SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State men's basketball was unable to get their offense going as they were bested by Portland, 72-57, in their home opener Sunday at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Spartans (1-1) were held to a 40 percent shooting clip from the floor (23-of-58) while Portland (2-1) shot 48 percent (26-of-54). SJSU also struggled from 3-point range (23 percent) and at the free throw line (31 percent).
For the second-straight game to start his career, Richard Washington was the Spartan leading scorer with 11 points and came up just one rebound shy of a double-double. Sam Japhet-Mathias and Brae Ivey chipped in eight points while Eduardo Lane finished with seven points.
The Pilots were led by JoJo Walker's game-high 22 points while Isaiah White pitched in 17 points. Portland finished 9-of-20 from beyond the arc and hit 11-of-15 from the charity stripe.
SJSU led 7-6 at the first media timeout, but Portland quickly grabbed control of the lead and never lost it for the remainder of the evening. The Spartans cut it down to one with 3:49 left in the first half on a Washington trey off a fastbreak, but the Pilots closed the half on a 9-2 run to enter the locker room with an eight point advantage at 37-29.
In the second half, Portland pushed their lead to 13 with 9:39 to play before Washington hit another 3-point basket to spark an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to five at 56-51 at the 6:34 mark. That was as close as the Spartans would get as the Pilots regained control and closed the game on an 8-0 run to close the door.
Despite the loss, the Spartans continued to show signs of improvement in the turnover department, finishing with just 13 while forcing 15, resulting in 16 points off turnovers. Rebounding was all-square at 32 apiece.
With the loss, SJSU turns their sights towards the difficult task at hand in the form of No. 21 Arizona inside of the McKale Center in Tucson on Thursday, Nov. 14. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. PT and can be seen live on the Pac-12 Network.
