By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Managing Editor | Graduate student forward Sadaidriene Hall drives during SJSU’s 107-100 overtime victory against Cal Poly on Dec. 14. (Photo by Denim Bragg – Freelance Photographer)
San Jose State men’s basketball (15-19, 7-13 MW) is hosting its first postseason event in school history with Loyola Chicago (22-11, 12-6 Atlantic 10) coming to Provident Credit Union Event Center Mar. 19 at 8 p.m for the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
This marks the Spartan’s first appearance in the NIT since 1981 when they fell to UTEP on the road 57-53.
This is also the second postseason appearance for the Spartans in the past three seasons as they made the CBI tournament in 2023 where they beat Southern Indiana 77-52 in the first round and then 67-57 to Radford in the second round.
SJSU is 1-6 all-time in postseason play.
The Spartans finished the season eighth in the Mountain West in the regular season and lost to New Mexico 63-52 in the second round of the Mountain West Tournament. So, postseason play wasn’t expected.
“When I got the call from (SJSU athletic director Jeff Konya) it was a little surreal,” head coach Tim Miles said. “It was just a matter of getting the guys together and making sure everybody was still on board and ready to go. Everybody was so it was a great day.”
Boise State declined to participate in the NIT and chose instead to participate in the inaugural season for the Crown Tournament. Nevada declined and UNLV declined as head coach Kevin Kruger was fired on Mar. 15.
This put SJSU next in line.
After SJSU’s loss to New Mexico, Spartans leading scorer senior guard Josh Uduje thought it would be his last collegiate game.
“It’s crazy finding out we got invited to such a prestigious tournament,” Uduje said. “It gives me a little bit more time to kind of soak up the emotions. I’m excited to play another game with the guys.”
SJSU’s opponent Loyola Chicago most recently made the NCAA tournament in 2022, made the sweet-sixteen in 2021 and made the final four in 2018.
In the Atlantic 10 conference tournament the Ramblers were seeded fourth and won their first round matchup against (5) St. Louis 72-64. Then they lost 62-55 to (1) VCU.
“Their inside guys are super athletic and really do a lot of great things,” Miles said. “Especially Miles Ruebin with all that shot blocking. They’re an impressive team.”
Ramblers sophomore center Miles Ruebin averages 2.3 blocks per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. Both totals are the highest on the team.
Loyola Chicago has three players averaging 12 or more points per game with junior guard Jayden Dawson (13.2), senior guard Des Watson (12.9) and fifth year guard Sheldon Edwards Jr. (12.2).
The Spartans are preparing to face off against a team with a short preparation time but, the Spartans practiced doing that this season as they played in two pre-conference tournaments. They played in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic in Hawaii (Nov. 8-11 2024) and the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas (Nov. 25-27 2024).
“We’re familiar with having to pick up scouting reports on the fly and prepare in short amounts of time,” Uduje said. “I’m confident that the guys are going to be prepared and I’m confident the coaches can put together a scouting report that can make sure we’re prepared to go out there and compete.”
