By Navin Krishnan (@NavinKthespear) — Reporter
The San Jose State men’s basketball team (8-22, 1-17) fell 75-52 Friday against a ferocious Utah State (17-14, 8-10) in the final conference game for both teams.
Spartans head coach Tim Miles officially completed his first season in San Jose.
“I’m looking forward to building a happier season and a winning season and do it as soon as possible,” said Miles. “This group’s been really fun to coach. Their hearts are willing.”
Utah State came in 15-1 when outshooting its opponent from the field and is 12-3 when outshooting its opponent from behind the 3-point line.
“At one point they hit six of their first seven threes of the half,” said Miles. “When they get going like that, that’s what made it a tough night for us.”
The night would belong to the Aggies’ hot-shooting Justin Bean, who recorded the 45th double-double of his career, and moved into second place all-time in Utah State and Mountain West Conference history.
“He’s almost got two complete college seasons of double-doubles. That’s just remarkable,” Miles said. “He’s so much improved. He’s shooting his threes . . . around 50%in conference play.”
SJSU held the Aggies scoreless in the first five minutes.
The Spartans would come back to take the lead at 23-19 with 4:50 left in the first half, led by a thunderous dunk by Omari Moore.
“I never thought we could get on track offensively,” said Miles. “We played solid defense early, we only had a small lead, we were only a basket behind. And that is when I thought we were playing good defense.”
The Spartans did a solid job in the first half, trailing a powerful Aggies team 28-26 and holding Utah State’s Justin Bean to three points.
Omari Moore picked up his third foul with 18:18 left in the second half, and his absence would result in a 7-0 run by Utah State.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a guy like Omari Moore involved in the game,” said Miles. “We couldn’t manage foul trouble very well. Every time we get him in, it just seemed like he picked up a foul.”
Without Diallo and Moore in the game, the Spartans lagged on defense and they started to jack up long-distance shots instead of moving the ball and executing, resulting in an all-too-familiar double digit deficit.
“We fouled too much,” said Miles. “They were in the bonus with 13 minutes left in the game. Omari only played 22 minutes, who’s been playing essentially 40 minutes [per game] for us.”
Miles is optimistic that this year’s woes won’t be duplicated as the Spartans enter the Mountain West Conference tournament March 9, looking to grab a win and an upset to keep postseason hopes alive.
“It’s going to be a big off-season for us,” said Miles. “We haven’t been able to get a full, healthy group. I wish for our guys that they learn from those trials and tribulations and how you can apply those in a positive way, make your life better.”
The Spartans finished the season at last place in the Mountain West Conference and look ahead to next season with enthusiasm, looking to improve from a tumultuous year.