If San Jose State needed a response game after the fall to UC Irvine, it delivered one with authority for at least the first half.
The Spartans essentially opened with their sharpest half of basketball this season, crushing San Diego with an avalanche of pace, pressure and shooting in an 86-69 victory.
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The Spartans shot a blistering 66% in the first half, taking a 52-34 halftime lead. Guards Colby Garland and Jermaine Washington combined for 28 before halftime with Yaphet Moundi anchoring the interior with powerful touches and elite positioning.
It was all Spartans early with a 15-0 opening punch. In the opening minutes, Washington opened with a long two-pointer, followed by a three-pointer and the run and pace was on. Forward Sadraque NgaNga scored a dunk shortly after, while Moundi sank free throws to continue the Spartans’ sprint.
Thanks to San Jose’s high-pressure defense, the Toreros didn’t get their first bucket until nearly five minutes later.
“I thought we set the tone from the start. We were very good defensively, very solid offensively, with that good start,” head coach Tim Miles said.
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6’6″, 205 lb. forward Adrian Myers finished with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and became the sharpshooter off the bench with a remarkable inside game.
Every time the USD offered a spark, Myers snuffed it out. Miles even admitted he almost took out Myers after two turnovers, but while Miles had to wait, the sophomore caught fire: “He goes and hits a three and then gets another one and I’m like, ‘I can’t take him out now.’
At halftime, SJSU’s seven-man rotation was buzzing with three Spartans scoring in double figures. By the end of the game, four Spartans were in double figures.
But the second half was something else for the Spartans.
USD opened 2-for-9, but once they found rhythm, Torero’s full-court presses and half-court traps loosened the game up for the Spartans; ultimately forcing SJSU into 18 total turnovers.
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What had been a clinic turned into a chore, but more often than not, it’s the ugliness or beauty of basketball.
Miles explained the change bluntly: “They started scoring. They were pressing us a little bit, and we had some problems and our lineups were a little awkward, being that we were short on guards.”
After leading by 28 points at one point, the Toreros cut the lead to 15 on several occasions, especially when SJSU hit a scoring wall with just 18 second-half points in the frame.
Even Garland, steady all night with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, had to burn a timeout against a trap after eight minutes that he could see coming a mile away.
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Even though Miles and his team knew the USD presses were coming, it caused fits for the Spartans.
But Myers delivered momentum killers on the Toreros. A deep three in front of the SJS bench with 12:05 left pushed the lead to 67-46, momentarily halting the Toreros’ surge.
Yet it was Moundi who sealed it late. The junior forward made a block on one end, then raced across the country for a tough finish and goal to extend the lead to 18 with less than three minutes to play. Moundi finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, outscoring USD for every loose ball.
Crushing the ugly
Even though San Jose still won comfortably, the locker room vibe from Miles was honest: “It’s always good to win a match. But we also say to ourselves, “We need to get better at this, this and this.” »
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Garland stressed that the rotation continues to evolve, especially given injuries: “We click sometimes, but we’re still figuring things out; we’re just trying to see which five can play the hardest.”
But at least a short-term mission has been accomplished.
The Spartans had a big bounce-back win, four players reached double figures, the defense dominated early and the All-Stars delivered when the turbulence hit.
Not a perfect victory. “A much lousier second half for the Spartans,” as Miles described it, but perhaps still necessary in the learning and gelling process.
After some shooting struggles in recent games, the Spartans absolutely needed to make shots tonight and they did.
