By Jarra Gojolo— Staff Writer
The Spartans wowed the loud crowd, but eventually bowed to Aggies.
The San Jose State men’s basketball team fell to No. 25 Utah State on Wednesday, 71-59. Guard Seneca Knight led the Spartans with 17 points and six boards.
The Spartans were motivated by a loud student section that nearly erupted when guard Richard Washington nearly threw down a dunk on Utah State guard Brock Miller.
Moore Opportunities
Freshman guard Omari Moore played 28 minutes in his first home start of the season on Wednesday. While he didn’t fill up the stat sheet (4 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds), he did initiate the offense often, and even ran the pick & roll with forward Craig LeCesne.
Coach Prioleau says more minutes will be coming Moore’s way.
“[He] means a lot to our team,” Prioleau said. “He can pass, dribble, shoot, he has a great demeanor, he can handle adversity. That means a lot to me, as a coach.”
Moore also made his mark defensively. The freshman checked the 2018-19 Mountain West Player of the Year Sam Merrill for much of the game, and racked up four blocks — two of which were against Utah State guard Brock Miller on the same possession.
“I think I’m finding a two-way player on our team,” Prioleau said. “A guy that can score and make plays and a guy that can guard. Sam Merril’s an outstanding player.”
Merrill, who came into Wednesday’s game averaging 17.4 points per game, was held to 5-14 shooting and only made one of his four attempts from behind the arc.
“This is my first time playing against him,” Moore said. “He’s really talented, it’s a matter of finding him and trying to make him take uncomfortable shots, putting him in uncomfortable positions that he’s not usually in.”
Although the shooting numbers were down for Merrill, he made a couple of layups down the stretch to keep the Spartans at distance. Maintaining play late has been a key for the Spartans throughout this young season and that energy will be the difference between many wins and losses through conference play.
Board Men Got Paid
The Spartans shot better from the field, from three, and from the free throw line in the first half. Despite that, they still trailed the Aggies by three points at halftime thanks to an 11-3 offensive rebound disparity in favor of Utah State.
The rebounds came in different ways for the Aggies.
Long rebounds off of missed jumpers. Loose balls. Improperly boxed out free throws.
The combination resulted in Utah State taking 10 more shots than the Spartans in the first half.
“We played against [Utah State center Justin] Bean, that’s what he does, he can make buckets,” Prioleau said. “We have to have a mentality of making sure the team only gets one shot…We just played against a guy tonight that, that’s what he does, and we weren’t able to keep him off the board.”
Bean finished with a game-high 18 points and 14 rebounds, six of those offensive.
SJSU guard Seneca Knight said the team struggled to box out.
“I know a couple of times, just off a simple free throw when we’re supposed to be pinching,” the sophomore said. “So we’ve got to minimize the simple mistakes that we could control.”
Strong Shooting Showing
The Spartans turned in one of their best shooting performance of the season Wednesday. They shot 43% from the field and 38% from three, well above both their own season averages and Utah State’s defensive numbers.
Knight says the tempo of the Spartans’ offense will dictate the continued shooting success.
Coach Prioleau had to do a double take after the game when he read that the Spartans held Utah State, No. 25-ranked team in the nation, to 42% from the field.
“We just need to keep moving forward and keep working,” Prioleau said. “We just played Sunday at UCLA, we played tonight against Utah State, we have San Diego State Saturday at their place. They’re not ranked, they should be.”
The Aztecs, who beat Colorado State on Wednesday, are a perfect 9-0 on the season going into Sunday’s matchup against the Spartans.
Prioleau, in his third season as Spartans head coach, won’t let his team back down from the challenges of the Mountain West.
“We’re not afraid. I’m going to do everything in my power to try and change this around, change the culture of men’s basketball at San Jose State.”
The Spartans face San Diego State in San Diego on Sunday at noon.
Follow Jarra on Twitter @JarraGojolo