By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Managing Editor | Sophomore guard Latrell Davis goes up for a 3-point attempt. (Photo by Denim Bragg – Freelance Photographer)
San Jose State (12-14, 5-9 MW) trailed San Diego State (16-6, 9-4 MW) 69-66 with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game. Sophomore guard Latrell Davis heaved a full court shot up which bounced off the backboard and off the rim as time expired.
Once again SJSU came up just short of defeating San Diego State.
The last time the Spartans faced the Aztecs on Jan. 28, they lost 71-68 after blowing a 21-point lead.
“It feels like it’s the same game we played them at their place,” graduate student guard Donovan Yap Jr. said. ‘It’s good to know we can get up on them like that but it’s just about finishing moving forward.”
This time around SJSU held a 17-point lead at halftime which evaporated immediately when San Diego State went on a 17-0 run to start the second half. The Aztecs brought the game back to a tie after four minutes.
The Aztects outscored the Spartans 49-29 in the second half.
“We just looked flat on offense and flat on defense,” head coach Tim Miles said about the Spartans second half start. “Anytime this team relaxes bad stuff happens. I mean we’ve seen it over and over, it’s another night where we lead 25 minutes and didn’t win the game, it’s old.”
The Spartans were short handed in this game as both senior guard Josh Uduje and junior guard Will McClendon were out with injury. Uduje and McClendon are the top two leading scorers in terms of points per game for the Spartans.
On top of that, Yap would suffer a knee injury in the first half and go to the locker room. But, he would return to action shortly after.
“It was just a short moment of pain, honestly,” Yap said. “Nothing too major, just wanted to get it checked out real quick and come back to play.”
On the positive end of injury news junior forward Sadraque NgaNga returned to action for his first game since SJSU played in Nevada on Jan. 18.
NgaNga played 17 minutes where he scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds.
Their status for Friday’s game against Nevada (14-10, 6-7 MW) remains unclear according to Miles.
In their place freshman guard Jermaine Washington got the start, the first of his career. Washington played strong defense which included snagging two steals, put up five points but turned the ball over four times.
“As always his defensive intensity is good and he had some big shots,” Miles said. “He’s a spark plug for us.”
Yap got to show off his perimeter defense in this game as the Spartans as a unit held San Diego State to 4-23 shooting from beyond the arc. Yap also scored 19 points and had three assists.
Davis also got the start in place of the injured players. Davis usually plays a starting amount of minutes as the sixth man but he took advantage of his extra playing time by leading the team in scoring with 21 points.
“No matter who we’re down we just know people have to step up,” Davis said. “You got to play harder personally and you are probably going to get more minutes.”
Two big issues in the game for the Spartans were free-throw shooting and turnovers, two areas where they usually fare very well. The Spartans shot 3-10 from the line.
While SJSU forced 16 turnovers from San Diego State, they turned the ball over 14 times themselves, almost neutralizing the benefits of their defense.
San Jose State will look to bounce back against Nevada at 7 p.m. Friday.
