Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
SJSU men’s basketball made a statement in its 75-64 upset win over Santa Clara that matched its win total from last season.
It went beyond a David vs. Goliath narrative.
The Spartans (8-3, 0-0 MW) came back from an eight-point deficit at half time thanks to a stellar second half from fourth-year guard Omari Moore, who had 19 of his 24 points in the final frame.
“I’m happy for our guys and I’m proud of our guys because these guys really whipped us last year. They killed us,” said SJSU men’s basketball head coach Tim Miles. “That’s the mark of moving a program forward and these guys moving their confidence needle up, too.”
Santa Clara (8-3, 0-0 WCC) scored five points in the final five minutes in the losing affair and shot 29% worse from three in the second half than it did in the first.
“It’s a good statement to show the rest of the area like, ‘Yeah we are here. We are ready to play and we are competing with anybody,’” said Moore.
Alvaro Cardenas showed winning character
Nothing was going second-year guard Alvaro Cardenas’ way late into the second half.
On offense, he was shooting 0-5 and 0-3 from three while the Broncos’ Carlos Stewart was giving him headaches on defense.
The team captain’s spirit never wavered when he was benched in the second.
Instead, he became the team’s biggest hype man when MJ Amey Jr. went for a key three-point play which knotted the score at 51-51.
SJSU outscored Santa Clara 24-13 from that point on to seal the victory.
“That’s exactly who he is and it tells you so much about his character and his DNA and what’s important to him,” said Miles.
When Cardenas reentered in the final minutes, he nailed two key free throws and forced Stewart to miss a 3-pointer in an iso scenario similar to the one aforementioned.
“That’s why we love them and that’s why he was voted captain by his teammates,” said Miles.
SJSU second half surge
Strong energy and support from the bench was one half of the winning algorithm to win the battle for Silicone Valley.
The other half of the comeback effort was the Spartans’ lockdown defense and Moore’s offensive play.
Santa Clara shot a ridiculous 7-13 from three in the first half.
Its three best scorers in Brandon Podziemski (10) and Stewart (17) combined for 27 of the Bronco’s 37 first half points.
But in the second, Podziemski and Stewart had two points apiece and shot a combined 2-13. Overall, the Broncos shot 3-12 from three in the second half, missing nine of its final 11 shots to end the game.
Right when Podziemski and Stewart were slowing down, Moore caught lightning in a bottle and had 19 points in the second half after having only five in the first. A first half that featured a rare, embarrassing airball from three.
He maneuvered with ease. Going 2-3 from three and had four successful drives to the baskets leading to eight points. One of which put SJSU up 61-59 with 4:41 left, a lead that was maintained the rest of the way.
Strong supporting cast
In prime Moore fashion, he stole the show on offense, as he’s done so often as a Spartan.
Unlike many of those Oscar-worthy performances, he received tremendous help from his supporting cast. In this case, an unexpected outside shot from Sage Tolbert III and an expected, but long awaited showing from Amey Jr.
Tolbert III has been SJSU’s ambassador of the glass. He reeled in 12 rebounds during the win, placing him third best in the Mountain West with 8.7 per game and first in season total (96).
But on Saturday, he nailed all four of his attempts from three to showcase a new talent and end with 18 points. Before then, the fifth-year Temple transfer made two triples in one game once in his career.
Then there was the emergence of Amey Jr. A player who’s always in attack mode, but that attack has included turnovers and little reward.
However, that aggression was turned into eight points and smart, explosive drives to the rim.
“He can really score the ball. He’s electric,” Moore said. “We saw some of that today when he came in off the bench and gave us a big spark.”
With two winnable non-conference games left, SJSU men’s basketball looks to fuse the momentum into one ginormous spark heading into Mountain West play.
