SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José State men's basketball will play in their fifth Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday as they open play as the 11th-seed against six-seed Air Force at 4:00 p.m. PT at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Fans can watch the game via the Mountain West Network and can hear Justin Allegri's radio call on the TuneIn app.
Game #31
No. 11 San José State (4-26, 1-17) vs. No. 6 Air Force (13-17, 8-10)
Wednesday, March 13, 4:00 p.m. (PT)
Thomas & Mack Center
Las Vegas, Nev.
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 for their first win in the Mountain West Tournament (0-4).
vs. air force in 2019
» Wednesday's game against No. 6 Air Force will be the third meeting between the programs this season.
» SJSU played one of their best games of the season in the first meeting of the year with the Falcons, but ultimately fell 73-71 in double-overtime. Brae Ivey, who finished with 18 points, hit a 3 with just two seconds remaining to send the game to the first overtime.
» Michael Steadman dominated with 24 points and was one of three Spartans in double-fgure rebouding wiht 12. Ashtin Chastain tallied 13 and Craig LeCesne pulled down 12.
» In game two, played in Colorado Springs, Air Force won more comfortably in a 82-68 final. Steadman had another big game as he scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. Seneca Knight, Brae Ivey and Brian Rodriguez-Flores all finished with 12 points.
steadman vs. air force
» Michael Steadman has had two of his best games of the season against Air Force. He scored 24 points with 12 rebounds in game one and followed up with 21 points and 17 rebounds in game two.
» Steadman is averaging 22.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in the two games.
NEWCOMERS GETTING IT DONE
» The Spartans have played nine first-year players this season, including regular starters Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Craig LeCesne and Brae Ivey. The newcomers are accounting for 69.7 percent of the Spartans' offense (1,384-1,986).
» Steadman alone is accounting for 20 percent of the team's offense with 407 points (20.4 percent).
baumann is boss
» Sophomore Noah Baumann is shooting lights out from beyond the arc this season, so good in fact that he leads the Mountain West and ranks 10th in the NCAA in 3-point percentage at 45.6 percent. Baumann also ranks in the top-10 in the MW in 3-pointers per game (2.6).
» Baumann set a new school record of 22 consecutive games with a 3-point bucket made against UNLV on Feb. 16, breaking a tie with Robert Owens, who closed out the 2009-10 season on a 21-game streak, for the new record. His streak is currently at 28.
» Baumann is tied for the most 3s in a single-season after hitting three at Fresno State. he currently has 78, tied with Robert Owens (2010). With one more in the conference tournament, he will own the record outright.
» In the loss to Utah State, Baumann had one of the most impressive performances of his career as he scored a career-high 29 points and tied the then-school record with seven 3-pointers (7-of-10). He also set career highs in 3-point attempts and FG attempts.
» Baumann has hit the school record in 3-point makes twice the season, the second time, however, vs. New Mexico, he broke the record outright with 8. He finished 8-of-12 from 3-point range to lead the Spartans to a win over New Mexico.
» Not satisfied with just two, Baumann once again made seven treys in the home finale vs. Wyoming. Six of his seven came in the first half. He finished the night with a game-high 27 points.
» Baumann holds the 1st, 2nd and 3rdhighest-scoring performances by a Spartan this season with 29 vs. Utah State, 27 vs. Wyoming and 26 vs. New Mexico. The sophomore is averaging 11.5 points in conference play, second-most on the team (Steadman). He is also averaging 15.6 points in the last five games.
CHAPPELL'S SHOW
» Freshman Zach Chappell has come on strong as of late, starting the last six games and averaging 7.8 points in the final five games of the regular season. Against UNLV, Chappell finished with 11 points, a career-high six rebounds and nine assists - tied for the most by a Spartan this season. He had 10 points vs. Colorado State.
» In the win over New Mexico, Chappell finished with a career-high 17 points and dished out 9 assists. He now has two games with 9 assists on the season, which is tied with Craig LeCesne for the most by any Spartan.
» Chappell then scored 14 points at San Diego State.
CHASTAIN TAKING CHARGE
» Junior center Ashtin Chastain has been tasked to fill in the gap in the starting lineup with senior Oumar Barry sidelined by injury. Chastain has started the last 12 games in his stead.
reviewing the big win over new mexico
» SJSU's 89-82 win over New Mexico was a historic night in the Event Center. Not only did it break a 17-game losing streak, it also featured a plethora of records.
» The win was the 2nd all-time against the Lobos and the first-ever in San Jose
» Noah Baumann broke his own school record with eight 3-pointers on 8-of-12 shooting. He finished with a team-best 26 points
» Brae Ivey tied a school record with six steals on the evening. He is one of multiple players to tally six steals, but just the first to do so since Justin Graham vs. Santa Clara on Dec. 10, 2010.
» Michael Steadman had his second-straight game with 21 points as well as his second-straight double-double. He had 10 made FGs and 20 FG attempts, both the most by a Spartan this season.
» Steadman and Baumann became the first duo to score 20 points this season and were the first to do so since Ryan Welage and Jaycee Hillsman vs. Wyoming in the Mountain West Tournament last season (3/7/18)
CH-CH-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.
starry knight
» Freshman guard Seneca Knight has upped his game recently as well. In the last five games, the Lafayette, La., native is averaging 9.2 points, fourth-best on the team in that stretch. Against Colorado State, he led the team with a 14 point performance. He followed with 12 points at Air Force and had 12 more at San Diego State. In his last outing, Knight scored 15 points, the most he's scored against a Division I opponent this season.
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 13.6 points per game and ranks sixth in the Mountain West with 8.5 rebounds per game. Steadman has 11 double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the conference and has scored in double figures in 22-of-30 games. He also has 14 games with double-digit rebounds.
» Steadman leads the team with six games with at least 20 points, and has twice achieved the feat in back-to-back efforts. First was against Air Force and Utah State. He put up a career-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the loss to Air Force. He then followed up with 20 points at Utah State .
» His second such streak started with a career-best 17 rebounds to go with 21 points at Air Force. He followed with 21 points and pulled down 11 boards in the win over New Mexico.
» Steadman is averaging 14.8 points per game in the last five games and is averaging 13.2 in conference games.
» Steadman came up just short of extending his double-double streak to five straight games to close the season, finishing with 21 points and nine rebounds at Fresno State.
Prior to that he had four-straight double-doubles. He averaged 17.4 points and 11.6 rebounds in the final five games.
CHANGE IT UP
» Head Coach Jean Prioleau has used 10 different lineups throughout the season with no one player starting each time out. Senior Oumar Barry had started the first 17 games before an injury kept him out of the lineup the last four games. Seven newcomers have made starts, including freshmen Seneca Knight, Zach Chappell, Trey Smith and
Christian Anigwe.
baumann and steadman crucial in wins
» In SJSU's four wins this season, there have been two critical factors. Their names are Noah Baumann and Michael Steadman.
In those four games, the pair is averaging 15.3 points each. Steadman has pulled down11.3 rebounds in those games while Baumann has been red-hot from 3-point range in each game, averaging 69.6 percent from 3-point range (16-23).
on the board(s)
» SJSU ranks third in the MW in offensive boards with 11.0 per game. They rank fifth in defensive boards with 26.2.
series history: air force
» Wednesday's game will be the 16th overall meeting between the Spartans and Falcons. SJSU has a pair of three-game win streaks in the series. The Spartans have won three of the last seven games, however Air Force is on a four-game win streak after taking both regular season games in 2019 in a 73-71 double-overtime win in San Jose and 82-68 win in Colorado Springs.
» Air Force checks in as the No. 6 seed and are led by 7th-year head coach Dave Pilipovich. This will be the first meeting between the programs in the conference tournament.