By Austin Turner — Staff Writer
There are always games that teams would like to forget, and for San Jose State men’s basketball, this was one of them.
The Spartans fell 86-57 to the Indiana State on Wednesday in a game that was dominated by the Sycamores from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer.
SJSU was never able to find an offensive rhythm. Starting just 5-20 from the field, it couldn’t knock down shots, even on the few times there were open opportunities.
Turnovers were an issue once again. During one stretch in the first half, it committed offensive fouls on three possessions in a row.
“We got off to a slow start,” said junior guard Brae Ivey. “We came out timid and didn’t come out with the initiative that we needed.”
The slow start lasted the entire first half. After closing in on the Sycamores and making the score 15-12, the Spartans faltered towards the end of the first 20 minutes, giving up a 19-2 run over a six and a half minute stretch.
ISU would head to the locker room with a 44-20 halftime lead.
The second half was more of the same. The Spartans made a switch from a zone defense to man-to-man, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding.
The Sycamores shredded the Spartan defense, even without guard Jordan Barnes, their leading scorer on the season. Stepping up in his absence was sophomore guard Clayton Hughes, and he made the most of the opportunity.
Hughes was electric in his 33 minutes of play. He scored 23 points on 9-10 shooting, including going 4-5 from three. He simply couldn’t miss and his impact was felt on the defensive end as well.
The other starting sophomore guard was Tyreke Key, and per-usual he was dynamic. He had 17 points while going 8-11 from the field.
The Sycamores were fantastic offensively. They shot 64 percent from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc. They had 50 points in the paint, and had terrific ball movement, with 17 assists.
The Spartans, on the other hand, had their worst shooting night of the season. They converted on only 30 percent of their shots, including an abysmal 21 percent from three.
Scoring from the paint has been an issue for SJSU, and Wednesday night had that struggle on full display. They had just 20 points in the paint, with five shots being blocked. They couldn’t buy a layup.
“We’ve been struggling. Everybody knows,” said senior center Oumar Barry. “Every player is trying to get a W. So we just got to build on it every single day.”
With the score getting out of hand, coach Jean Prioleau gave extra minutes to some of the younger players on the team, and he felt that they were a bright spot for the Spartans.
“I thought the freshmen were tremendous,” Prioleau said. “I had four freshmen out there and they played solid defense. Our team was able to see that and we’re trying to build on that.”
The tough loss drops the Spartans to 1-6 on the year, and brought their current losing-streak to 6. They’ll try to snap it when they take on Bethune-Cookman after a week off. The Spartans will host the Wildcats on Thursday, December 6 at 7 p.m.
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