Feb. 17, 2018
Laramie, Wyo. --- Keith Fisher III extended his career-scoring high for the second time in a week with 26 points and Jaycee Hillsman notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. But the San José State men's basketball team lost on the road to Wyoming, 89-75, in Mountain West play.
Fisher had another efficient shooting game making 10-of-17 field goals and beat his previous career-high of 23 points which came last Saturday at Colorado State. He grabbed 10 rebounds to notch his second double-double in four days. The redshirt-freshman has now finished in double-figure scoring in eight of the last 10 games.
Hillsman banged a 3-pointer and Fisher hit a mid-range jumper on back-to-back possessions which made it a 9-0 Spartans and an 11-5 lead over the Cowboys. Wyoming (17-10, 8-6 MW) was forced to call the first timeout of the game with 16:46 to go in the first half.
The last time San José State (3-22, 0-14 MW) and Wyoming met the Cowboys scored 32 points in the paint. The Spartans came into Saturday's tilt with a game plan to limit the Cowboys' damage near the basket, but paid for it by allowing 11 three-point baskets in the first half.
Wyoming used the long ball to build a lead of 11 points, 38-28, by the 4:44 mark in the opening period. Cody Kelley hit one, Alan Herndon hit one, as did hunter Maldonado as part of a 16-2 Wyoming run in 3:40. Another one from Alexander Aka Gorski gave the Cowboys the 11-point.
Wyoming took a 45-37 lead into halftime and then came out firing on all cylinders to start the second period. By the 15:48 mark San José State faced its largest deficit of the game, 59-40.
Despite being down by 19 points the Spartans were not put away for good yet. Fisher made a layup, Ryan Welage hit a pair of jumpers and then Jalen James nailed a 3-pointer which cut Wyoming's lead down to nine, 73-64, with 7:10 remaining.
After a stop, Caleb Simmons attempted a 3-pointer which would have made it a two-possession game, but it went off iron. Wyoming drew a foul on their next possession and two free throws by Herndon put the lead back to 11 points. Hillsman spotted up for another Spartan three on the next trip down, but that too went off iron.
Then Cowboys wing Hayden Dalton made SJSU pay when he found the bottom of the net on Wyoming's next trip to put the Spartans back down by 14 points, 78-64, with 6:06 to go. Dalton finished the game with a team-high 22 points, making 6-of-11 threes, and grabbed 10 boards for Wyoming.
San José State would get it back to single-digits once more when James nailed a jumper to make it 80-71 with 2:49 remaining. But that would be all for the Spartans.
Both teams attempted 61 shots in the game with SJSU hitting 28 and Wyoming making 30. The Spartans were 5-for-12 from downtown while the Cowboys finished 16-of-42. Wyoming scored 24 points in the paint.
Welage finished with 19 points for SJSU and passed Coby Dietrick for seventh place on the Spartans' all-time career scoring list with 1,178 points.
Hillsman's 15 points and 10 rebounds came in his first start since December 5 at Denver. It was his second double-double of the year. Hillsman and Fisher made it SJSU's first game with two or more players notching a double-double since Nov. 26, 2016, when Welage and Brandon Clarke had double-doubles in a win at Washington State.
San José State's next game comes on Wednesday, February 21, at Mountain West leader Nevada. The 7:00 p.m. tipoff will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Wyoming
02/17/18 2:00 pm at Laramie, Wyo. (Arena-Auditorium)
At Laramie, Wyo. (Arena-Auditorium)
WYOMING 89, SAN JOSé STATE 75
SAN JOSé STATE (3-22, 0-14 MW)
FISHER, Keith 10-17 6-7 26; Welage, Ryan 8-18 2-4 19; Hillsman, Jaycee 4-14
6-6 15; James, Jalen 4-6 0-0 10; Baumann, Noah 1-2 0-0 3; Nichols, Isaiah
1-2 0-0 2; Barry, Oumar 0-1 0-0 0; Simmons, Caleb 0-1 0-0 0; Carlisle, Nai
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 14-17 75.
WYOMING (17-10, 8-6 MW)
DALTON, Hayden 6-12 4-4 22; JAMES, Justin 7-10 2-2 17; HERNDON, Alan 6-10
3-4 15; MALDONADO, Hunter 4-10 0-0 11; KELLEY, Cody 4-10 0-0 11; AKA
GORSKI,Alexander 3-8 2-2 11; MOEMEKA, Andrew 0-1 2-2 2; REDDING, Nyaires 0-0
0-1 0; MUELLER, Austin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 13-15 89.
San José State................ 37 38 - 75
Wyoming....................... 45 44 - 89
3-point goals--San José State 5-12 (James, Jalen 2-4; Baumann, Noah 1-1;
Hillsman, Jaycee 1-3; Welage, Ryan 1-3; Simmons, Caleb 0-1), Wyoming 16-42
(DALTON, Hayden 6-11; AKA GORSKI,Alexander 3-8; MALDONADO, Hunter 3-8;
KELLEY, Cody 3-8; JAMES, Justin 1-4; HERNDON, Alan 0-3). Fouled out--San
José State-None, Wyoming-None. Rebounds--San José State 36 (FISHER, Keith
10; Hillsman, Jaycee 10), Wyoming 32 (DALTON, Hayden 10). Assists--San José
State 7 (Hillsman, Jaycee 3), Wyoming 25 (JAMES, Justin 6). Total fouls--San
José State 15, Wyoming 18. Technical fouls--San José State-None,
Wyoming-None. A-5731