By Haddy Barghouti (HB_SportsBeat) – Spear Reporter | Junior guard Colby Garland rises for a jumper in San Jose State’s 86–69 victory. (Photo by Diego Macaraeg — The Spear)
San Jose State men’s basketball (4–5, 0–0 MW) bounced back from its first home loss of the season with an 86–69 win over San Diego (3–5, 0–0 WCC) on Friday night at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
Redshirt sophomore forward Adrian Myers led the way with a career-high 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting in just his second game back after missing five straight contests. Myers said the team’s offensive spacing played a major role in his strong night.
“Just spacing the floor, hitting open shots, that’s what it was,” Myers said.
The Spartans opened the game on a 13–0 run behind sophomore guard Jermaine Washington, who scored nine quick points, including a four-point play that set the early tone. Washington finished with a season-high 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles said Washington’s early push helped the Spartans establish control immediately.
“It was vital. You could see it in our posture, you could see it in our intensity, we were ready,” Miles said. “We’re going to need to build on that and do it for longer periods because we didn’t do it all night, and that’s a credit to San Diego.”
SJSU led by as many as 24 points in the first half, though the Toreros trimmed the deficit to 13 in the second half before the Spartans pulled away again.
After shooting just 31 percent in their loss to UC Irvine, the Spartans flipped the script, shooting 55 percent from the field while holding San Diego to 32 percent.
It was also a bounce-back performance for junior guard Colby Garland, who scored 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Garland has now scored in double figures in eight of his last nine games.
Garland said the strong shooting night felt like a needed reset.
“It felt great. The last 2–3 games I’ve been off with shots, missed a lot of looks I felt were good,” Garland said. “I think it was just about ripping that out. We learned a lot about ourselves, and hopefully we continue to grow.”
Four Spartans finished with at least 15 points. Senior forward Yaphet Moundi posted 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, marking his seventh double-digit scoring game in nine appearances.
SJSU played without redshirt freshman guard Ben Roseborough, who was ruled out and seen wearing a cast on his hand. Roseborough has averaged 10.6 points this season.His absence moved freshman guard Melvin Bell Jr. into the starting lineup for the first time, and he responded with nine points.
Miles praised Bell’s poise and preparation.
“He did a lot of things right, especially with the defensive game plan,” Miles said. “The one thing is I feel like I can game plan with him. There are a couple guys playing and starting, and if I don’t get this guy under control, we’ve got to lock him in and get him thinking on the same plane as everyone else.”
SJSU also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Toreros 45–30.
But despite their advantage on the boards, turnovers remained an issue, as the Spartans committed 22 giveaways to San Diego’s 11. Still, Myers pointed to the team’s depth as a stabilizing force, even with the rotation down to seven players.
“I think it’s a great problem, because even when people are hurt like now, we have people stepping up to the plate,” Myers said.
SJSU continues its homestand at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Cal State Long Beach at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
