By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo by Aikman Fang
As the clock hit zero, patrons of Provident Credit Union Event Center erupted and San Jose State men’s basketball dapped one another exhaustedly.
The aftermath of Saturday’s win should be a cause for celebration, right? No, not particularly.
SJSU’s 87-82 win over a New Orleans located in the south of the country and college basketball, shouldn’t have come down to the final minutes. As the NET goes, the Privateers (303) are the lowest-ranking team SJSU will face for the rest of the season.
With Mountain West play approaching rapidly, SJSU (6-5) must find answers. “If we don’t guard … we’re not going to win games – especially against the Mountain West,” SJSU junior guard Alvaro Cardenas said.
Saturday should’ve been an opportunity to glide through, allow starters to rest and fringe rotation players to get valuable minutes in low-stakes situations. And of course, use a landslide victory to wash out the taste of a three-game losing streak.
But instead, SJSU needed to overcome a 10-point deficit and score on 13 of its final 15 possessions to overcome its defensive woes. By allowing 82 points, SJSU’s conceded 75 points in a game for the fifth time this year – matching last year’s total.
This is reason for concern considering eight of SJSU’s conference games come against teams in the top 50 of the NET. Adding to that is the “significant knee sprain” endured by Trey Anderson, according to SJSU head coach Tim Miles, who missed his first game of the year. The senior wing has been one of SJSU’s best scorers and defenders this year
So now the focus turns to freshman Latrell Davis, who started for Anderson – the first of his career. In 17 minutes, he scored seven points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field and a 1-for-2 clip from three.
Crazily enough, Davis was originally committed to play for a community college in Flordia before he committed to SJSU after the school year started.
But even Davis isn’t a surefire answer. How could he be? He’s 18 years old playing against guys much more experienced. It’s a struggle all of SJSU’s front court should know.
11 games in, Washington State transfer and sophomore Adrame Diongue still isn’t the monster that he was counted on to be. A victim of inconsistency, right after posterizing a New Orleans (4-5) defender on an alley hoop, he gave up a bucket. A few plays later, right after a block, he attempted a wide-open alley hoop attempt but it trampolined off the back iron over the half-court line.
Should Diongue not find consistent success, Mountain West behemoths could expose him one game after another. This would lead Miles to rely on sophomore William Humer and freshman Diogo Seixas, who both have no prior Division I experience. Seixas might’ve impressed at the end of Saturday’s win posting 11 points, but how will he hold up against San Diego State, Utah State or New Mexico?
By getting outrebounded 47-35, SJSU pinpointed where it must improve. That and missing 12 of its 25 free throws on Saturday.
Thankfully, SJSU got a career day out of junior guard MJ Amey. On Saturday, he finished with 29 points and in the first half, he strung together three straight three pointers en route to scoring 11 straight points to keep SJSU afloat.
“I got to do what I got to do. Not for me, but for my team,” said Amey as Cardenas, who scored 16 points, sat next to him.
During his press conference, Miles acknowledged SJSU’s woes but left Saturday in high spirits.
“We were in a difficult spot, right? You lost three in a row … but I think we’ll get better as the year goes on,” he said.
But when will the learning curve end? After a rematch against Montana and then Santa Clara it’s all Mountain West foes until season’s end.
While thinking of a response, Miles folded up a paper box score shuffled it between his hands and said: “I’ll take that magic wand if you have it.”