Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
Fourth-year center Ibrahima Diallo blocked eight shots as San Jose State men’s basketball (3-0, 0-0) clinched its first 3-0 start since the 2010-11 season against Alabama State (0-3,0-0) with a 70-57 win.
Diallo’s eight blocks were the most in Provident Credit Union Event Center history, breaking Brandon Clarke’s record of seven against UNLV in 2017.
Fourth-year guard Omari Moore “wasn’t surprised at all” that Diallo broke the record and said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if he breaks it again.”
Moore and fellow team captain second-year guard Alvaro Cardenas combined for 36 points and were the only Spartans in double figures. Cardenas went 3-for-5 on threes and finished with a career-high 17 points.
The guard from Granada, Spain came into the season with 20 more pounds of muscle and SJSU head coach Tim Miles has noticed an increased “confidence” in him.
There was a palpable conviction oozing out of Cardenas and he roamed the court the way a lion stalks his prey.
The Spartans went down 9-0 to start the game and didn’t score until the 15:30 mark when Cardenas nailed his first of three 3-pointers on the day.
They worked their way back with a 13-2 run to go up 28-26 pinpointed by a Moore steal-layup sequence to take their first lead.
After trading the lead back and forth, Moore drove and finished at the rim to put the Spartans up 36-33 to end the half.
Alabama State lost all the momentum they gained in the first when they went 2-for-17 from the field to open the second half.
SJSU men’s basketball started knocking down threes in the second half, with third-year wing Tibet Görener pitching in two.
Moore, Cardenas and second-year shooting guard MJ Amey Jr. each knocked down one.
For the third-straight game, the Spartans dominated down low with the help of Diallo and newcomers Sage Tolbert, Robert Vaihola and Max Allen. They outrebounded the Hornets 36-23, outscored them 34-18 in the paint and doubled their second chance points.
“They’re all valuable contributors,” said Miles. “They’ve done a very good job of helping us out in different points in time. Tonight Sage struggled scoring, but he did a lot of other really good things for us.”
But Tuesday night showed SJSU men’s basketball still has its flaws.
Moore went 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, 2-for-7 from the line and the Spartans finished 13-for-26 from the charity stripe.
“I thought Omari played through some trials and tribulations,” said Miles. “That’s a battle within itself between the ears and I thought he handled it pretty well.”
SJSU men’s basketball will be back in action this Thursday night at 7 as they host Hofstra and look to clinch their first 4-0 start to a season since the 1956-57 season.