By Nathan Canilao (@nathancanilao)- Spear Beat Reporter
The San Jose State men’s basketball (15-10, 6-6 MW) team defeated Utah State, 69-64 at home on Saturday night. SJSU head coach Tim Miles get his first upset win of the Mountain West era and the Spartans move to .500 in conference play.
The Spartans defeat the Aggies for the first time since 2018 and snap a nine-game losing streak to Utah State.
Senior guard Omari Moore led with 27 points with 20 coming in the second half.
“[Omari] was the one guy that I knew could make a play against all their guys,” Miles said. “He’s one of the best players in college basketball. He’s a pro, he’s really good.”
Utah State shot the ball at a high clip in the first half. The Aggies shot 52.6% from the field and 60% from behind the arc in the first half.
SJSU struggled on the offensive end in the first half. The Spartans shot 38.7% from the field and 27.3% from the three-point line.
Despite a poor first half on both sides of the ball, an Omari Moore buzzer-beating 3-pointer cut the Aggies’ lead to just one and the Spartans were down 32-31 going into intermission.
The Spartans leaned on Moore in the second half.
At the 11:54 mark of the second half, SJSU was down 46-41. For the next six offensive possession, Moore scored 10 points by himself and assisted on one more basket.
He had four-point run at the 6:35 mark which gave the Spartans a 57-55 lead in the second half that shifted the momentum in SJSU’s favor.
With just under a minute left in the game, Utah State guard Steven Ashworth sinked two free throws to bring the Aggies to within one point of tying the game.
Moore made another basket on the ensuing possession to push the Spartan lead to 67-64, but Utah State had a chance to answer 20 seconds left in the second half.
Ashworth air balled a 3-point attempt and though the Aggies got an offensive rebound and a clear look at 3-point shot, Utah State forward Taylor Funk missed the go-ahead basket to tie.
The Aggies fouled SJSU forward Sage Tolbert III, but Tolbert missed both free throws. After the second miss, Funk missed a transition 3-pointer that would have tied the game.
SJSU center Ibrahima Diallo sealed the game with two free throws near that gave the Spartans the win.
Diallo said he worked on shooting free throws before the season started to prepare for moments like this.
“It was pressure,” Diallo said. “Me and coach worked on it and I just had to take my time.”
Moore had arguably his best game of the season. He took over the offense in the second half and took on the assignment of guarding Ashworth in the closing minutes of the game.
“I started off the game pretty slow,” Moore said. “I still wasn’t shooting it great, but I was able to get to the line and finish some things in the second half.”
Ashworth, who came into this game averaging 16 points per game, was a non-factor for most of the second half.
“I definitely like matching up with the other team’s primary ball handler,” Moore said. “I definitely enjoy the competition and the matchup when going to guard those people.”
The Spartans will face UNLV on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
