By Mohamed Bafakih (@MohamedABafa):
Shoot to get hot was the buzzword for San Jose State following its 71-54 loss to conference-leading Nevada Wednesday night at home.
After holding the Wolf Pack (17-3, 6-0 MW) to a season-low 24 points in the first half on 8-for-30 shooting and 3-for-16 from downtown, the Spartans (3-15, 0-7 MW) gave up 47 points in the second half en route to their seventh straight loss.
“If they [Nevada] might be cold in the first half, those guys continue to shoot the ball and then all of a sudden they can rattle off three or four or five in a row… when their wave comes offensively, you’re gonna have to be able to withstand that somehow, someway,” said head coach Jean Prioleau.
Nevada junior forward and leading scorer Caleb Martin missed his first three shot attempts, which were all 3-pointers, and finished the first half with nine points despite being 2-of-7 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point range.
Teammate Kendall Stephens was held to five points, while similarly posting two baskets and a 3-pointer on four attempts.
“We play a gap defense (forcing opponents to shoot a lot of 3s) and if you’re on, you’re on; if you’re not, you’re not,” senior guard Jalen James said. “… I feel like if we can pull that through into the second half, we can string some games together and it can be dangerous in the conference tournament.”
With a 26-24 halftime lead and shooting 42 percent from the field, SJSU couldn’t carry over Martin and Stephens’s cold shooting performances into the second half.
The duo outscored the Spartans in the second period 29-28, as Martin missed one basket in the second half to finish with a game-high 24 points while Stephens knocked down four 3-pointers to add 19.
Offensively, Brandon Mitchell led the way for SJSU as he finished with a career-high 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting, while also converting on a career-high two 3-pointers.
“We need to just take care of the ball, get into our offense and play from there,” Mitchell said.
Four straight field goals for Mitchell between the 8:52 and 4:30 mark kept it a two-possession game with the Wolf Pack leading 54-48, but the Spartans didn’t have an answer thereafter.
Forward Ryan Welage was held scoreless in the second half after a game-high nine points at the break.
Turnovers continued to plague SJSU as it finished with 16, so giving a team like Nevada extra possessions only hurt its chances.
The Wolf Pack ended the game on a 17-6 run with insurance from Martin as he ended the game with a step-back 3-pointer and a block on the other end. They finished with eight blocks as a team.
“They’re long, athletic, they really do a good job of blocking shots,” Prioleau said. “Coming one man removed to block a shot, not necessarily a guy on the ball.”
The Spartans have a week off before traveling to face another tough team in Boise State (16-3, 6-1 MW) on Jan. 24.