Nathan Canilao (@nathancanilao) – Basketball Beat Reporter
The San Jose State men’s basketball (8-3, 0-0 MW) team upset Santa Clara University (8-3, 0-0 WCC) 75-64 at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
Junior guard Omari Moore scored a game-high 24 points with 19 coming in the second half. Senior forward Sage Tolbert III recorded 18 points while going 4 of 4 from behind the three-point arc.
The Spartans got off to a slow start in the first half. Santa Clara jumped out to a 13-4 lead to start the game and SJSU struggled to find the bottom of the net.
SJSU made up some ground, but trailed at halftime 37-29. Santa Clara guards Carlos Stewart and Brandin Podziemski combined for 27 of Santa Clara’s 37 points.
Tolbert III carried most of the Spartans’ workload offensively with 11 points in the half.
“We felt like there were a couple things we had to adjust [in the second half] and once our offense started to get going, it was great to see the spirit and competitiveness of the guys,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles.
Tolbert III continued his hot shooting into the second half. He went on a 7-0 run by himself to get the Spartans within three points with just under 16 minutes left in the second half.
SJSU tied the game at the 9 minute mark when sophomore guard MJ Amey Jr. scored on an and-1 fastbreak layup which shifted the momentum in the Spartans favor.
From that point on, the Spartans went on a 24-13 run to close out the Broncos on their home floor.
Moore had a big impact on the both ends of the floor in the second half. He was the Spartans’ initiator on the offensive end and also shut down Podziemski on defense, holding him to just two points in the second half. Podziemski, a 20-point per game scorer for Santa Clara shot 1 for 6 from the field and was a non-factor at the end of the game.
Moore credits his solid second half play to his teammates and coaches.
“I think a lot of it was just my teammates and my coaches believing in me,” said Moore. “They told me to ‘keep being aggressive and keep shooting.’”
Miles said that this is one of his most important wins since taking over SJSU last season.
“This was probably the first time we were real underdogs and we came back and beat this team,” said Miles. “And that’s the mark of moving this program forward.”
SJSU recorded its first win over SCU since 2017 with the victory. They will face University of the Pacific on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.