Spartans seeking for first conference win against Aztecs

By Keanu Haghighi (@KeanuHaghighi):

San Jose State men’s basketball (3-12, 0-4 MW) will be looking to snap a four game losing streak on the road against San Diego State (10-4, 2-1 MW) Tuesday night.

In the Spartans last meeting against the Aztecs, the team earned a thrilling 76-71 victory, the team’s first win against SDSU since 1999.

This matchup will prove to be a difficult test for the Spartans as they currently rank last in the Mountain West in points per game (65.5).

Meanwhile SDSU ranks first overall in scoring defense, allowing only 65.8 points per contest and is holding opponents field goal percentage to an average of 41.8 percent.

The Spartans have been plagued by turnovers the entire year. In its last six games, SJSU has turned the ball over at least 20 times and have reached that mark nine times in 15 games this season.

As a result, the Spartans are responsible for an abysmal -6.5 turnover margin. Opponents have scored 113 points off turnovers which translates to 28.3 points per game this year.

On a positive note, junior forward Ryan Welage has a chance of reaching the 1,000 point milestone. He is only eight points away from becoming the 15th player in program history to score 1,000 points in a Spartan uniform.

Welage ranks fourth in the Mountain West in PPG this year (18.4) and fifth in 3-point FG % (46%). He needs 23 made three-pointers to become the program’s all-time leader.

Tip off is set for 8 p.m. at Viejas Arena.

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