SAN JOSE, Calif.- The San José State men’s basketball team (1-3, 0-0 MW) will host Southern (2-3, 0-0 SWAC) at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Friday at 7 p.m. The game can be watched on Mountain West Network and can be heard on KTRB 860 AM.
- The Spartans are looking to return to postseason play for the third time in four years which would be the best stretch in program history.
- Last season, the Spartans competed in the NIT for the first time since 1981.This is the first ever meeting between SJSU and Southern.
- Colby Garland is averaging 22.5 points per game, ranking first in the Mountain West and No. 19 in the country (as of Nov. 19).
- Garland is one of three players in the nation to average more than 22 points per game on 66.7% shooting or better (McNeese's Larry Johnson & Baylor's Cameron Carr).
- Garland is averaging nine made field goals per game which is second most in the nation, just behind Texas Tech's JT Toppin who leads the nation with 10 made field goals per game.
- Garland is the only player in the Mountain West to score 30 points in a game so far this season.
- Garland is the first Spartan since Adrian Oliver in 2008-09 to score 20+ in each of his first three games of the season.
- Against UCSB, Garland shot 11-13 from the field and 8-9 from the foul line.Garland is the first Spartan to score 30 points without attempting a three since Brandon Clarke, who scored 36 against Air Force, on Jan. 14, 2017.
- Garland is also the first Spartan to score 30 on at least 80% shooting from the field since D.J. Brown, who did it against CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 23, 2012.
- Ben Roseborough has been one of the Mountain West's leading three point shooters so far this season.
- Roseborough's 2.75 threes per game ranks third in the Mountain West while his .500 three point percentage ranks first (Minimum 2.5 3FG/G average.
- Jermaine Washington is averaging the third most minutes per game in the Mountain West this season. His averages of 10.8 points and 3.3 assists per game are career-highs. He is also averaging two made threes per game which ranks ninth in the conference.
- Yaphet Moundi has three double-doubles through four games, tying him with Utah State's Garry Clark for the most in the conference this season. He also ranks 4th in the MW with 10.0 rebounds per game. Last season, Robert Vaihola led the Spartans in double-doubles with four.
- Moundi is averaging 9.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. The last Spartan to finish a season averaging 10 or more rebounds per game was Coby Dietrick in 1969-70.
- Melvin Bell Jr. is averaging 4.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in his freshman season. Bell is averaging two offensive rebounds per game which is tied for the 13th best in the Mountain West.
- Japhet Moupadele scored 13 points on 6-9 shooting in his career-debut against Bethesda.
- JaVaughn Hannah has been limited to one game so far this season due to injury. Against Utah, Hannah scored 12 points on 5-7 shooting.
- The Spartans will have a completely new starting five for the second consecutive season.
- The Spartans return just three players who saw minutes last season, equating to 19.4 percent of their scoring (Sadraque NgaNga - 6.8 ppg, Washington - 4.4 ppg & Pasha Goodarzi - 2.3 ppg).
- SJSU added six new players this offseason from the transfer portal. They include Garland (Longwood), Adrian Myers (Mississippi State), Hannah (Western Michigan), Jaden Goodall (Cal), Moundi (Iona) & Marcus Overstreet (Mercer).
- The Spartans added five freshmen to the squad, including Bell Jr., Damase Coly, Eren Karakaya, Japhet Moupadele & Douglas Langford.
- The Spartans also add redshirt freshman Roseborough, who missed all of last season with an injury. Roseborough was a three star rated recruit and ranked as the 13th best player in California in his recruiting class.
- The Spartans were picked to finish 10th in the Mountain West Preseason poll.
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