By Alex Stoev (@alexstoevsjsu) – Spear Reporter | Junior guard Colby Garland on the ground after getting fouled vs New Mexico (Photo by Alex Stoev – Spear Photographer)
Poor defense and rebounding set the tone for San Jose State men’s basketball (9-24, 3-17 MW) in its 93-77 loss to the University of New Mexico (23-9, 13-7 MW) on Thursday, officially being eliminated from the Mountain West tournament.
With the Spartans leading 33-31 with 4:21 to play in the first half, the momentum swung in the Lobos favor as they would finish the half on a 12-3 run.
Mistakes and miscues piled up for the Spartans from there. It started with being unable to stop Lobos freshman forward Tomislav Buljan.
Buljan proved to be too much for the Spartans, as he finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds on 10-of-11 shooting.
Buljan was most dominant on the offensive glass, grabbing five offensive rebounds and taking away opportunities for the Spartans to get back into the game.New Mexico as a team outrebounded SJSU 38-24 and 13-9 on the offensive glass.
New Mexico dominated inside during the game, scoring 56 points in the paint to SJSU’s 24.
SJSU’s defense didn’t improve much along the three point line, as Lobos freshman guard Jake Hall scored 19 points on 5-of-6 from downtown.
“We wanted to run him off the three point and we didn’t do it,” SJSU junior guard Colby Garland said. “We got there with direct contest and it wasn’t good enough and he banged it in our faces.”
Redshirt sophomore forward Adrian Myers went through foul trouble, sitting through much of the second half after picking up his fourth foul. That would throw off the Spartans’ defensive momentum, and the Lobos took advantage of every opportunity.
“Losing Adrian hurt us, I thought he had been playing really well and is a tough matchup for people,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said. “We’ve been in foul trouble a whole bunch since we only played six guys and that hurt us badly.”
Garland, despite playing on less than a day’s rest, ruled out fatigue being the reason for the loss.
“It’s tough coming out and competing every night,” Garland said. “Can’t blame it on the fatigue, we got to get it done. It’s March and we just can’t make excuses for ourselves.”
Miles also talked about how the team’s 13 turnovers set the tone throughout the game.
“Credit to New Mexico, their defensive pressure got us,” Miles said. “I kind of felt like some of the turnovers were self-inflicted tonight.”
Sophomore guard Jermaine Washington was held in check tonight, only scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Washington talked about what it took to keep up with New Mexico despite the mistakes SJSU was making.
“They’re a great team, we just have to rebound, dig in, start from the jump and let’s not get down in the beginning,” Washington said.
The Spartans will move on to the offseason with momentum after their conference win over Boise State in the tournament opener.
