Alvaro Cardenas (Photo by: Max Bechtoldt)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) — MBB Beat Reporter
History repeats itself and that’s just how it goes.
In the second installment of the Fresno State (15-6, MW 5-3) and San Jose State (7-13, MW 0-8) series, the Spartans lost by 30 points, 73-43, 10 more than the first installment.
The Spartans built a 14-10 lead following a Tibet Gorener jumper with 11 minutes left in the first half. Offense was flowing for the Spartans, with 12 points scored in the paint thanks to efficient back-door cuts.
Fresno State went on a 14-point run from that moment on and never gave the lead back.
“When Fresno has Orlando Robinson down low and goes 8 of 12 from three, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles.
Robinson was the main attraction heading into the game and was a skosh below as advertised in scoring, but his impact spans miles.
Double teams thrown his way by the Spartans worked in the first half, holding him to five points and the Bulldogs to 32. When the second half came around, he got busy. Obviously, there’s his ability to score in the paint — that’s nothing new. Then there was his ability to draw fouls that led him to go 5 of 5 from the charity stripe and forced Spartans’ Trey Anderson and Omari Moore into foul trouble. Both fouled out with more than three minutes remaining in the game.
Robinson is a blend between stoic and robotic. His success seems automated like a well running engine, and his face never shows any hints of a grin or a frown. He looked at Medusa, turned to stone, and then developed NBA level talent. Few people can wear a coat of apathy and turn it menacing like he can.
Playing against Robinson means the paint will have orange traffic cones around it, which means the three ball has got to be there — it wasn’t.
The Spartans went 1 of 9 from three in the first half and 3 of 14 in the second half.
There were no shots made from beyond the arc within the last 13 minutes of the game.
“I thought we took three or four first half three’s that did not look like we were shot ready, it looked like we were dutiful,” Miles said.
Omari Moore led the Spartans in points again with 11, but it was far from dominating.
When the Spartans played Air Force and UNLV to the final minute, it felt like there was enough there to build on. That feeling has left after the 16-point loss to New Mexico and the 30-point throttling tonight.
No Spartan finished with a positive +/- and three players ended up with at least a -25 or worse.
“We have to make our own breaks,” Miles said. “I told our guys one of these nights we are going to run into somebody else who shoots 4 of 19 and we are going to go 8 for 12.”
Miles ended the press conference on an uplifting note.
“Keep that energy level going, and just keep chopping wood and good things will happen. Eventually the tree will fall down.”
Growing pains of a young roster filled with transfers is the genesis of a team that’s now lost eight games in a row and winless in the Mountain West.
