Feb. 28, 2018
San Jose, Calif.----- Isaiah Nichols' only basket of the game with 53.1 seconds remaining proved to be the difference for San José State University's first Mountain West win of the season in a 64-62 conference victory over Utah State.
Nichols fired his shot just inside the 3-point arc from the left baseline as the shot clock expired giving the Spartans (4-25, 1-16 Mountain West) a 64-60 lead. Utah State center Quinn Taylor answered with the final basket of the game with 37.0 seconds to go.
The San José State win ended a 16-game losing streak and was the Spartans' first victory over the Aggies in 22 tries dating back to a 70-67 triumph in San Jose on February 18, 2008.
Jaycee Hillsman led the Spartans in scoring with 19 points. He had a chance to extend San José State's lead with under 10 seconds to go, but missed his one-handed shot in the paint.
Utah State (14-16, 7-10 Mountain West) had a final chance to either send the game into overtime or win it with a three-pointer with 6.7 seconds to go. The Aggies went for the win, but Julion Pearre's three-pointer from the left side was ruled after the final buzzer sounded.
Ironically, Utah State lived by the three-pointer the entire night with 12 out of a Mountain West season-high 43 attempts.
Guard Sam Merrill of Utah State led all players in scoring with 26 points and was 7-of-12 from three-point range. Daron Henson was the only other Aggie in double-figure scoring with 11 on three three-pointers.
Ryan Welage chipped in with 16 for the victorious Spartans. He became the San José State career leader in three-point baskets with his first of two on the evening and now has 155 in less than three seasons.
The Spartans shot 46.3 percent from the field, limited Utah State to 36.5 percent shooting and outrebounded the Aggies, 37-32 in the victory.
San Jose State closes out the regular season, Saturday, March 3 at Air Force in a 2:00 p.m. (MT) game.
Newspaper Box Score
Utah State vs San José State
02/28/18 7:00 PM at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN JOSé STATE 64, UTAH STATE 62
UTAH STATE (14-16, 7-10 MW)
MERRILL, Sam 9-16 1-1 26; HENSON, Daron 4-11 0-0 11; PEARRE, Julion 3-7 1-1
8; McEWEN, Koby 2-10 2-2 7; TAYLOR, Quinn 2-6 0-0 4; BRITO, Diogo 2-4 0-0 4;
BROWN JR., Dwayne 1-8 0-0 2; DARGENTON, Alex 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 23-63 4-5 62.
SAN JOSé STATE (4-25, 1-16 MW)
Hillsman, Jaycee 7-18 3-3 19; Welage, Ryan 7-11 0-0 16; Barry, Oumar 4-8 1-4
9; FISHER, Keith 4-9 0-1 8; Chastain, Ashtin 1-2 2-3 4; James, Jalen 1-2 0-0
3; Nichols, Isaiah 1-4 1-2 3; Baumann, Noah 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 25-54 9-15 64.
Utah State.................... 37 25 - 62
San José State................ 37 27 - 64
3-point goals--Utah State 12-43 (MERRILL, Sam 7-12; HENSON, Daron 3-10;
McEWEN, Koby 1-7; PEARRE, Julion 1-5; BROWN JR., Dwayne 0-7; BRITO, Diogo
0-1; TAYLOR, Quinn 0-1), San José State 5-14 (Hillsman, Jaycee 2-5; WELAGE,
Ryan 2-5; James, Jalen 1-2; Nichols, Isaiah 0-2). Fouled out--Utah
State-None, San José State-None. Rebounds--Utah State 32 (TAYLOR, Quinn 7),
San José State 37 (FISHER, Keith 9). Assists--Utah State 15 (TAYLOR, Quinn
4), San José State 9 (Nichols, Isaiah 2; Hillsman, Jaycee 2; Barry, Oumar
2). Total fouls--Utah State 16, San José State 13. Technical fouls--Utah
State-None, San José State-None. A-1761