By C.J. Peterson — Staff Writer
With a 1-11 conference record (4-25 overall), San Jose State men’s basketball sits in last place in the Mountain West standings.
With one game left in the regular season, however, SJSU has a chance to shore up its play before the MW Basketball Championship as it hits the road to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs (21-8, 12-5 MW).
In their last game on Wednesday against University of Wyoming, the Spartans caught another flash of sophomore guard Noah Baumann, who scored 20 points in the first half.
Baumann would finish the game with a game-high 27 points and seven three-pointers, but would result in a 81-71 loss on senior night as Wyoming figured out how to corral the Spartans sniper in the second half.
Besides Baumann, the Spartans were hard pressed to find offensive production from any one else, which resulted in the double-digit loss.
The only other player in double-digit scoring for SJSU was center Michael Steadman, who scored 12 points.
Despite also hauling in 10 rebounds for a double-double on the night, Steadman was unpleased with his play, even calling his performance in the first half as “the worst half of basketball” he’s played at San Jose State.
In his last game against FSU on Jan. 2, Steadman posted a team-high 18 points and 10 boards.
Similar to Baumann on Wednesday, Steadman also received no help as no other Spartan scored more than nine points, resulting in a 73-53 loss.
If SJSU can get that kind of production from Steadman once more and another 20-plus point night from Baumann, the Spartans can put themselves in a position to capture their second conference win of the season.
On Wednesday, head coach Jean Prioleau said that despite the loss to Wyoming there were still some things that were encouraging, including only nine total turnovers in the game.
Giving up 20 points off turnovers in their last game against the Bulldogs, the Spartans will want to keep their number of giveaways low again if they hope to keep the game close.
With only five days left until the Mountain West Basketball Championship begins, this final regular season game of the year provides the chance for SJSU to tidy up these things before its slate is wiped clean.
The Spartans and Bulldogs will tip off at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Follow C.J. on Twitter @CJ_Peterson1
