Feb. 17, 2017
SPARTANS TRY TO START A NEW STREAK ON SATURDAYSan José State men's basketball looks to get back on track Saturday when Air Force visits the Event Center for a 2:00 p.m. tip. The Spartans defeated Air Force earlier this season and they'll try to do so again on Saturday after having a four-game winning streak snapped earlier this week at Fresno State. Fans who can't make it to the Event Center can watch the game on the Mountain West Network or hear it live on KLIV 1590 AM with Justin Allegri's play-by-play call.GAME #25San José State (13-11, 6-7 MW) vs. Air Force (10-16, 3-10 MW)Saturday, February 18, 2017, 2:00 p.m. (PT)The Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.TV: Mountain West NetworkRadio: KLIV 1590 AMMOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALESan José State has positioned itself to make a run for an opening round bye at the Mountain West Tournament, and the way this season is gone the title is up for grabs. Get your tickets for the championship today at the Spartan Ticket Office. Tickets for San José State's three remaining home games are also on sale and the office can be reached by telephone at 408-924-7589.COACHES VS. CANCER CHALLENGE CONTINUESThe American Cancer Society, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the nation's premier college basketball programs including your Spartans are teaming up for the 2017 Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge! Teams from coast to coast are squaring off to see who can raise the most money from behind the arc. Team up with San José State men's basketball during the month of February by going online today and making your pledge for every made three-point basket during February.STREAK ENDS AT FRESNO STATESan José State saw its 35-30 halftime lead erased quickly with Fresno State's 22-3 run in the second period and the Spartans' winning streak was halted at four games with a 77-59 loss on the road. San José State turned the ball over a season-high 20 times leading to 24 points for Fresno State. The Spartans shot nearly 62 percent in the first half, but made just 7-of-21 from the field in the last 20 minutes.SPARTANS CAN SWEEP AIR FORCE SATURDAYThe Spartans and Falcons are dead even, 10-10, in the all-time series. After defeating Air Force 89-85 in the first meeting this season (Jan. 14), the Spartans can sweep the Falcons for the first time since the 1996-97 season with a win Saturday. A win for SJSU would also make it a three-game winning streak against Air Force, which is how the all-time series began. The Spartans took the first meeting, 74-67, in 1971 before sweeping the 1996-97 season.LAST MEETING WITH THE FALCONSSan José State came out on top of Air Force, 89-85, on the road in the first meeting this year on Jan. 14. Brandon Clarke scored a career-high 36 points to lead the Spartans but outside shooters Cody Schwartz and E.J. Boyce had a big hand in the win with 14 points each. Trevor Lyons paced Air Force with a career-high 24 points. It was the highest scoring game during Mountain West play for both teams.LYONS IS A SPARTAN KILLERYou could make a list of players for San José State's Mountain West foes that are not the top scoring weapon on the team but consistently look like they are against the Spartans. Colorado State's J.D. Paige is one of them, and New Mexico's Sam Logwood is another. But at the top of that list would be Air Force's Trevor Lyons, who has reached his career-scoring high twice against SJSU. He matched his then career-best 22 points in the Falcons' 64-57 win over the Spartans last season (1/2/16). Lyons, who averages 8.3 points per game this year, has scored over 20 points just once in 2016-17 -- you already know who it was against -- and it was another career-high 24 points coming on Jan. 14. Lyons is averaging 9.4 points per game for his career and nearly five points per game more in five contests against SJSU.BROWN ACHEIVES NEW CAREER HIGHTerrell Brown had the full arsenal out during the first half of the Fresno State game when he matched his career-scoring high with 17 points. Brown his a pair of threes, a number of runners and jumpers, plus his usually blow-by to the rim for a layup. The second half was a different story though as he managed just one point, but it went down as a new career-high 18 points for the freshman.BOUNCE-BACK TIME FOR BCBrandon Clarke scored a season-low four points in SJSU's last game against Fresno State. It was his lowest point total since last season on January 6, 2016, against Colorado State. Clarke had scored less than 10 points twice this season before last Saturday -- nine points in back-to-back Spartan wins over Idaho (11/29) and Santa Clara (12/3).BEST OVERALL RECORD IN FEBRUARY IN 23 YEARSSan José State's 13-11 overall record heading into the Feb. 18 game against Air Force is the program's best record at this deep into the month since the 1993-94 season. That team, under head coach Stan Morrison was 12-9 heading into a February 18 contest against Nevada. A win on Saturday would make it the most conference wins in a season since SJSU went 9-9 in Big West play in 1995-96.SHOOTING CLIP UP TO SECOND IN THE LEAGUESan José State's 44.4 percent shooting clip during Mountain West play is second in the league behind only New Mexico at 47.1 percent. The team's good shooting is due in large part do Brandon Clarke who is the individual league leader at 61.8 percent. However others have been much more efficient from the floor over the past five games including Ryan Welage at 50.9 percent (29-57), Jaycee Hillsman at 46.2 percent (12-26) and Isaac Thornton at 47.4 percent (9-19).