEY, Matt 1-3; HEMSLEY, Jeremy 1-3; KELL, Trey 1-3; GILL-CAESAR,
Montaqu 0-3). Fouled out--San Jose State-None, SAN DIEGO STATE-None.
Rebounds--San Jose State 30 (Clarke, Brandon 7), SAN DIEGO STATE 42
(HOETZEL, Max 9). Assists--San Jose State 13 (Clarke, Brandon 4), SAN DIEGO
STATE 17 (HEMSLEY, Jeremy 4; KELL, Trey 4). Total fouls--San Jose State 22,
SAN DIEGO STATE 18. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, SAN DIEGO
STATE-None. A-12414