Spartans Lose Regular Season Finale At Wyoming, 74-62

March 4, 2017

Final Stats | USATSI Photo Gallery media_icon_photogallery.gif

Laramie, Wyo. ---- The Spartans and Cowboys went back-and-forth throughout the second half in a two-possession game, but Wyoming had the upper hand throughout and handed San José State a 74-62 loss in the regular season finale of Mountain West play.

Brandon Clarke led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Ryan Welage added 19 points. But Wyoming made enough shots throughout the game to keep the lead until the final buzzer sounded.

"I thought we had a good game plan and executed well for the most part," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times and we didn't take advantage early on when we could have pushed the lead."

Wyoming which has made 10 or more 3-point baskets in eight consecutive games used a pair of shots from downtown by Cody Kelley and Hayden Dalton to secure the win. Kelley'ss bucket made it 67-58 with 1:35 to go and after an empty Spartans possession, Dalton nailed another one.

"We talked about taking away the 3-point line," Wojcik said. You're not going to beat a team when they hit 11 out of 21 from three and shoot 50 percent for the game."

San José State turned the ball over 21 times - tying a season high - leading to 22 points for the Cowboys. SJSU turned the ball over 16 times in the first half alone, yet trailed by just five 36-31 at the break.

Wyoming took the lead with an 8-0 run midway through the opening period, but Clarke put an end to it quickly. He stole a pass near the top of the 3-point arc and took it the distance for an up-and-under jam. On the next possession Welage hit a jumper that brought the Spartans within two, 23-21.

A pair of Brandon Mitchell free throws gave the Spartans a 28-27 lead - which would be the last for SJSU - with 4:53 to go in the half. But Wyoming closed the half on a 9-3 run and the three for SJSU was Clarke's first triple of the season and second of his career.

With 20 points, Clarke notched his ninth Mountain West game with at least that many points. He did it on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor.

Wyoming had five players in double-figure scoring for the game, led by Justin James with 15 points. Alan Herndon scored 13 points, Dalton finished with 11 points while Kelley and Jeremy Lieberman each had 10.

The Spartans shot 44.2 percent (23-52) from the field while Wyoming shot 50.0 percent (24-48). The Cowboys made 11-of-21 from downtown while SJSU was 5-of-13.

The loss makes San José State the No. 9 seed in next week's Mountain West Championship Tournament in Las Vegas. The Spartans will take on #8-Utah State in the tournament's opening game on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. (PT) at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Newspaper Box Score

San Jose State vs Wyoming
03/04/17 2:05 pm at Laramie, Wyo. (Arena-Auditorium)
At Laramie, Wyo. (Arena-Auditorium)

WYOMING 74, SAN JOSE STATE 62

SAN JOSE STATE (14-15, 7-11 MW)
Clarke, Brandon 9-13 1-3 20; Welage, Ryan 7-13 2-2 19; Mitchell, Brandon 2-5
2-2 7; Hillsman, Jaycee 2-3 2-3 6; Nichols, Isaiah 0-4 2-2 2; THORNTON,
Isaac 1-6 0-1 2; Brown, Terrell 1-4 0-0 2; Schwartz, Cody 0-1 2-4 2; JAMES,
Jalen 1-3 0-0 2; Boyce, E.J. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 11-17 62.

WYOMING (18-13, 8-10 MW)
JAMES, Justin 4-9 7-8 15; Herndon, Alan 5-6 1-2 13; DALTON, Hayden 3-8 3-5
11; KELLEY, Cody 3-4 2-2 10; LIEBERMAN, Jeremy 3-6 2-2 10; MCMANAMEN, Jason
3-8 0-0 9; MOEMEKA, Andrew 2-2 0-0 4; ADAMS, Louis 1-2 0-1 2; AKA
GORSKI,Alexander 0-2 0-0 0; MARSHALL, Morris 0-0 0-0 0; NAUGHTON, Jordan 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 24-48 15-20 74.

San Jose State................ 31 31 - 62
Wyoming....................... 36 38 - 74

3-point goals--San Jose State 5-13 (Welage, Ryan 3-5; Mitchell, Brandon 1-1;
0-2; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1), Wyoming 11-21 (MCMANAMEN, Jason 3-6; KELLEY,
Cody 2-3; Herndon, Alan 2-2; DALTON, Hayden 2-2; LIEBERMAN, Jeremy 2-4; AKA
GORSKI,Alexander 0-2; ADAMS, Louis 0-1; JAMES, Justin 0-1). Fouled out--San
Jose State-None, Wyoming-None. Rebounds--San Jose State 36 (Clarke, Brandon
9), Wyoming 25 (DALTON, Hayden 6). Assists--San Jose State 10 (HILLSMAN,
Jaycee 2; Thornton, Isaac 2; Clarke, Brandon 2; Welage, Ryan 2), Wyoming 14
(MCMANAMEN, Jason 3; Herndon, Alan 3; JAMES, Justin 3). Total fouls--San
Jose State 17, Wyoming 18. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None,
Wyoming-None. A-5931