By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo via Titus Wilkinson of The Spear
Don’t let the 56-42 final score deceive you.
SJSU men’s basketball (2-1) was impressive in its loss to Texas Tech as it trailed by just four points with less than five minutes to go.
But it’s the almighty dollar that made SJSU flirting with an upset so enlivening.
This past offseason, the Spartans couldn’t offer a piggybank worth of NIL money to recruits. Meanwhile, Texas Tech “reported 155 NIL deals worth $3,185,225.82” according to the Dallas News.
Though the final score might paint Sunday as a classic November “Buy Game” where a Mid-Major collects a check after a thorough throttling by a Power Five, that wasn’t the case here.
“I was very happy with the guys effort,” SJSU third-year head coach Tim Miles said. “I thought they did enough to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Saturday’s performance was encouraging because when conference play kicks off, SJSU will consistently confront the NIL ‘Haves vs Have Nots’ reality. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Mountain West foes New Mexico and Nevada boast NIL Collectives worth north of $1 million and UNLV clocked in last summer between “$500,000 to $600,000.”
Can the Spartans continue its unprecedented upswing by becoming that scrappy underdog who relies upon its defensive intensity to beat opponents?
On Sunday, the Red Raiders (1-1) had multiple shot clock violations and didn’t find a consistent rhythm until SJSU seven-footer Adrame Diongue fouled out with 6:56 left. Following Diongue’s exit, the Red Raiders went on a 18-2 run to flip a one-point game into a 14-point victory.
If Diongue didn’t foul out could SJSU have pulled off an upset?
After all, Texas Tech shot 39% from the field, 19% from three and scored 10 more points off turnovers than from deep. And Diongue’s nagging foul issues played a role in Texas Tech outscoring SJSU in the paint 38-22. Joe Toussaint (10 points) and Devan Cambridge (15 points) were the only Red Raiders in double figures.
“I think he’s [Diongue] scratching the surface,” Miles said of the former four-star Washington State transfer. “… He’s gaining confidence no doubt about it. Unfortunately, a couple tough plays on fouls and a dead ball foul and that gets you out of the game.”
On top of the nine second half turnovers, the Spartans couldn’t generate any consistent offense.
SJSU junior guard Alvaro Cardenas was the only Spartan in double figures (14 points) and did so by making six of his 15 shots, including a 2-for-7 clip from three.
When the clock hit zero, SJSU shot 18-for-53 (34%) from the field and 4-for-25 (16%) from three.
From day one Miles has said it’ll be a scoring by committee type of offense as they navigate life without reigning Mountain West Player of the Year Omari Moore (pros).
Who that committee is remains a work in progress.
Junior forward Tibet Gorener, who scored a career-high 26 points in SJSU’s recent 117-72 win over Bethesda, missed all seven of his three-point attempts en route to scoring zero points. And junior guard MJ Amey scored just five points on 2-for-11 shooting and finished with +/- of -10.
And there were open opportunities on Sunday, but SJSU couldn’t cash in.
One example came in the first half when Cardenas lobbed what would’ve been an alley hoop to Diongue, had the ball not tip off the rim.
“I thought we had some solid looks with the exception of the last six minutes,” Miles said.
Becoming more efficient on offense is essential because the Spartans have a high chance of winning the 2023 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Brackets.
None of the seven other teams featured are in the top-100 of Kenpom, meanwhile, SJSU’s season-opening win came against UCI which cracked the top-100.
While on a bus heading to the airport, Miles said “If we can take the lessons learned from this and apply it to the Virgin Islands Tournament we will be much better for it and have success.”