Dec. 9, 2017
Portland, Ore. --- The San José State men's basketball team suffered its fourth straight defeat after massive scoring droughts in the second half led to a 64-55 loss at the University of Portland.
The Spartans (2-7) played a gritty and tough first 20 minutes. They erased an early nine-point deficit, battled Portland's 7-foot-2 center Philipp Hartwich down low and got 15 points from Ryan Welage. Jaycee Hillsman put a cap on the half with a heave from the opposite free throw line which banked in at the buzzer to tie the game, 32-32, before heading to the locker room.
But the second half was a totally different story as San José State had two separate spans of more than six minutes without a basket. The first stretch started with 14:51 left in the half right after Keith Fisher's slam dunk tied the game, 39-39. The Spartans didn't score again until Isaiah Nichols' 3-pointer with 8:15 on the clock. Luckily for SJSU, Portland wasn't doing much scoring either and Nichols' shot made it just a two-point deficit, 45-42.
From there San José State took just four shots over the next 6:16 and all of them went off iron. Although the Spartans managed to hit nine free throws throughout the second shooting drought, it wasn't enough to keep up with the Pilots. JoJo Walker and Josh McSwiggan banged back-to-back threes which extended Portland's lead to 11 points, 55-44, with 4:29 to play.
After those 3-pointers the Pilots only made one more basket the rest of the game. But any attempt by the Spartans to make a push in the last few minutes was wiped out by a travel, a pass thrown out of bounds and a collision between two Spartans going for an offensive rebound which led to another travel.
After Welage scored 15 points in the first half, he didn't take a shot until the 9:35 mark in the second period. His first points of the period didn't come until a free throw with 5:29 to play. His only basket of the second period was on a layup with four seconds remaining.
Welage did hit 10-of-11 free throws and finished with a game-high 21 points. Nichols was the next-highest scorer for the Spartans with nine points. The Spartans ended the game shooting 17-49 (34.7 percent) from the field.
McSwiggan led Portland with 14 points. Walker finished with 13 points while Marcus Shaver scored 11 points and Franklin Porter finished with 10 points. The Pilots shot 19-42 (45.2 percent) from the field.
Both teams turned it over 12 times, and San José State outrebounded Portland 30-26.
The Spartans led the game for 2:51, all of which was early in the second half. It was the only time during the entire four-game road trip that SJSU led in a contest.
But that road trip is now over, and San José State has eight full days to get ready for their next game at home on December 17 against South Dakota. Tipoff on Sunday afternoon is set for 3:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Portland
12/09/17 7:00 PM at Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
At Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center)
PORTLAND 64, SAN JOSé STATE 55
SAN JOSé STATE (2-7)
Welage, Ryan 5-12 10-11 21; Nichols, Isaiah 3-9 0-0 9; Hillsman, Jaycee 2-5
2-3 7; Carlisle, Nai 2-5 1-2 6; FISHER, Keith 3-8 0-0 6; Barry, Oumar 1-3
1-2 3; Baumann, Noah 1-4 0-0 2; Chastain, Ashtin 0-1 1-2 1; James, Jalen 0-1
0-0 0; Simmons, Caleb 0-1 0-0 0; Parilla, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 15-20
55.
PORTLAND (4-6)
McSWIGGAN, Josh 6-10 0-0 14; WALKER, JoJo 3-8 5-6 13; SHAVER JR, Marcus 2-9
6-6 11; PORTER, Franklin 3-8 1-2 10; DIABATE, Tahirou 3-4 1-1 7; HARTWICH,
Philipp 2-2 2-6 6; JACKSON, Rashad 0-0 3-4 3; SMOYER, Joseph 0-0 0-0 0;
PORTER, Malcolm 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 18-25 64.
San José State................ 32 23 - 55
Portland...................... 32 32 - 64
3-point goals--San José State 6-19 (Nichols, Isaiah 3-7; Carlisle, Nai 1-1;
Hillsman, Jaycee 1-2; Welage, Ryan 1-4; James, Jalen 0-1; Simmons, Caleb
0-1; Baumann, Noah 0-3), Portland 8-21 (PORTER, Franklin 3-5; McSWIGGAN,
Josh 2-5; WALKER, JoJo 2-5; SHAVER JR, Marcus 1-5; PORTER, Malcolm 0-1).
Fouled out--San José State-NICHOLS, Isaiah, Portland-None. Rebounds--San
José State 30 (Nichols, Isaiah 6; Welage, Ryan 6; FISHER, Keith 6), Portland
26 (HARTWICH, Philipp 8). Assists--San José State 9 (Welage, Ryan 2;
Carlisle, Nai 2), Portland 14 (WALKER, JoJo 5). Total fouls--San José State
22, Portland 19. Technical fouls--San José State-None, Portland-None. A-2098