SANTA CLARA, Calif. – San Jose State men's basketball saw five players finish in double figure scoring and shot 53.1 percent in the second half as they attempted to erase a 17 point deficit, but just didn't have enough gas in the tank to finish the job as Santa Clara pulled away with a 89-84 victory Wednesday night at the Leavey Center.
The second half scoring clip was one of SJSU's best of the season, but unfortunately they had put themselves in a hole after a porous start in which they were just 1-for-6 in the first 10 minutes and committed 13 total turnovers in the first half. The Broncos (11-2) used to their advantaged and mounted a lead that SJSU was unable to overcome.
The Spartans (3-9) opened the night with a 36 percent scoring clip on (9-of-25) shooting, but four of those buckets came from downtown with under six minutes to play in the period to keep themselves in it despite Santa Clara scoring 41 points on 57 percent shooting. Guglielmo Caruso gave SJSU all kinds of problems with 18 first half points, doing most of his damage under the basket.
After Santa Clara jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open play, Brae Ivey hit the first of the first half Spartan treys to get SJSU on the board. Unfortunately, the bucket was part of a 1-for-6 start for the Spartans and the Broncos took advantage of the poor shooting and quickly jumped out to a double digit lead. They poured it on to as much as 16 point lead at the 7:54 mark.
SJSU battled back and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to single digits at 27-19 with just under 4:00 to play in the half. They cut the deficit to as little as seven after Christian Anigwe pulled up from the top of the key and buried the fourth and final triple of the period, however Santa Clara scored six unanswered to close it out and take a comfortable 41-26 lead into the locker room.
The Spartan offense came out with high energy out of the break and used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit back to single digits at the first media timeout. They were a respectable 5-of-11 in the first seven minutes of action, but unfortunately they were unable to keep Santa Clara's scoring at bay. However, just when it seemed the Broncos were set to take control for good, the Spartans hit must-hit baskets to keep themselves in it.
Trailing by 17 at the 13:39 mark, SJSU rattled off a 10-0 run thanks to two Anigwe 3-balls and a tip-in to cap the spree and cut the deficit to seven. Anigwe finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.
The Spartans appeared to catch a huge break with 8:54 to play as Caruso picked up his fourth foul and forced him to the bench . The 6-foot-11 sophomore had been unstoppable with a career-high 25 points up to that point. Despite not having their best player in the lineup, Santa Clara still was able to go on a 9-1 run and regain a comfortable 70-55 advantage with under six to go. SJSU punched back with a mini 6-0 run of their own but a corner trey by Tahj Eaddy put that to short work and pushed the lead to 73-61 at the final media timeout.
Out of the break, the teams exchanged 3-point buckets and Ralph Agee scored a deuce for his career-high 12th and 13th points of the night to cut the lead to eight with 1:17 on the clock. After an easy layup on the Santa Clara side of the court, Omari Moore converted a 3-point play to cut the lead down to 82-75. After Santa Clara went 1-for-2 at the charity strip on the next possession, Knight added to the drama by drawing a foul in on 3-point attempt and proceeded to hit all three freebies to cut the deficit down to 85-79 with 35.5 on the clock. Zach Chappell nailed another triple with three seconds remaining, but it was all for naught as the time had run out.
Despite the loss, the Spartans have plenty to hang their hat on as they ready themselves to close out nonconference play with back-to-back home games against UC Riverside and Pepperdine. SJSU was plus-11 in rebounding as they won the battle 36-25. The Spartans also scored 58 points in the second half after mustering 26 in the first half.
Zach Chappell had a career high 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting with a pair of triples. Seneca Knight added 15 points and Brae Ivey chipped in 11. The Spartans knocked down nine 3-pointers to the Broncos' seven.
Caruso finished with 25 points to lead all scorers while Keshawn Justice also reached the 20-point range on 5-of-7 shooting. The Broncos shot 55.8 percent for the night and knocked down 41 percent from 3-point range.
The Spartans return to action Sunday against UC Riverside. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.