By Carlos Jimenez (@carlosjimmenezz):
San Jose State men’s basketball (2-5) lost 76-58 to Southern Illinois University (4-2) marking consecutive losses to start their four-game road trip.
Southern Illinois is the first team to have outrebounded the Spartans this season, slightly edging them out 30-28.
Points in the paint heavily favored the Salukis with a 24 point advantage.
Turnovers were an issue once again as the Spartans turned the ball over 20 times leading to the Salukis 14 fastbreak points.
The Salukis turned the ball over 18 times but the Spartans could not convert those extra possessions into fastbreak points.
The Spartans aggressively attacked the rim and were rewarded with 27 trips to the free-throw line (19-27), two shy of their season high mark.
Junior guard Jaycee Hillsman led SJSU with 15 points and junior forward Ryan Welage was the only other Spartan to score in double-digits with 10 points.
Welage’s 10 points tied his lowest point total of the season which he posted against Idaho State. He is averaging 20.2 points a game.
In the final moments of the game the Spartans closed out on a 10-0 run, but it was nowhere near enough.
The third game of this road trip will be played on Dec. 5 against Denver University. The game is set to start at 6 p.m.