Feb. 25, 2017
Boise, Idaho --- Boise State had all the momentum and a 16-point lead with a shrinking clock in the second half. And then Gary Williams, Jr., came in.
The Spartans rushed all the way back to make it a four-point game with under a minute to play, but it ended up being just a scare as Boise State beat San José State, 85-78, in Mountain West play at Taco Bell Arena.
Gary Williams, Jr., entered the game with the Spartans trailing by 16 points and hit his first jumper with 7:12 remaining. Williams was an instant boost went on to hit 7-of-12 shots for 14 points in just seven minutes of action.
Suffering from pain in his knee the senior missed five straight games and then played just seven minutues combined in the Spartans' two previous games before the trip to Boise. But this looked like the Williams who started in three straight Spartan wins earlier in November and they guy who matched a career scoring high (18 points) in a win over Fresno State (1/7).
After three straight jumpers by Williams, Brandon Clarke nailed a pair of free throws to make it 74-67 with 3:31 remaining. Ryan Welage's only basket of the second half was a three from the right corner which made it 78-72 with 1:07 remaining.
Missed free throws on the other end helped the Spartans get even closer, and Terrell Brown's layup with 35 seconds left made it 80-76. But that would be as close as the Spartan could get.
Justinian Jessup scored the first eight points for Boise State out of the half before passing the torch to his teammates Paris Austin and Alex Hobbs. The two of them led Boise State on an 8-0 run that increased the Broncos lead to 55-41 with 14:03 remaining.
Every time the Spartans tried to cut into the lead Boise State had an answer. Isaac Thornton hit a three from the corner to make it a 10-point game, 61-51, but Nick Duncan answered right back with a layup for Boise State.
A few minutes later, Clarke hit an elbow jumper that made it a nine-point game with 10:10 to go, but another 7-0 Boise State run seemingly put SJSU's hopes to rest. Until Williams came in and ended up hitting the most shots on the team dispite playing just seven minutes.
Clarke finished with his third consecutive double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. He was one of four Spartans in double-figure scoring alongside Brown with 15, Welage with 14 and Williams with 14. Clarke also had his eighth game of the year with at least five blocks, and his five swats against Boise State Saturday ties him for second all-time at SJSU with Chris Oaks (2008-10).
Austin scored a game-high 18 points for Boise State which had four others in double-figure scoring. Hobbs put in 16, Jessup had 14, Chandler Hutchison scored 11 and James Reid scored 10.
San José State returns home to face Nevada on Senior Night this Wednesday, March 1, at 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Newspaper Box Score
San Jose State vs Boise State
02/25/17 2 pm at Boise, Idaho (Taco Bell Arena)
At Boise, Idaho (Taco Bell Arena)
BOISE STATE 85, SAN JOSE STATE 78
SAN JOSE STATE (14-13, 7-9 MW)
Brown, Terrell 5-13 5-6 15; Clarke, Brandon 4-12 6-9 14; Welage, Ryan 4-14
4-4 14; WILLIAMS, JR. GARY 7-12 0-0 14; Thornton, Isaac 1-4 2-2 5; MITCHELL,
Brandon 2-4 0-0 4; James, Jalen 1-4 0-0 3; Nichols, Isaiah 1-2 1-2 3;
Schwartz, Cody 1-2 0-0 3; Singer, Ryan 1-1 0-0 2; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-2 1-2
1; Boyce, E.J. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 19-25 78.
BOISE STATE (18-9, 11-5 MW)
AUSTIN, Paris 5-11 8-10 18; HOBBS, Alex 6-8 3-5 16; JESSUP, Justinian 5-8
4-4 14; HUTCHISON, Chandler 4-9 2-2 11; REID, James 2-8 5-6 10; DUNCAN, Nick
2-7 2-2 7; DICKINSON, Marcus 2-3 1-1 5; WACKER, David 1-2 0-0 2; HANEY, Zach
1-3 0-0 2; JORCH, Robin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 25-30 85.
San Jose State................ 28 50 - 78
Boise State................... 37 48 - 85
3-point goals--San Jose State 5-16 (Welage, Ryan 2-4; Schwartz, Cody 1-2;
James, Jalen 1-3; Thornton, Isaac 1-3; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1; WILLIAMS, JR.
GARY 0-2; Brown, Terrell 0-1), Boise State 4-18 (DUNCAN, Nick 1-5; REID,
James 1-5; HUTCHISON, Chandler 1-2; HOBBS, Alex 1-2; JESSUP, Justinian 0-3;
AUSTIN, Paris 0-1). Fouled out--San Jose State-BROWN, Terrell, Boise
State-None. Rebounds--San Jose State 38 (Clarke, Brandon 14), Boise State 37
(HANEY, Zach 10). Assists--San Jose State 9 (Clarke, Brandon 3), Boise State
13 (REID, James 4; HUTCHISON, Chandler 4). Total fouls--San Jose State 23,
Boise State 18. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Boise State-None.
A-7293