By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Basketball Beat Reporter
Photo via Titus Wilkinson of The Spear
When two-seeded San Jose State men’s basketball (21-13, 10-8) flew to Daytona Beach, Fl. for the CBI, the goal wasn’t to notch the first postseason win in school history – which they did on Saturday. Nor was it to tie the 1981 team for the most wins in a single season – which they also did.
It was to come back with a CBI championship. They’ll need three more wins to do that.
The 77-52 throttling over 15-seeded and first-year Division I program Southern Indiana in the first round was merely the first step.
“Their mind is in the right place,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “I’m grateful to be coaching a bunch of guys that like to be challenged, and aspire for more in accomplishing a great deal for this program.”
A week ago in Las Vegas, SJSU was physically outmatched and blown out by San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament semi-finals.
A week later in Daytona, Fl. it was SJSU’s turn.
The Spartans outrebounded the Screaming Eagles 49-25, outscored them by 20 points in the paint, and 13-3 on second chance points after snagging 18 offensive rebounds compared to SIU’s eight.
“The Mountain West, being such a rugged league, prepares you as you go forward throughout the season for whatever opponent you’re going to see,” said Miles.
On top of the +24 rebounding margin, SJSU forced SIU (16-117) to shoot 37% from the field and 6-for-22 (27%) from three.
SIU’s senior center Jacob Polakovich entered the postseason bout averaging 12.4 point and 13 rebounds, and was the second-leading rebounder in the nation.
He was held to six points and seven rebounds – half his season averages.
“(The Spartans) made my job tough tonight,” Polakovich told the Courier press. “That’s props to them, props to their coaches. I gotta learn to be better at dealing with that.”
What Polakovich and SIU saw was what SJSU relied upon for its three quad one wins, the most of any team in the CBI, ‘we want it more’ rebounding and ‘put em’ in a strait-jacket defense. The Screaming Eagles didn’t make life any easier for themselves by going 8-for-20 (40%) from the line as Polakovich finished 0-for-6.
SIU’s Isaiah Swope finished with 16 points, but only four in the second half and a -28, and Tyler Henry who scored 10 points, were the only Screaming Eagles in double figures.
“It doesn’t mean, we’ve got that mastered, but it means that we’re prepared and if we go out and play like the way we can good things will happen,” said Miles.
Alvaro Cardenas netted a career-high 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, but it was SJSU’s presence downlow which blew the game open.
“Alvaro is a heart and soul guy for this team. He’s an emotional leader. And when he plays well, I think it energizes everybody,” said Miles, the reigning Mountain West Coach of the Year.
The Spartans led by at least 20 for the entire second-half after Robert Vaihola scored six points on three-straight possessions in the opening minutes to make the score 51-30.
Vaihola finished with 10 points and led SJSU with nine boards and four offensive boards as Omari Moore and Sage Tolbert each grabbed eight rebounds a piece.
“I go back to just that’s our M.O. That’s just kind of who we are,” said Miles.
But there’s a chance SJSU’s physicality and defense could be taking a step back.
SJSU’s junior center Ibrahima Diallo exited in the first half with what appeared to be an injury to his left leg. In nine minutes, he finished with two points, and had one of SJSU’s four blocks and one of SJSU’s four steals.
Miles said that Diallo, the Mountain West blocks-leader, is “questionable” to return for Monday’s quarterfinal.
If he’s unable to go on Monday, it’ll be the first injury to SJSU’s starting lineup all season.
Other than Diallo’s early exit, there’s little for SJSU fans to fret about moving forward.
Moore, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year, finished with 15 points and got off to a red-hot start scoring nine points on 3-for-3 shooting and 2-for-2 mark from three.
Moore, who played just 31 minutes, five minutes less than his season average, and Cardenas, who played just 21 minutes, 12 minutes less than his season average both got plenty of rest.
Some of SIU’s best offense came out the gate after Swope scored seven points to begin the contest as the Screaming Eagles took a 9-7 lead. However, after the first media timeout, SJSU true freshman Garrett Anderson drove in for a layup, sparking a 13-2 run.
“(San Jose State) just didn’t panic,” Swope told the Courier Press . “They stuck to their game plan. They adjusted to our run, made one of their own and we just didn’t adjust to theirs.”
Anderson was among 10 other Spartans who got on the board.
Main rotation players
SJSU will now face either Tarleton (18-16, 9-9 ) or Radford (19-14, 12-6) who play tomorrow afternoon on Flo Hoops in the quarterfinals on Monday in Daytona Beach, Fl.