Omari Moore (Photo by Max Bechtoldt)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
Thursday’s matchup between the San Jose State Spartans (7-13, MW 0-8) and Utah State Aggies (13-9, MW 4-5) features two squads trending in different directions. The Spartans are colder than an eskimo, having lost their last eight games and the Aggies are a blue flame, winning their last three matchups by an average of 24.7 points.
Know Your Foe
The Aggies are looking like the next muscle the Mountain West can flex. They stomped a stout San Diego State by nearly 20 and then delivered big haymakers to Nevada. Senior Justin Bean carries the torch for Utah State, averaging 18 points per game on 48% shooting from three.
In the clip above, Air Force has a miscommunication and turns their back to the top of the key, allowing Bean to sit pretty and wait for a crisp pass to set up and shoot.
During the recent win streak, chemistry has been a bigger factor than any individual performance. In the three games, the highest single-scoring games have been 17 points — once from Steven Ashworth and the other from Brandon Horvath.
Very different from the Spartans’ previous matchup against Fresno State, where Orlando Robinson dictated the offense’s every move. started with Orlando Robinson and flowed from there.
San Jose State will have to keep everything in front of them because the Aggies loved waiting for Air Force to fall asleep so they could get easy lobs at the hoop.
Transition defense could be one of the key differences in this game. Things will not fall the Spartans’ way — that’s basketball. Bad bounces on offense can’t turn into lackluster and lazy defense.
Spartans’ Route to Victory
“My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain.”
That quote is from Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver”, Robert DeNiro’s creation that makes you wonder about your next Uber driver’s personal life and then immediately regret it. For those wondering, yes I’m talkin’ to you.
Now back to basketball.
After the 30-point pummeling by way of Fresno State on Feb. 1, the Spartans have dropped eight games in a row and are getting goose egged in Mountain West play.
Losing each game by an average of 16 points can make each game “indistinguishable from the next,” as alluded to above. Breaking free from this cycle will start with better 3-point shooting.
The Spartans have shot 10 of 50 in the last two games from beyond the arc. Shooting forward Tibet Gorener has struggled, shooting 5 of 25 in his last four games. During the second game against Fresno State, he was doing his job to get open, but wasn’t converting when the time came.
Gorener isn’t the exception, merely one player who could flip the outcome of a game when he becomes a human wildfire.
It’s been clear for some time now that Omari Moore is the guy to look to when the team needs points. In each game during conference play he’s either led the team in points, assists and even both categories. The Bat Signal for a second scoring threat has been beckoning in the sky for the past month and Trey Anderson could be the solution.
He’s been in double figures in four of the last five games and has been 8 of 17 from three. With Gorener struggling, Anderson could be called upon to provide a spark from long distance and get to the rim.
Perfect execution on the and-1 play, in the clip featured above. Anderson had the patience to wait for Robinson to lose his footing, locate the best angle for the driving lane, control the ball and attack the rim with fearless energy of prime Mike Tyson. Contact was a foregone conclusion, but there was no second guessing.
It’s going to take Anderson playing out of his gourd or a coalition of other Spartans separating from the pack to kill the losing streak and break the chain.