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Air Force Next Up For Spartan Men's Hoops

PHOENIX - San Jose State men's basketball (presented by Provident Credit Union) will look to keep the winning ways alive as they get ready to welcome Air Force to Phoenix for two games beginning on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT. Both games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Digital Network.
  Game Nos. 15-16
Air Force (4-10, 2-8 MW) vs. San Jose State (3-11, 1-9 MW)
Game 1 - Thursday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m. MT | Game 2 - Saturday, Jan. 30, 4:00 p.m. MT
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TV AND RADIO INFORMATION: 
Both games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network with James Poovey handling the play-by-play. Fans can also catch Justin Allegri's Spartan Radio call live on the TuneIn app or on TuneIn.com.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
»    Air Force checks into the weekend with a 4-10 overall record and a 2-8 mark in league play. The Falcons last played San Diego State, dropping both games in Colorado Springs.

»    The Falcons are led offensively by A.J. Walker (13.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Chris Joyce (11.7 ppg). 

LOOKING BACK AT THE DUB
»    The Spartans let out a big sigh of relief after finally picking up a win in conference play in game two vs. New Mexico. Without leading scorer Richard Washington, SJSU used a balanced offensive approach to take down the Lobos. Ralph Agee, Sebastian Mendoza, Trey Smith and Jalen Dalcourt all finished with 16 points while Omari Moore finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

»    The win was the Spartans' first over a Mountain West opponent in a venue outside of San Jose since February 11, 2017, when SJSU defeated UNLV, 76-74, in Las Vegas.

»    The 12-point margin of victory was also SJSU's largest over a conference opponent since Feb. 3, 2016 (65-53 vs. Fresno State). 

»    It marked the first time in just over a calendar year since five Spartans reached double-figure scoring (Jan. 20, 2020 vs. Air Force). 

LAST TIME VS. AIR FORCE
»    The Spartans and Falcons split last year's series. San Jose State won game one in San Jose by a final of 90-81 before falling 95-86 in Colorado Springs.

»    The Spartans hit a season-best 13 3-pointers in the win. Richard Washington scored six points inside the final 3:00 to give SJSU a seven-point lead that they were able to hold on to for the duration and picked up their first win over the Falcons since 2017.

NO WASHINGTON, NO PROBLEM
»    Missing one of the premier scorers in all of college basketball in the form of senior guard Richard Washington, the Spartans appeared to be at a disadvantage at the start of game two vs. New Mexico. However, the team responded to the adversity and picked up the slack by shooting 53 percent for the game with five individual scorers reaching double-figures. 

RUN IT BACK
»    The Spartans have done a solid job at improving from game one to game two in league series this season. Here are the point differential improvements between games for each series.

Utah State (+12)
Boise State (+51)
Fresno State (0)
Colorado State (+16)
New Mexico (+28)

»    Special thanks to Geoff Grammer of the Albuqerque Journal for the note. 

TREYSANITY SZN
»    Junior guard Trey Smith had a game to remember in the win over New Mexico. Not only was he one of four scorers to put up 16 points, but the point total was a career-best. He knocked down a career-high four triples while playing all 40 minutes to help lead the Spartans to victory.