San José, Calif. - The San José State men's basketball team will go for a third straight win at 7 PM on Saturday when Portland State visits the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-2, 0-0 MW)
PPG: 68.6 | FG%: 42.2 | 3FG%: 27.0 | FT%: 58.6
Notes: The Spartans are looking for their first three-game winning streak since 2016-17 when SJSU won four consecutive games as part of a 14-16 season. The Spartans are shooting for their fourth win of the season just three weeks into the season after posting four total wins in each of the previous two years. Sophomore guard Seneca Knight is averaging a team-high 11.8 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field.
PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
PPG:79.5 | FG%: 41.7 | 3FG%: 28.8 | FT%: 68.1
Series: SJSU leads, 4-1 (2-1 in San Jose)
Last: SJSU won 76-73 in OT on 12/28/07 in Portland
Notes: Portland State is 1-3 to start this season after going 16-16 last year, including an 11-9 mark in Big Sky play. Guard Holland Woods is averaging a team-high 18.3 ppg. He had 27 points against Indiana and 22 on Wednesday against Portland. The Vikings are just 19-of-66 from three-point range this season. Guard Matt Hauser has hit nine of those threes.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV - None
Stream - Stream all non-televised SJSU home games via the Mountain West Digital Network at sjsuspartans.com/watch.
Radio - Justin Allegri on the call through TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Search TuneIn for "San Jose St. Basketball".
Social - Follow SanJoseStateMBB on twitter for in-game updates
ZACH ATTACK
- A constant in the Spartans' two straight wins has been the play of reserve guard Zach Chappell.
- Chappell tallied a season-high 14 points in a win over Simpson on Nov. 17, going 5-of-7 from the field including a pair of three-pointers.
- Chappell then posted 10 points in the win against Grambling State, again knocking down a pair of three-pointers.
- The Spartans are shooting just 27.0 percent on threes on the season but Chappell is shooting 38.1 percent from deep.
SPARTANS STYMIE GRAMBLING STATE
- Grambling State entered the game on Nov. 20 at SJSU with the nation's No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 114 points over its first three games.
- The Spartans held the Tigers 38 points under their average in an 83-76 win at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
- Grambling State was 1-of-10 shooting on three-pointers.
BALANCED EFFORT IN WIN VS. SIMPSON
- The Spartans had 13 different players score in an 85-60 win over Simpson on Nov. 17.
- Guard Zach Chappell came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
- Guard Seneca Knight was 6-of-8 shooting for 15 points.
- Forward Craig LeCesne added 13 points in 19 minutes.
- Forward Ralph Agee posted 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
- Freshman walk-on Harminder Dhaliwal made his collegiate debut and had two points and two rebounds in six minutes.
SPARTANS STUN HOFSTRA IN SEASON-OPENER
- San José State opened the 2019-20 season with a bang, defeating Hofstra on the road, 79-71, on Nov. 6.
- Hofstra won 27 games last year, SJSU lost 27 games.
- In his Spartan debut, JC transfer and former Wake Forest guard, Richard Washington, posted a team-high 23 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. He scored 12 of his 23 points in the final four minutes, including a stretch of three straight three-pointers to put the game away.
- Senior forward Craig LeCesne had his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points plus 11 rebounds.
- It was SJSU's first win in a road opener since 2010-11 when the Spartans topped Eastern Washington, 67-60.
- The Spartans snapped a 21-game road losing streak dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.
- SJSU won on the East Coast for the first time since 2001-02, when the Spartans defeated Fairleigh Dickinson at the BCA Tournament hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.
FOUR WINS FOLLOWED BY A TITLE
- The Spartans are hoping to duplicate the success of the 1995-96 squad. SJSU won the Big West Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year after going 4-23 during the 1994-95 season.
- The Spartans went 4-27 last season.
LOTS OF STARTING EXPERIENCE BACK
- The Spartans return seven players who started at least one game a season ago.
- Guard Seneca Knight is the most experienced, as the sophomore started 17 games, including the final 12, of his rookie season.
- Point guard Brea Ivey was just behind Knight, as the former junior college transfer started 16 games last season.
- Forward Craig LeCesne and guard Zach Chappell both started 15 games last year.
- Forward Christian Anigwe, guard Isaiah Nichols and walk-on guard Trey Smith each started one game.
SIX NEW FACES FOR 2019-20
San José State head coach Jean Prioleau will have the help of six newcomers on the roster in 2019-20.
- The Spartans have three new junior college transfers in Richard Washington (Tallahassee CC), Eduardo Lane (Marshalltown CC) and Ralph Agee (East LA College). Washington started his collegiate career at Wake Forest, where he played eight games as a freshman before an injury caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 season.
- Another Wake Forest transfer will join the Spartans on the floor this season, as center Samuel Japhet-Mathias will be eligible after a redshirt season last year. The former four-star recruit appeared in 17 games off the bench at Wake Forest as a freshman in 2016-17. He posted six points and four rebounds at No. 17 Xavier.
- Prioleau added two freshmen this season in guard Omari Moore and walk-on center Harminder Dhaliwal.
SAN JOSE STATE TV SCHEDULE
- San José State will play 10 games on TV this season, including three at home.
- SJSU hosts an ESPN networks game this year for the first time since 2010-11, when either ESPN2 or ESPNU will carry the SJSU tip against Utah State on Dec. 4. SJSU will also be on ESPN2 or ESPNU when visiting Utah State on Feb. 26.
- San José State will have four non-conference games on TV, all against Pac-12 competition. The Spartans will be on CBS Sports Network when hosting Stanford at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Dec. 14. SJSU will battle both UCLA and Arizona on Pac-12 Networks and meet Oregon State on FS1 for a neutral site matchup in Las Vegas.
- The Spartans will also have four Mountain West contests on AT&T SportsNet this season - Jan. 15 at UNLV, Jan. 21 at New Mexico, Feb. 8 at Nevada and Feb. 29 vs. UNLV.