By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Spear Reporter | Photo via Aikman Fang of The Spear
As the clock slowly dripped to zero on a 86-75 loss to Montana, San Jose State men’s basketball head coach Tim Miles watched on.
His steely eyes took in another game where SJSU’s defensive effort caused a once winnable game to slip away. The loss illustrated SJSU’s (6-6) immediate need to sharpen up defensively and find a consistent offensive identity as Mountain West play approaches.
“We just got hurt inside,” Miles said. “But that’s not new news so we have to continue to strategize and try to figure out and how to think how to adapt.”
By allowing 86 points, SJSU’s conceded at least 75 points in a game for the sixth time this year – one more than last year. One of those came a couple weeks ago in a loss to Montana (6-4). But as opposed to that game where Miles admitted SJSU “got its butts whooped” all night, it was up 65-64 with less than eight minutes left.
The main issue – one that’s not new – is the lack of front court presence. Some of this stemmed from the absences of sophomore seven-footer Adrame Diongue (non-COVID-19-related illness) and senior forward Trey Anderson (knee sprain). The Spartans were outrebounded 44-24 (33-19 on defense and 11-5 on offense) and outscored 11-4 on second chance opportunities.
Sophomore William Humer (11 points) and freshman Diogo “DJ” Seixas (10 points) both struggled to vacuum rebounds and stop baskets. Montana forward Laolu Oke (16 points and 15 rebounds) and guards Aanen Moody (21 points) and Money Williams (15 points) took full advantage of SJSU’s shaky front court on Saturday.
“If you look at the second half defense it just wasn’t good enough,” Miles said.
But with the defensive struggles, there’s now an added pressure to perform well on offense.
Junior forward Tibet Gorener shined in the first half scoring 13 points of 3-for-4 shooting from deep, but shot 0-for-4 from the field in the second half. Though he was one of six Spartans in double figures, SJSU lacked that prominent figure who could will them to a win.
In last week’s comeback win over New Orleans, that figure was SJSU’s leading scorer MJ Amey, who finished with a season-high 29 points. Though Amey scored 15 points on Sunday, there’s now a pressure on him that he may need to notch 20-plus point performances for SJSU to win.
SJSU as a whole started 7-for-12 (58%) from three, but shot just 4-for-14 (29%) in the second half. The early sharp shooting helped SJSU erase a Montana lead that grew to nine at one point.
Last Saturday’s win, which snapped a three-game losing streak, felt momentous. There was a clear synergy at the end where each Spartan felt connected with one another. Afterward, senior guard and captain Alvaro Cardenas talked about how the team lacked confidence early – a product of the losing streak – and built it over time.
The hope, of course, was for that momentum to swing into Saturday. Something that SJSU could build off of for its final non-conference game this Wednesday at home against Santa Clara and then into Mountain West play.