By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Managing Editor | Graduate student forward Sadaidriene Hall (left) during San Jose State’s 67-58 win over Wyoming on Jan. 25. (Photo By Denim Bragg – Freelance Photographer)
For the first time in program history San Jose State (13-16, 6-11 MW) has defeated Wyoming (12-16, 5-12 MW) on the road in Laramie.
Getting the 82-73 win was crucial for the Mountain West standings because the Spartans are now one and a half games ahead of the Cowboys. SJSU also improves to 2-0 on the season against Wyoming, giving them the tiebreaker.
This also snaps the Spartans four game losing skid.
Junior center Robert Vaihola was inactive for the game due to an injury he suffered during the first three minutes of SJSU’s 105-57 loss to Utah State (23-4,13-3 MW). Junior guard Will McClendon was also inactive and dealing with injury, missing his fourth straight game.
SJSU was down two starters with graduate student center Chol Marial and freshman guard Jermaine Washington starting in their place.
The game didn’t get off the fastest start for the Spartans as they found themselves trailing 30-17 with 6:06 left in the first half. But after that moment SJSU marched back and the momentum of the game swapped.
Senior guard Josh Uduje was the Spartans leading scorer as he put up 29 points, four assists and shot 3-for-3 from 3-point range. This was a huge bounce back game for Uduje as he struggled from the field during SJSU’s last game against Utah State.
SJSU’s offense was a four-headed scoring monster in Laramie. With sophomore guard Latrell Davis (17), graduate student forward Sadaidriene Hall (16), graduate student guard Donovan Yap Jr. (16) and Uduje (29) all scoring double digit points.
Davis turned it on during the big second half push for the Spartans as he shot 5-for-6 from the field, scoring 12 of his 17 points. Davis also led the team with eight rebounds.
Hall shot 6-for-9 from the field and put up his highest point total since Dec. 21 where he scored 17 during SJSU’s 89-65 win against Kennesaw State.
The Spartans played suffocating defense against the Cowboys as they forced 15 turnovers, 10 of them coming in the second half. SJSU had 17 points off turnovers compared to Wyoming’s eight.
This helped to swing the game in the Spartans favor as the turnovers led to big plays on their end. Including a Davis-and-one basket and an Uduje dunk.
Even without the physical presence of Vaihola, the Spartans only lost the rebound battle 34-33 and outscored the Cowboys in the paint 40-28.
The Spartans will be back home to face UNLV (14-12, 8-7 MW) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25.
