Feb. 21, 2018
Reno, Nev. --- In the first meeting earlier in the year with the Mountain West leader Nevada the San José State men's basketball team was locked in a two-possession game with under five minutes to play. Wednesday night the Spartans were within 10 points of the #20-ranked Wolf Pack inside of seven minutes to play, but that would be all.
Kendall Stephens scored a game-high 30 points leading the Wolf Pack (24-5, 13-2 MW) to an 80-67 win over the Spartans (2-23, 0-15 MW) inside Lawlor Events Center.
Nevada used a 3-point barrage in the beginning of the game to create the initial separation, hitting seven 3-pointers in the first 7:42 of the game. The outside shots helped the Wolf Pack build a 23-14 lead. The nine-point deficit would have been worse if not for the Spartans hitting threes of their own.
Ryan Welage and Jalen James each knocked down a pair in the first half, but the Spartan duo was no match for Nevada's Stephens and Hallice Cooke who combined for seven 3-pointers before halftime. Nevada took a 42-29 lead into the break.
Despite falling behind by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Spartans got it back to a 10-point game.
Oumar Barry scored two of his career-high tying 12 points on a layup with 8:08 to play which made it 64-54 Nevada lead. Wolf Pack guard Caleb Martin quickly answered that with a 3-pointer. Later, Ashtin Chastain hit a hook shot in the paint over his defender to make it 67-57 with 6:45 to play.
Nevada was there for the answer once again, this time with five straight points from Stephens on a pair of free throws and his seventh 3-pointer of the night.
San José State shot 50 percent in the second half, but turnovers once again proved costly. SJSU turned it over seven times in the second period leading to 10 Wolf Pack points.
It was "Twins Night" inside Lawlor Events Center but the Spartans managed to keep Nevada's star twins Caleb and Cody Martin in check. Caleb scored eight points making it just the third time all season without a double-digit scoring game. Cody was limited to a season-low two points. Jardone Caroline and Cookoe picked up the slack with 15 points apiece for Nevada.
Welage led the Spartans in scoring for the 17th time this year with 22 points. It's his 13th game of 20 or more points. He hit four 3-pointers which ties him with Tim Pierce for the most made three-point baskets all-time at SJSU with 153.
He'll have a chance to take over as the all-time leader on Saturday night against San Diego State at home after being honored pregame for reaching the 1,000-career points plateau. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Nevada
02/21/18 7:02 p.m. at Reno, Nevada (Lawlor Events Center)
At Reno, Nevada (Lawlor Events Center)
NEVADA 80, SAN JOSé STATE 67
SAN JOSé STATE (3-23 (0-15 MW))
Welage, Ryan 8-15 2-2 22; Barry, Oumar 5-8 2-4 12; James, Jalen 3-6 2-2 11;
Hillsman, Jaycee 2-10 2-3 8; Baumann, Noah 2-4 0-0 5; FISHER, Keith 2-7 1-2
5; Chastain, Ashtin 2-3 0-0 4; Simmons, Caleb 0-0 0-0 0; Nichols, Isaiah 0-3
0-0 0. Totals 24-56 9-13 67.
NEVADA (24-5 (13-2 MW))
STEPHENS, Kendall 9-19 5-5 30; COOKE, Hallice 5-10 0-0 15; CAROLINE, Jordan
4-9 6-8 15; MARTIN, Caleb 3-9 1-2 8; HALL, Josh 3-5 0-0 6; FOSTER, Elijah
2-4 0-0 4; MARTIN, Cody 1-3 0-1 2; BRENT, Justin 0-0 0-0 0; CUNNINGHAM,
David 0-0 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, Darien 0-0 0-0 0; JONES, John 0-0 0-0 0; TOOLEY,
Charlie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 12-16 80.
San José State................ 29 38 - 67
Nevada........................ 42 38 - 80
3-point goals--San José State 10-24 (Welage, Ryan 4-8; James, Jalen 3-6;
Hillsman, Jaycee 2-6; Baumann, Noah 1-2; Nichols, Isaiah 0-1; Barry, Oumar
0-1), Nevada 14-37 (STEPHENS, Kendall 7-16; COOKE, Hallice 5-10; MARTIN,
Caleb 1-6; CAROLINE, Jordan 1-3; TOOLEY, Charlie 0-2). Fouled out--San José
State-FISHER, Keith, Nevada-None. Rebounds--San José State 35 (Welage, Ryan
9), Nevada 36 (MARTIN, Cody 10). Assists--San José State 14 (James, Jalen 3;
Hillsman, Jaycee 3; Welage, Ryan 3; FISHER, Keith 3), Nevada 19 (COOKE,
Hallice 7; MARTIN, Cody 7). Total fouls--San José State 17, Nevada 14.
Technical fouls--San José State-FISHER, Keith, Nevada-None. A-8096