Jan. 19, 2017 SPARTANS AND BRONCOS COLLIDE SATURDAY IN THE EVENT CENTERBoth San José State and Boise State are looking to bounce back from losses when the two teams meet on Saturday in The Event Center for a 2:00 p.m. (PT) tip. The matchup between the Spartans and Broncos features two of the Mountain West's top-five scorers in Brandon Clarke and Chandler Hutchison. Buy your tickets for the game today at the Spartans Ticket Office. The contest will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network with Justin Allegri on the call.GAME #18San José State (9-8, 2-4 MW) vs. Boise State (11-6, 4-2 MW)Saturday, January 21, 2017, 2:00 p.m. (PT)The Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.OFF THE TOPBoise State and San José State split meetings last season, with each team winning on its home floor … The win for SJSU over Boise State last year on Senior Night ended an eight-game slide against the Broncos and was just the third win in 31 meetings all-time … A win would give SJSU its first 10-win season since 2010-11 … Boise State's Chandler Hutchison is the third-leading overall scorer in the MW (17.8 ppg), while SJSU's Brandon Clarke is fourth (17.6 ppg) … Boise State comes in with the second-best defense in the MW allowing 68.4 points per game … Boise State is 3-4 on the road this year, while the Spartans are 6-4 at home.TURNOVERS THROW SPARTANS OFF IN LOSS TO WYOSan José State committed 12 turnovers in the first half, the most in one half all year long, and dug a 21-point hole which was too deep to climb out of against Wyoming. Brandon Clarke put together a double-double in the second half alone with 12 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Spartans cut the lead to six, 76-70 with 1:14 remaining. Despite limiting Wyoming to zero field goals in the final 6:58, SJSU would get no closer than six points.CAN'T COUNT 'EM OUTSan José State has faced some big deficits during conference play, but they've managed to make their way back into nearly all of them. They trailed by 15 points at three different points during the first half against Fresno State, and came back to win the game. The game at San Diego State ended with a 15-point loss, but SJSU trailed by as many as 23 before cutting it to 12 points midway through the second half. San José State outscored SDSU 38-34 in the final 20 minutes. Then last game against Wyoming, they trailed by 21 in the first half and ended up at least having a shot to win by bringing it back to a two-possession game with 1:14 left to play.YET TO WIN THE REBOUNDING CATEGORY IN MW PLAYThe Spartans came up short on the battle of the boards against Wyoming, 41-35, making them 0-5 against conference foes on the glass. Wyoming grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and gashed the Spartans for 21 second-chance points. SJSU remains a small margin ahead of their opponents overall (+0.6) in rebounding, but entering conference play that number was +5.5.ON THE CUSP OF 10 WINSThe next win will be San José State's 10th of the season, and would be the first double-digit win total in a season since 2010-11 when the team was 17-16. Although their games are completely different, a common thread between the two teams are elite scorers Adrian Oliver and Brandon Clarke. Oliver finished his career second all-time in scoring at SJSU with 1,750 points. Clarke has 574 career points still with 13 games remaining in his sophomore season.LAST GAME VERSUS BOISE STATESan José State topped Boise State 68-63 in last year's regular season finale on Senior Night in San Jose. Senior Center Ivo Basor put a charge into the rest of the team by taking a charge on Broncos star forward James Webb III within the first 30 seconds of the game. It was significant for head coach Dave Wojcik to beat the program he was an assistant for prior to joining the Spartans and the win also symbolized how far he program had come after losing to Boise State by 50 the year before.CLARKE VS. BOISE STATEBrandon Clarke averaged a double-double with 17.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games against Boise State last season. In the 68-63 win, Clarke scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. In the meeting in Boise he scored 13 points and hauled in 11 rebounds. Last year he went toe-to-toe with Boise State's James Webb III, and this season he'll be challenged by fellow top-five scorer in the MW Chandler Hutchison.MORE ON BOISE STATEThe Broncos come to San Jose after losing two in a row to Fresno State and New Mexico. Despite the losses Boise State remains a top team in the conference with an 11-6 overall record and 4-2 in MW play. Chandler Hutchison has been one of the leading scorers and rebounders all year long, currently at 17.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. The Broncos are 3-4 on the road this season and 2-1 on the road in MW play. Leon Rice is in his seventh season has Boise State's head coach.SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BRONCOSBoise State has a commanding 28-3 lead in the all-time series with the Spartans. Last year's win over the Broncos snapped an eight-game slide and was just the second win since 2002. All three wins over Boise State have come in San Jose.FIFTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR BCBrandon Clarke notched his fifth double-double of the year last game against Wyoming with 19 points and 13 rebounds. He went 12-and-12 in the second half while trying to help the Spartan dig out of the 21-point deficit from the first period. What he wasn't happy about were four turnovers against Wyoming, including two on the Spartans' final possessions trailing by six points. He continues to roll during conference play, averaging 22.8 points per game during conference play. Only Nevada's Marcus Marshall, at 24.3 points per game, averages more than Clarke.CLARKE WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAINBrandon Clarke won his second MW Player of the Week award after totaling 61 points in 63 minutes during two road games last week (Jan. 9-15). He shot a sizzling 73.0 percent (27-37) from the floor - all two-point baskets - raising his field goal percentage during MW play to a league-best 67.1 percent. He put in 25 points against San Diego State to begin the week. After foul trouble limited his minutes in the opening period, Clarke played every minute of the second half when the Spartans outscored the Aztecs 38-34. Clarke followed that up with 36 points, five rebounds, five assists and five blocks at Air Force. His 36 points are the most by a Mountain West player in a single game this year which ended in regulation. He jumped up to second in scoring among all players during league play at 23.6 points per game.CLARKE DROPS 36 IN WIN AT AIR FORCEBrandon Clarke was the difference in the game as his career-high 36 points helped San José State defeat Air Force 89-85 on the road last Saturday. The sophomore forward added five rebounds, five assists and five blocks. He scored 19 points in the first half, and the Spartans needed them all to keep pace with an equally hot shooting Falcons team. Both squads shot over 60 percent in the opening period. Clarke finished the game 16-for-22 from the floor. Sixteen (16) made field goals is a new San José State record, and the 36 points are the most in a single-game since Adrian Oliver's 42-point effort against Puget Sound in 2010.MITCHELL SKIES AND DENIESBrandon Mitchell made the defensive play of the game at Air Force when he blocked Lavelle Scottie's potential game-tying layup with six seconds left in regulation. After the block, Mitchell also helped strip the ball from Scottie who got the offensive rebound. The play ended with a transition dunk for Brandon Clarke, which he threw down just before the final buzzer for SJSU's 89-85 win.SPARTANS SHOOT OVER 60 PERCENTSan José State shot over 60 percent as a team for the first time since 2013 in the win at Air Force. Outside shooters E.J. Boyce and Cody Schwartz were feeling it, pitching in 14 points apiece on a combined 10-for-13 shooting. Both players connected on four shots from downtown on the way to their conference-season highs in points. It was an impressive outing for Schwartz who came out and knocked down three of his first four shots after an 0-for-7 performance in the previous game at San Diego State. While Boyce was raining threes most of the game, his biggest basket of the game was a layup as the shot clock expired to keep the Spartans ahead by five with under two minutes to play.
