Feb. 28, 2017
FINAL REGULAR SEASON HOME GAME HAPPENS WEDNESDAYThis is it! Come out to the Event Center to see your San José State men's basketball team play for the final time at home during the regular season against Nevada in a 7:00 p.m. (PT) tipoff. Three seniors will be honored before the game and then the Spartans hope to have a repeat from last year's Senior Night performance when they beat Boise State. The game will be broadcast live on Campus Insiders and the Mountain West Network, and fans can hear Justin Allegri's play-by-play call on KLIV 1590 AM.Game #28San José State (14-13, 7-9 MW) vs. Nevada (23-6, 12-4 MW)Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 7:00 p.m. (PT)The Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.Tickets: Spartan Ticket Office - (408) 924-7589TV: Campus Insiders / Mountain West NetworkRadio: KLIV 1590 AM & KSJS 90.5 FMOFF THE TOPThe Mountain West's top shot blockers Brandon Clarke and Cameron Oliver will square off for the second time this season ... San José State lost to Nevada 80-55 in the conference season opener for both teams back on Dec. 30, 2016 ... A win for SJSU would be the first over Nevada at home since Jan. 20, 2008 ... Nevada has won 26 of the last 28 in the series with San José State ... The Spartans are celebrating the careers of three seniors, Gary Williams, Jr., Brandon Mitchell and Isaac Thornton, playing in their final home game ... SJSU picked up a win over Boise State on Senior Night last season.SPARTANS HONOR THREE SENIORSForward Brandon Mitchell and guards Isaac Thornton and Gary Williams, Jr., are competing in the final home game of the their Spartan careers on Wednesday. Thornton and Mitchell were a part of head coach Dave Wojcik's first recruiting class at San José State, while Williams transferred in and has played two full seasons. All three players have contributed to the program in their unique ways and their careers will be celebrated with a short ceremony prior to tipoff against Nevada.HOPING FOR A SENIOR NIGHT REPEAT FROM LAST YEARLast season on Senior Night, Boise State came into the Event Center with first place on the line and San José State beat the Broncos, 68-63. While the three seniors had an impact on the win, it was the freshman Brandon Clarke with 21 points and 14 rebounds who carried the Spartans to the victory. This year it's Nevada coming in to face the Spartans on Senior Night with first place still up for grabs.
FLASHBACK TO FIRST GAME WITH NEVADAThe Spartans and Wolf Pack met way back in December in the Mountain West opener for both teams and it ended in an 80-55 Nevada victory. Brandon Clarke scored 18 points and grabbed nine boards to lead SJSU and Gary Williams, Jr., added 12 points. But Nevada and the game's leading scorer Marcus Marshall with 25 points ran away with the win inside the Lawlor Event Center.SINCE THE LOSS AT NEVADASan José State has gone 7-8 in conference play since the Dec. 30 meeting with the Wolf Pack. SJSU blasted past last year's league wins total (4) when it went on a four-game winning streak with victories over UNLV (twice), New Mexico and San Diego State. A win over Air Force at home made it five wins in six games for the Spartans. The 18 points and nine rebounds for Brandon Clarke in the Nevada game was indicative of how he would play the rest of the season until this point. He's scored over 20 points against eight MW foes and comes into Wednesday with three straight double-doubles.TOP SHOT BLOCKERS SQUARE OFFThe top two shot blockers in the Mountain West will be on the floor Wednesday when San José State and Nevada meet. Brandon Clarke has swatted 48 shots in 16 conference games to lead all players during league play. He's blocked 72 shots on the year which ranks 16th in the country. Oliver has 77 swats ranking 11th in the nation, and both players average 2.7 per game to lead the conference. Clarke rejected five shots in the last game at Boise State marking the eighth contest of the year with five or more blocks.THREE STRAIGHT DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR BCBrandon Clarke scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds last game against Boise State for his third consecutive - 10th overall - double-double. While he has dipped below 20.0 points per league game for the first time since Jan. 7, Clarke is up to third in rebounding at 9.2 per game. He is currently the only player in the league who is top-three in scoring (3rd), rebounding (3rd) and blocked shots (1st).DOING IT THE OLD FASHION WAYBrandon Clarke has been a top scorer in the Mountain West nearly all season long and he does this the old fashion way with all ones and twos. The 6-foot-8 forward hasn't made a three all year and has only attempted two from downtown. His 17.7 points per game ranks third among NCAA Division I scorers who haven't made a three-point basket. Clarke has made 203 baskets this season ranking 30th among all Division I players, and his .590 field goal percentage ranks 25th.WILLIAMS COMES OFF THE BENCH HOTSenior guard Gary Williams Jr., got off the bench for the first time with the Spartans in a 16-point hole and just under eight minutes to play at Boise State last Saturday. Then the microwave started cooking and Williams connected on a career-high seven baskets in just seven minutes of action. He hit four of his first five shots helping the Spartans climb all the way to within four points with under a minute to play. Cutting the deficit to four points would be as close as SJSU could get in the 85-78 loss, but if it weren't for Williams' team-leading seven baskets the gap might have been much wider.CHASING WIN NUMBER 15SJSU is looking to pick up regular season win number 15 which the program has accomplished just three times in the last 23 years. The 2010-11 Spartans were the most recent group to win 15 regular season games, and they advanced to the semifinal round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and later the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
MOST CONFERENCE WINS SINCE 1995-96San José State's comeback victory over Air Force on Feb. 18 was the seventh Mountain West win of the year. It gives SJSU the most conference wins since the 1995-96 season when the team went 9-9 in Big West play. That same team went on to win the Big West Tournament and make SJSU's most recent of three (1951, 1980, 1996) NCAA Tournament appearances.