By Benny Garcia — Reporter
This weekend San Jose State men’s basketball (5-13, 3-11 MW) will take on the University of Las Vegas (5-7, 8-11 MW) at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose, Calif.
The Spartans have not played since February 10, but they look to start fresh as they are coming off a tough series in San Diego where they lost back-to-back games for the first time since the middle of January.
In the series against San Diego State, SJSU struggled on both ends of the floor as the Spartans could only muster up 54.5 points in those games, while allowing the Aztecs to average 81 points.
During their three-game winning streak prior to the series against the Aztecs, the Spartans were scoring 72.3 points per game, while only allowing 63.6 points per game.
Sunshine in the Rain
In the loss on February 10 night against the Aztecs, junior guard Trey Smith went off for a career-high 22 points.
Smith managed to drain 4 of his 6 attempts from deep, shooting 66.7% from behind the three-point line.
He narrowly missed tallying a double-double as he finished with 8 rebounds.
Matchups to watch: Agee vs. Diong
A week removed from being awarded Mountain West Conference player of the week, senior forward Ralph Agee struggled in the series against San Diego State.
He managed to only score 11 points in the two-game set.
Even after having a few rough games, it won’t get any easier in the series against Rebels as they have a formidable big man themselves.
Senior forward, Cheikh Mbacke Diong, has been a big force for the University of Las Vegas this season.
Diong has managed to record multiple double-double’s this season while averaging 8.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Earlier this year, Diong recorded a season-high 15 rebounds.
Controlling Diong will be a key factor if San Jose State hopes to score in the paint this weekend.
Dalcourt vs. Hamilton
Junior guard Jalen Dalcourt had a tough game in his last outing against San Diego State, as did most of the Spartans.
Dalcourt has been a consistent scorer and minutes-eater for SJSU.
He’s played an average 25.7 minutes per game, while scoring 10.8 points per game this season.
However, Dalcourt will go up against a high-scoring guard in Bryce Hamilton, who is averaging 18.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game this season.
In a loss against Boise State on Thursday, Hamilton scored 26 points, which is his second highest scoring game this season.
Catch the action on Friday on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m. and Monday on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. Both games will be on the Mountain West Network.