By Keanu Haghighi (@KeanuHaghighi):
Career highs in points from freshmen Keith Fisher III (23) and guard Noah Baumann (16) wasn’t enough for San Jose State (3-20, 0-12 MW) in a 90-79 loss to Colorado State (11-16, 4-10 MW) in Fort Collins.
The Spartans were trailing for the entire game but were in striking distance for the majority of it. With a little under 9 minutes to play, it was a one-point game at 60-59.
The Rams then bulleted an 11-0 run all while the Spartans were held scoreless in the following four minutes, putting SJSU away for good.
A common theme this year for San Jose State has been giving up points off turnovers. SJSU ranks dead last in the Mountain West in turnover margin (-6.3) and places at the bottom of the conference in assist/turnover ratio (0.7).
Saturday was no different as the Spartans surrendered 23 points off turnovers while the Rams only gave up five the entire game. The 18-point difference had a large impact on the team’s 11-point loss.
In addition, San Jose State was outrebounded 42-36 as a result of the valiant effort on the glass by Colorado State center Nico Carvacho. He registered a monster 20-20 game with 26 points and 20 rebounds.
The win proved to be an important one for Colorado State as the team found itself in the headlines all week long. On Feb. 3, Rams head coach Larry Eustachy was put on administrative leave and was replaced by interim head coach Steve Banes.
At today’s shootaround, the CSU players were notified that Barnes was also put on administrative leave, which consequently put assistant coach Jase Herl in charge of the sidelines in today’s contest against SJSU. The coaches placed on leave are currently being investigated by the school.
San Jose State will return home seeking for its first conference win of the year against in-state rival, Fresno State.
Tip-off is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m