By Haddy Barghouti (HB_SportsBeat) – Senior Staff Writer | Junior guard Colby Garland posts up while guarded by Lobos freshman guard Jake Hall during SJSU’s 90–80 loss on Jan. 31. (Photo by Aaliyah Stuart — The Spear)
San Jose State men’s basketball (7-20, 2-14 MW) struggled in an 84-69 loss to Boise State (16-11, 8-8 MW) on Saturday at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The Spartans shot just 4 of 23 from 3-point range, a sharp contrast from their 15-of-29 performance in an 87-71 win over Nevada on Feb. 17 that snapped an eight-game losing streak.
SJSU fell behind early, trailing 17-2 in the opening minutes. An 8-0 run helped the Spartans claw back into the game, cutting the deficit to 36-31 at halftime.
The Spartans opened the second half strong, trimming the deficit to two points in the opening minutes. However, Boise State’s efficient shooting proved too much to overcome.
The Broncos shot 63% in the second half and 54.5% for the game, while SJSU shot 43.3% from the field.
Injuries once again limited the Spartans’ rotation. Five players who have started games this season were unavailable, including redshirt sophomore guard Pasha Goodarzi, who was ruled out before tipoff.
As a result, SJSU played with just two guards, junior Colby Garland and freshman Melvin Bell Jr.
Garland and Bell Jr. were two of four Spartans, along with redshirt sophomore forward Adrian Myers and senior forward Sadraque NgaNga, who played all 40 minutes.
The short-handed lineup contributed to SJSU being outscored 19-0 in bench points.
Despite the loss, Myers delivered a career-high 23 points and added eight rebounds.
Garland followed with 22 points and reached a milestone, scoring his 1,000th career point on a contested layup with 18:54 remaining in the second half.
Myers also gave the Spartans their only lead of the game when he opened the scoring with a dunk over junior center Drew Fielder.
Boise State was led by Fielder’s 20 points, while junior forward Andrew Meadow added 16.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles said his team continued to compete despite the loss.
“I thought we showed a tremendous amount of resolve. We battled and battled and battled. It was close at halftime, close early in the second half. They had some very good 3-point shooting that I think got us late,” Miles said.
The loss marked SJSU’s 17th defeat in its last 19 games. The Spartans remain winless on the road in conference play and were swept in the season series after falling 89-58 at home to Boise State on Jan. 27.
SJSU will look to secure its first road conference win and complete the season sweep against Air Force at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Clune Arena in Air Force Academy, Colorado.
