Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
SJSU men’s basketball undefeated season comes to an end as they lose to Hofstra (4-0, 0-0) 85-76.
The final score doesn’t reflect how well the Spartans (3-1,0-0) played, but that’s what happens when a team blows a 13 point lead with 13 minutes left in the game.
“I thought once they hit their stride we just couldn’t get them out of their rhythm,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles.
Second-year guard Alvaro Cardenas and third-year wing Tibet Görener led SJSU with 17 points and fourth-year guard Omari Moore finished with 16.
Hofstra came in hundreds of spots above the the other three teams SJSU men’s basketball played in Kenpom rankings (a rating system for every college basketball team) and beat a stout Iona team coached by Rick Pitino.
“You credit Hofstra and coming in and getting a road win like this is the mark of an excellent team,” said Miles.
Now it’s time to see what exactly went down at Provident Credit Union Event Center Thursday night.
The number “13” curse prevails
The number 13 being seen as unlucky is primarily a Western construct as more than 80% of high-rise buildings in the United States don’t have a 13th floor.
With the Spartans blowing a 13-point lead with 13 minutes left there might be some validity to the superstition.
“You credit an outstanding three point shooting team in Hofstra,” said Miles, “and we kept them down for a long time and in the second half they got us.”
The two teams were polar opposite from beyond the arc with the Spartans going 4-for-14 while the Pride shot 7-for-11.
“We tried some man, we tried some zone and then later in the game we tried a small lineup against them with Sage at the center and they kept scoring and we couldn’t get them out of rhythm,” said Miles.
Hofstra’s Aaron Estrada led the floor with 27 points, 14 of them coming in the second half. The Oregon-transfer notched his third game with at least 27 points and is fresh off a 33-point performance against George Washington.
SJSU men’s basketball couldn’t go tit-for-tat from deep which was strange considering how well they shot in the first half.
They went 7-for-12 and had great ball movement in the first period, illustrated by this triple from Görener.
SJSU fought until the end
While the meltdown was ugly, from Miles was not concerned about the effort to get of SJSU.
“I don’t think it was effort-based … for the most part I thought we hung in there,” said Miles.
After the lead was blown the Spartans fought tooth-and-nail to get back into it, but couldn’t as Hofstra scored 14 points off free throws.
The Pride never fumbled the lead away as soon as they got their hands on it.
Part of the frustration stems from the Spartans not hitting on the same looks that they were lethal from in the first half. Although Görener went 2-for-5 from three in the second half, their were a couple different spots where he had solid opportunities, but couldn’t cash in.
He had a plus-minus of +8 in the first half, but -19 in the second half.
Moving forward
Even a loss that involves blowing a 13-point lead with 13 minutes left does come with positive takeaways.
It starts with the environment at Provident Credit Union Event Center.
While SJSU men’s basketball was up 56-48 with 12 minutes left, Hofstra’s Nelson Boachie-Yiadom airballed a free throw and then bricked his next one.
The crowd erupted afterwards and provided that warm, fuzzy feeling you get from a good mocking of an opposing player. When I interviewed Miles leading up to the season, crowd participation was one of his main goals next to playing better on defense
“Fans need to understand, ‘You can truly make a difference in the outcome of a game,’” said Miles. “Our students can come in and create energy and create stress for the opponent.”
If you didn’t see SJSU play last year, you probably did yourself a favor. Yet this season, it looks like taking a day to come out would bring you an entertaining couple hours on an evening.
Baby steps.
SJSU men’s basketball will hit the road for the first time this season and face Northern Colorado. A team Omari Moore is already familiar with …