| San José State (19-12, 10-8 MW) vs. Nevada (22-9, 12-6 MW) | |
| When | Thursday, March 9 | 2:30 p.m. PT |
| Location | Thomas & Mack Center | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| Broadcast & Statistics | CBS Sports Network DirecTV 221, CBSSports.com, Hulu, Fubo, and YouTube TV KTRB 860 AM Live Stats |
| Game Notes | San José State | Nevada |
| Rosters | San José State | Nevada |
Hear from the @MountainWest Steve Fisher Coach of the Year @CoachMiles as the Spartans prepare for Nevada on Thursday. #AllSpartans | #RunToTheFight pic.twitter.com/uywpTWPlbh
— San Jose State Men's Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) March 9, 2023
For the first time in school history, a San José State men's basketball team will play in a quarterfinal game at the 2023 Mountain West Championship. The Spartans enter the week as the fifth seed after finishing the conference season with a 10-8 record and on a three-game winning streak. As the fifth seed, SJSU will face the fourth seed Nevada Thursday afternoon in the second game of the first session. If the Spartans win, the team would face the winner of the San Diego State-Colorado State game played at noon Thursday.
San José State enters the championship with a 19-12 overall record and 10-8 MW mark. The team brings a three-game winning streak into the week after defeating Colorado State, 63-46, last Tuesday, and 63-61 at Air Force on Saturday as the Spartans came back from a 20-point deficit early in the second half.
ABOUT NEVADA: The Wolf Pack enter the tournament as the number-four seed after finishing the MW schedule with a 12-6 mark and have a 22-9 overall record. The team is on a two-game losing streak, falling at Wyoming, 80-71, and at home to UNLV, 69-67, in overtime. Head coach Steve Alford is in his fourth year at the school.
Series Record - 51-65, Nevada has won the past five meetings. The two teams did not play each other during the 2020-21 season.
Last SJSU Win in Series - 70-68, Jan. 8, 2020, San Jose
Seneca Knight scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the hard-fought win. The Spartans used a 17-2 run in the second half to take the lead.
2023 Meetings
1/7/2023 - L, 67-40, San Jose
2/21/2023 - L, 66-51, Reno
Last 10 Series Meetings
3/1/2017 L 82-67 San Jose
1/17/2018 L 71-54 San Jose
2/21/2018 L 80-67 Reno
1/9/2019 L 92-53 Reno
1/8/2020 W 70-68 San Jose
2/8/2020 L 95-77 Reno
2/15/2022 L 81-72 Reno
2/17/2022 L 90-60 San Jose
1/7/2023 L 67-40 San Jose
2/21/2023 L 66-51 Reno
NET RANKINGS (as of 3/8): The Spartans are currently ranked 96 in the NET Rankings after games played on March 7. SJSU has Quadrant 1 wins over Boise State and Utah State, Quadrant 2 wins over Santa Clara, Colorado State, and UNLV, Quadrant 3 wins over Ball State, UNLV, Colorado State, Air Force, and Northern Colorado and seven Quadrant 4 wins.
SPARTANS AT THE MW TOURNAMENT: The Spartans are looking for some success at the Mountain West Tournament in 2023 at the Thomas & Mack Center. This year marks the first time the SJSU program has played in a quarterfinal game. The closest San José State has come to winning a game was last year's first round when the Spartans fell in overtime to Fresno State, 69-67.
Mountain West Tournament Results
2014 - First Round - L, Boise State, 83-52
2016 - First Round - L, Colorado State, 80-61
2017 - First Round - L, Utah State, 90-64
2018 - First Round - L, Wyoming, 74-61
2019 - First Round - L, Air Force, 87-56
2020 - First Round - L, New Mexico, 79-66
2021 - First Round, L, Wyoming, 111-80
2022 - First Round, L, Fresno State, 69-67 (OT)
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE STARTING LINEUPS: This season, the Spartans have used the same lineup for all 30 games. This is a change from past years when San José State used 13 different starting lineups for the 2021-22 season.
Spartan Starting Lineup -Alvaro Cardenas, Omari Moore, Trey Anderson, Sage Tolbert III & Ibrahima Diallo
San José State is one of three teams nationwide to use the same starting lineup for every game this season (thru 3/7/23).
Marquette, Marshall & San José State
WHAT A COMEBACK: The Spartans had to comeback from 20 points down in the second half at Air Force on March 4 for a 63-61 win at USAFA. The 20 points is sixth on the list of top comebacks of the year nationally and the 20 points in the second half is fifth on the list compiled by Brett Rodden of Winthrop.
MOORE NEARING SIXTH ON CAREER SCORING LIST: Omari Moore moved into seventh place on the San José State scoring list last week with his 33 points at Air Force and now has 1,247 career points. He needs 11 more points scored to move into sixth place on the list.
19 WINS TAKES THE SPARTANS TO NEW HEIGHTS: The Spartans recorded 19 wins this season for the first time since 1980-81 season when the team had a 22-9 record. The program has only won 18 or more games nine times since 1937-38.
MOST MW WINS EVER/MOST CONFERENCE WINS SINCE 1993-94: With 10 Mountain West wins this season, the Spartans have reached another plateau, recording the most MW wins in school history and the most since the 1993-94 season. Since joining a conference in 1969-70, Spartan teams have won nine or more conference games in six seasons. Two of those teams have participated in the postseason - 1980-81 NIT and 1995-96 NCAA Tournament.
9+ Conference Wins Since 1969-70
1980-81 10-4 Big West (NIT Participant)
1984-85 10-8 Big West
1986-87 10-8 Big West
1993-94 11-7 Big West
1995-96 9-9 Big West (NCAA Tournament)
2022-23 10-8 MW
#AllSpartans