By Austin Turner – Content Editor
For the first and likely final time this season, San Jose State (3-11, 0-2 MWC) got to experience what it’s like to play against a top-10 team. Unfortunately for the Spartans, a major upset wasn’t in the cards in Reno on Wednesday night.
It was pure domination from the No. 10 Nevada Wolf Pack (15-1, 2-1 MWC) , who rode a 60-point second half to a 92-53 victory over the Spartans.
The Spartans were down 20-5 10 minutes into the game, but were able to cut the deficit to just 9 at the half. But the Spartans just couldn’t keep up with the athleticism of the Wolf Pack in the second period.
Nevada went on a 30-4 run in the second half to calm the nerves of nervous fans in the stands.
Nevada forward Caleb Martin exploded for 23 points off the bench, with 21 of them being in the second half. His twin brother Cody had 14 on 7-10 shooting.
SJSU center Oumar Barry was posterized by forward Jordan Caroline to put the Wolf Pack up 33 a little over midway through the second half, energizing the student section and symbolizing the complete mismatch between the two sides.
The Spartans turned the ball over 22 times to the Wolf Pack, who only had 8 themselves. In a display of excellent ball movement, 23 of Nevada’s buckets were assisted, to only 9 from SJSU.
Brae Ivey was the only Spartan to enter double digits in scoring, with 10 points on 4-7 shooting from the field and 2-4 from three.
Others struggled to shoot the ball.
Noah Baumann, one of the nation’s best from three, was only 2-7 from beyond the arc. Michael Steadman, the leading scorer over the season for the Spartans, shot 4-9 for 8 points and added on 12 rebounds.
The loss, the largest of the season, drops the Spartans to 0-2 in Mountain West play on the season.
The brutal conference scheduling will continue on Saturday as the Spartans return home to take on an impressive Boise State team at the Event Center.
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