SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José State men's basketball will host Utah State at the Event Center on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Spartans are looking for their first win in conference play this season. The game will be streamed online on the Mountain West Network and can be heard on KLIV 1590 AM. Justin Allegri will have the call.
Game #16
Utah State (12-5, 2-2) at San José State (3-12, 0-3)
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Event Center (5,000)
San Jose, Calif.
LIVE STATS
Fans can view live stats of all San José State men's basketball games, home and away, by accessing the Live Stats feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the men's basketball schedule page to follow the action.
a win would mean...
» The Spartans are looking to win back-to-back games against Utah State for the first time since 1996. That season, SJSU won both games by a combined four points as they took down the Aggies 68-65 at home on Feb. 8 and again in the Big West Tournament Championship game by a score of 76-75 in OT to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
steady steadman
» JUCO transfer Michael Steadman has made a big impact this season as a leader on and off the court. The 6'10 forward is averaging a team-high 12.9 points per game and ranks fourth in the Mountain West with 8.9 rebounds per game. On the national scale, the big man ranks 49th in the country in rebounds per game and 43rd in defensive rebounds per game. Steadman has six double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and 40th nationally and has scored in double figures in 13-of-15 games. He also has eight games with double-digit rebounds.
STAFF CHANGES
» Jean Prioleau made some changes to his staff in the offseason as he brought in former NC State All-American Julius Hodge as an assistant coach and promoted director of operations Ryan Cooper to assistant coach.
winning the boards
» Wednesday's matchup with Utah State features a pair of very good rebounding teams. Utah State leads the MW in rebounding margin at +10.8 while the Spartans are just behind in third at +3.3. SJSU has the upper hand in offensive rebounds with an average of 11.3 per game, which is 2nd in the conference, however Utah State leads the MW in defensive rebounds at 30.8 per game. SJSU averages 25.5, tied for 6th.
Oo my oumar
» Senior center Oumar Barry is playing his best basketball as a Spartan as of late. Against Bethune-Cookman, he finished with a then-career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. He followed that up with his most dominating performance at SJSU as he recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his first-career game with double digit rebounds. Barry also blocked two shots and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line to help the Spartans to victory.
» Barry followed up with another double-double against Stanford (15 pts, 10 reb). After playing 38 career games without recording a double-double, he recorded two in as many games.
» Barry then scored a career-high 18 points before fouling out with 4:36 to play at Cal and led the team with 11 points at Saint Mary's.
» Barry is coming off his seventh game this season in double-figure scoring after dropping 16 points in the loss to Boise State.
baumann coming up big
» Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season. So good in fact that his 52.3 percent clip leads the Mountain West. He is also averaging 2.3 3's per game, which ranks in the top-10 in the Mountain West. He has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 13-straight games.
series history: utah state
» Utah State holds the series lead at 60-22, however it is the Spartans that have the latest win. SJSU defeated the Aggies 64-62 last season at home on Feb. 28. It was the first win for the Spartans in the series since Feb. 18, 2008.
» The Aggies, under first-year head coach Craig Smith, are one of the most well-rounded teams in the conference. They lead the MW in scoring defense and rank second in scoring offense. They also lead the conference in FG % defense, FT %, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists and defensive rebounds.