Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
Via Jake Barger of SJSU Athletics
San Jose State head coach Tim Miles rubbed his index finger and thumb over his ears after they’d been pummeled by the shrieks from Provident Credit Union Event Center.
All credit goes to SJSU’s late, 12-point comeback to force overtime against Boise State.
And if he’s hard of hearing before he’d like to be, that can be credited to Ibrahima Diallo’s two-handed slam to cap off SJSU (17-12, 8-8 MW) breezing past Boise State in overtime for a stunning 74-68 victory.
The Spartans biggest upset of the NET era as they were ranked No. 106 and Boise State was ranked No. 23 heading into tip-off.
“These are the things you enjoy in the summer on the golf course with your buddies, like ‘Remember that time we beat Boise?’ said Miles.
Those conversations will likely oscillate between Robert Vaihola and Diallo securing seven rebounds a piece and helping the Spartans out rebound the Broncos 53-32 overall and 21-4 on the offensive end.
“You’ll see three guys jumping up. Two of their guys and one of our guys. If our guy is Rob we get it,” said Miles.
Outscoring the Broncos 15-0 on second chance points and using their physical presence to maneuver past a defense Kenpom had ranked as the 10th-most efficient nationwide entering the game.
“It’s flipped who we are, we talked about it last year in the Mountain West Tournament, we need to get more physical, we got more physical and it’s really paying off for us,” said Miles. Vaihola finished with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double while Diallo went for a career-high 15 rebounds and eight points.
Or how Omari Moore scored 24 points, but had Vaihola there on his missed game-winner to help force OT with seven seconds left on a free throw. Followed by some ribbing for Vaihola who could’ve given SJSU a lead if he didn’t miss the second attempt.
The ribbing segues into reminiscing about Cardenas’ shot clock expiring three to make it a 58-57 game with 47 seconds left.
He’d been held scoreless before ripping the game-saving long-ball, to go along with four turnovers and was on track for his fourth-straight disappointing game.
“Alvaro is a guy that people use for guidance and inspiration,” said Miles. “It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve seen him make a lot of big shots this year on the road, crowds going crazy, Al quiets them.”
Moore duck tailed off Miles, saying that, “The whole arena was screaming. It definitely lifted us up.”
And the inevitable conversation about how they escaped a lowly 8-for-31 (26%) night from three and trailed by as much as seven with 2:34 left after Marcus Shaver Jr. hit a pair of free throws.
The Big Shot Shaver who sank this game-winner over Moore the last time both teams met, seconds after after Moore turned the ball over on the prior possession.
“This game was big for us, the way that we lost down there, we really wanted this one,” said Moore.
Most importantly, the defensive adjustments and pressure applied after Boise State shot 6-for-11 from three in the first half, but 2-for-7 in the second half and missed 13 of its final 16 shots.
The biggest rotation adjustment was rolling with two bigs and swapping true freshman Garret Anderson into the wing position to replace Tibet Gorener and Trey Anderson who combined to shoot 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-7 from three.
“We are all just pieces to a puzzle so without one of us we are incomplete,” said Moore.
Anderson finished with 13 points on 3-for-9 shooting from three — one of which came in the final three minutes — and his defense on Chibuzo Agbo, Boise State’s leading scorer at the time, led him to being held without a field goal after the 6:42 mark in the second half.
“It’s just a mindset,” Anderson said, “Just going in there with a mindset that I know I can beat them and know that I’m just as good as them so I can compete with them.
Miles said that SJSU’s defense was, “the only way we could find victory.”
The 2022-23 season has given Spartan fans and the college basketball world something to talk about, but how about talking about something that’s never done … say a Mountain West Tournament win or a postseason win?
With two games left in the season, that’s where the conversation is shifting.
Avenging near-losses to Utah State and Boise State on the road and then upsetting them at home is a glimpse into a world where SJSU can make noise in March.
Moreover, SJSU managed to pull off the upset with Moore being held scoreless for the final seven minutes of the second half.
If nothing else, it was encouraging.
But when Miles was asked what Saturday’s upset meant heading into the Mountain West Tournament he gave it the ol’ Bill Belichikian ‘we’re onto the next game.’
Which so happens to be senior day on Tuesday against Colorado State – one of Miles’ most renown reclamation projects.
“It [means a lot] for today and tomorrow when the sun comes up we are worried about Colorado State,” said Miles.