By Austin Turner — MBB Beat Writer
After a 20-9 run from Cal State Bakersfield in the last 3:45 of the second half, San Jose State fell to the Roadrunners 73-72 in a heartbreaker to fall to 0-2 in the Junkanoo Jam and 1-3 on the season.
A late three from CSUB guard Justin Edler-Davis broke the tie at 69 with 20 seconds left, and it proved to be the dagger.
Turnovers have been the achilles heel for the Spartans this season and Saturday was no different. They gave the ball away to the Road Runners 26 times, giving them 30 points off of turnovers. In a one-point game, each of those plays were costly in the loss.
Perimeter defense was another major issue. SJSU gave up 12 3-pointers off of 34 attempts, and while that isn’t a great percentage, there were far too many 3-point attempts given up to a team full of sharpshooters. Spartan defenders bit on too many drives to the basket, leaving a wide-open shot from behind the arc to CSUB shooters.
The Roadrunners did a terrific job on the offensive glass. They had 20 offensive rebounds and won the overall rebounding battle 34-32.
Mistakes were just far too plentiful for the Spartans, especially in a game that came down to the last seconds.
There were some positives for Spartan fans to hang onto, however. Shooting, which had been abysmal for the start of the season, was great against CSUB. The team shot 53 percent both from the field, and from beyond the 3-point line.
They also shot 83 percent from the free-throw line. If the team can consistently knock down shots from the paint, it will be a massive improvement on its scoring ability.
The addition of transfer point guard Brae Ivey is proving to be valuable. He scored 22 points in the loss, including a 9-9 performance from the charity stripe and was 3-5 from deep. He also had 6 assists.
Isaiah Nichols saw his most action of the year as he started against Bakersfield and he played extremely well. He was 4-6 shooting and made plays defensively. If he can keep his turnovers down, he can prove to be great depth off of the bench for SJSU.
It was a brutal loss for a team still in search of its first Division I win. But if this game is any indication, making 26 turnovers and only losing by one point is a good sign.
If SJSU can limit its mistakes and shoot like this again, it will be a surprising team against Mountain West competition.
The Spartans will play their final game of the Junkanoo Jam against Central Michigan, which lost a heartbreaker to Weber State on a buzzer-beating three on Friday.
The game tips off on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurnt