SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State men's basketball played hard, but fell short on Saturday as the Spartans lost 67-56 to San Diego State.
SJSU (3-18, 0-9) shot just 35.2 percent (19-of-54) for the game while San Diego State fared little better at 41.4 percent (24-of-58).
The teams traded a pair of big runs in the first half. The Aztecs struck first as they went on a 16-3 run to open the game. The Aztecs then went cold and as a result the Spartans took advantage as they rattled off 12 unanswered to cut the lead to a one-point lead at 17-16.
The lead was short-lived as San Diego State (13-8, 6-3) regained the lead and kept it the remainder of the half and led by four at 25-21 at the half.
The Spartans, who turned the ball over nine times in the first half, made the necessary adjustments to take care of the ball in the second half as they turned it over just four times, however three of those came in a span of less than two minutes beginning at the 8:48 mark and allowed San Diego State to take a 13-point lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
SJSU attempted to mount a comeback, but was unable to get the deficit under 10 points for the remaining 6:48 of play. The Spartans struggled to find their deep ball, finishing just 7-of-21 from 3-point range. Noah Baumann, the Mountain West's leading 3-point shooter, made two of those attempts to bring his streak of consecutive games with a 3-point bucket made to 19.
Michael Steadman had a game-high 11 rebounds, including nine in the first half, but was held in check by the double team to finish with six points. Craig LeCesne led the team with 14 points and added six rebounds while Brae Ivey chipped in 12 points.
San Diego State was led by the duo of Devin Watson and Jalen McDaniels. The pair finished with 49 of the team's 67 points (Watson – 27, McDaniels – 22).
The Spartans won the rebounding battle 38-31 and shot 84.6 percent from the free throw line (11-13).
SJSU returns to action next Saturday, February 9th, at Boise State.