By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) — MBB Beat Reporter
The Mountain West upset of the year was looking like it would take place on Feb. 12 in Provident Credit Union Event Center between the San Jose State Spartans (7-17, MW 0-12) and Wyoming Cowboys (21-3, MW 10-1).
Hopes of a court storming seemed attainable when the last place Spartans held a one-point lead with a couple minutes remaining in the first half. Wyoming was 4 of 15 from three and SJSU double teams were sent Graham Ike’s way, holding him to a pedestrian eight points for his standards.
Spartans’ Myron Amey Jr. and Omari Moore were firing away from three en route to a strong 5 of 10 performance.
The best half of basketball the Spartans showed all of conference play ended in a familiar blowout fashion.
By the time the crowd favorite “YMCA” was being blasted and fans were throwing arms in the air with eight minutes left, the Spartans were down 60-45.
Part of it was Wyoming rediscovering its mojo, but most of it was the Spartans’ offense crumbling one possession after another.
“I think it was more on us,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “Out of a timeout we had one of our players run an action incorrectly and it was for him and he had a bad night.”
In the final 20 minutes, Amey Jr. and Majok Kauth combined for 21 of the team’s 23 points, while Trey Anderson and Moore combined to go 0 of 9.
As the season begins to wrap up, it appears that Amey Jr. is the guy that will take the bull by the horns and lead the Spartans out of purgatory. Efficiency wasn’t the name of his game tonight, going 4 of 18, but his ability to shoot 4 of 8 from three and go 7 of 8 from the charity stripe kept SJSU in the game.
Miles mentioned that he was “playing on one leg” after badly injuring his ankle in the first drill of practice yesterday. In spite of his frustrating predicament he managed to unleash one of the best blocks seen all year on All-American hopeful Ike.
He creeps up from behind like a stealthy predator and turns Ike’s dunk attempt into cookie dough sending a shot of adrenaline throughout the arena.
The blocked dunk barely laid a finger on Ike’s incredible 25-point night on a perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the line. Sitting 10 yards away from Ike working in the post was like taking a trip to the eighth wonder in the world.
He goes from having the methodical patience of a marble sculpture and once the defender is on ice skates, develops the power of a rhino and bursts his way to the rim. It was childsplay for rebounds as Ike ended with a courthigh of 18.
Flanked by Hunter Maldonado, who had 23 points by himself, the Spartans’ defense could only contain for so long before the contest ended up being decided by 24 points.
“You got to credit Maldonado,” Miles said. “He scored four times over our big guys.”
The result was expected, but it doesn’t make it sting any less for a Spartans team that’s now on a 12-game losing streak.