By Alex Stoev (@alexstoevsjsu) – Staff Reporter | Junior guard Colby Garland and sophomore guard Jermaine Washington walking back to the huddle during SJSU’s 90-80 loss. (Photo by Lucas Quick – Content Editor)
As the crowd cheered, the energy was not enough as SJSU (6-16, 1-10 MW) fell to New Mexico (18-4, 9-2 MW) 90-80 on Saturday at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
In what was possibly the largest home crowd since SJSU’s NIT game against Loyola Chicago on Mar. 19, 2025, it wasn’t what the team hoped for, but it sure helped keep up the pace with one of the best teams in the Mountain West Conference.
After losing to New Mexico earlier in the season 88-65 on Dec. 21, 2025, being at home certainly made a big difference this time around.
“I’m really grateful for our fans,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said. “You know our record is not very good and we just had a bad game on Tuesday. So they showed up and showed out and I thought it was really great to see.”
Junior guard Colby Garland fed off the crowd’s energy by scoring 24 points in his first start after returning from a concussion.
“I feel like we played a lot better tonight than we have in the past,” Garland said after playing in front of a full crowd for the first time in a while. “That’s a team that beat us by nearly 30 early on in the season and we had a chance to even beat them. So I just encourage them to keep coming out, keep supporting us, and know that we love and appreciate them.”
Sophomore guard Jermaine Washington struggled early, shooting 0/5 from the field, but as the crowd got back into the game, so did he.
After his rough start, Washington would rally to shoot 7/10 the rest of the way and making all four of his threes during the second half. He finished the game with 18 points on 7/15 shooting and 4/11 from three.
‘The crowd definitely played a part with their energy and even while I was missing I just heard them say keep shooting,” Washington said. “And honestly my teammates really trusted me to hit my open shots even after my early struggles.”
The Spartans will have a week off before flying to Fort Collins, Colo. to take on Colorado State on Saturday Feb. 7 at the Moby Arena.
