By CJ Peterson — Staff Writer
If nothing else, the one thing the San Jose State men’s basketball team (3-22, 0-13 MWC) can be credited for is consistency.
Losing their 16th consecutive game of the year, the Spartans have matched last season’s longest losing streak with a 91-70 home loss to Colorado State (10-16, 5-8 MWC) after allowing the most points a home game this season.
“We ran into a team that was really efficient,” said head coach Jean Prioleau. “We weren’t able to guard them.”
Coming off of a closely contested 71-64 loss at the University of Las Vegas, SJSU entered Wednesday night’s game ready to carry some of their successes back to the Event Center.
It was a sluggish start to the game for the Spartans. They turned the ball over three times in the first three minutes of play. The giveaways led to several fast-break opportunities for the Rams, putting SJSU in an early hole.
“They got easy buckets: transition layups and dunks,” said freshman guard Seneca Knight. “That kind of got things started for them and got them rolling.”
After taking an early 10-5 lead by the 16:49 mark of the first period, the Rams used the easy baskets to find their range from the rest of the court.
Carried by guard J.D. Paige, who scored 10 of the Rams’ 42 first-period points, Colorado State would hit 47-percent of their triples, shooting 8-of-17 from beyond the arc.
“It’s a make or miss game,” Prioleau said. “It’s not that we didn’t do anything, they were just making shots.”
While the Rams shot the lights out of the gym, SJSU was ice cold, falling below 40 percent from the floor by half time. They finished the half with nine turnovers, contributing to a 13-point deficit heading into the locker room.
Colorado State carried their red-hot shooting into the second half.
Blasting off to an 13-4 run in the first three minutes and 34 seconds of the second, the Rams doubled their lead from the first half, leaving the Spartans long behind in their wake.
“They had a number of guys that can shoot the ball,” Prioleau said. “The start of that second half, I don’t think they missed a shot at all.”
Part of what made the Rams so deadly from three was the fact that SJSU had to send a double team to Colorado State center, Nico Carvacho. The junior ended the night as the game’s second leading scorer with 18 points.
Honoring the skill set of the 6-foot-11 big man, SJSU was forced to leave shooters open on the perimeter. In turn, this led to the Rams having six players in double-digit scoring — all of whom, besides Carvacho, hit at least two triples.
Colorado State would wind up finishing the game shooting nearly 60-percent from the floor, including 48 percent from three.
While its defense faltered, San Jose State did see some things on Wednesday night that provided room for optimism.
In his most productive game of the season, guard Brian Rodriguez-Flores impressed those in attendance with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a pair of offensive rebounds.
“Rodriguez, who’s a non-scholarship player for us, played really well tonight,” Prioleau said. “I’m going to try to play him more [moving forward].”
In addition, Knight continued a strong season with 14 points and three assists and zero turnovers.
Aside from Knight and Rodriguez-Flores, the Spartans didn’t have much to hang their hats on as the eventual 91-70 loss ties last season’s losing streak of 16 consecutive games. It also comes as the worst streak since 2015 when SJSU lost 20-straight games to end the season.
“We’re just trying to keep our heads up,” Rodriguez said. “We’re doing everything the coaches ask of us.”
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