SAN JOSE, Calif. - Senior Brae Ivey tallied a career-high 23 points as the San Jose State men's basketball team defeated Pepperdine, 83-68, on Saturday night at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Spartans used Ivey's hot shooting to build a 10-point halftime lead and continued to build upon it in the second half.
In addition to Ivey's 23 points, freshman Omari Moore and sophomore Seneca Knight chipped in 12 points each. Knight posted the most well-rounded game of his young career as he added a career-high 10 rebounds and a career-best six assists.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the first half after Ivey, Ralph Agee and Moore tallied back-to-back-to-back threes. SJSU pushed the lead to nine midway through the first when Ivey hit another three, his third of the game, with 9:33 left before halftime. The Spartans led by as much as 14 in the first half before taking a 42-32 advantage into the break. Ivey had 14 points at halftime, including 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Pepperdine cut the deficit down to just three points, 47-44, with 15:29 left in the game but the Spartans responded with an 11-2 run, fueled by six points from Christian Anigwe, to take a 58-46 lead with 12:46 to go. The Spartans' lead would never dip below nine points for the remainder of the game.
Knight, who posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, had 10 points and seven boards in the second half alone. Even with the defense keying on him after halftime, Ivey added nine points in the second half. Ivey knocked down five three-pointers, also a career-high, while shooting 8-of-13 from the field overall.
Notebook: The Spartans had just seven turnovers in the game, a season-low...SJSU had posted 11-or-more turnovers in each of its previous 13 games...On the flip side, the Spartans matched a season-high with eight steals against the Waves...SJSU is 3-1 this season when scoring 80+ points...The Spartans snapped an eight-game losing streak with the win...With four wins this season, the Spartans have matched their win total from each of the previous two years.