By Marissa Scott (@marissascotttt ):
The two teams with the longest losing streaks in the Mountain West will meet on the same floor Saturday as San Jose State men’s basketball heads to the Rockies to take on Colorado State.
The Spartans (3-19, 0-11 MW) have lost 11 in a row while the Rams (10-16, 3-10 MW) have dropped their last seven as both have dug themselves last and second to last in conference.
SJSU has yet to beat CSU in 16 tries as the most recent loss occurred back when the two teams met back in San Jose on Dec. 30. It was a very physical game that revolved around defense. The Rams took it, 59-52, capitalizing on 23 Spartan turnovers while shooting just 35 percent from the floor.
No team in the country turns the ball over more than the Spartans do (17.6 T/G), and protecting the ball how they did against UNLV (7) and not like New Mexico (25) will help them in a big way Saturday.
CSU has had trouble shooting the ball all season, as a 41.4 percent clip is just one tick higher than Air Force at 41.3 percent, who ranks last in the Mountain West in shooting percentage.
The Spartans, meanwhile, have shot the ball fairly well as of late with four consecutive games of at least 47 percent shooting.
Look for junior Ryan Welage as he aims to shoot his way up the program’s 3-point leaderboard, which he’s 10 away from reaching the all-time leader Tim Pierce at 153.
The rollercoaster week for CSU continues as it will be without head coach Larry Eustachy, who was recently put on a paid leave of absence and is expected to be fired for his abusive behavior toward players and staff, according to The Denver Post. Players boycotted a scheduled 3 p.m. practice on Thursday as they had grown frustration over matters with the athletic department.
The Rams’ associate head coach Steve Barnes will serve as the interim coach and is expected to be at the helm against SJSU.
Tip-off at Moby Arena is set for Saturday at 1 p.m.