Stanford dominates the paint, Spartans lose sixth straight

By Ernie Gonzalez — Editor

San Jose State men’s basketball suffered its sixth consecutive loss Saturday night against the Stanford Cardinal, 78-58. 

At no surprise, Oscar da Silva led the Cardinal with 25 points on an efficient 11-for-17 shooting performance.

It was Seneca Knight who led the Spartans with 12 points. But in the end, it came down to a few eye-opening stat lines, some of which were quite concerning.

Stanford’s forest was a force

There is a reason that there is a tree that overlaps the ‘S’ on Stanford’s logo. The Cardinal are giant. And the Spartans weren’t as big and it showed.

A whopping 50-12 margin in the points in the paint category. From the get-go, the Cardinal hooked the Spartans into foul trouble with their aggressive playstyle.

The bench had to step in earlier than usual, which led to undisciplined and sloppy basketball. Points off turnovers and points in the paint came at a premium for Stanford. 

Spartan’s go-to player still unknown

At times it seems like Brae Ivey. During other possessions Seneca Knight does most of the dribbling.

Here and there Ralph Agee flips his switch. But there hasn’t been much consistency. Whether the lead role is by committee or not, someone, anyone, is due to have a breakout game.

It carries onto confidence which can influence consistency. It’s December, which means conference season and if the Spartans have trouble finding their leader, they’ll find trouble finding wins too. 

Follow Ernie on Twitter @superego1012

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