By Annabelle Del Bosque — Staff Writer
With only nine turnovers committed by San Jose State men’s basketball (3-21, 0-12 MW), the team’s 8-21 free-throw shooting proved to be fatal as it fell to UNLV Saturday, 71-64.
SJSU dropped its 14th straight game as it shot 38 percent from the charity stripe, compared to the UNLV’s 68 percent.
“We shot very poorly from the three-point line,” said head coach Jean Prioleau. “That’s what cost us the game.”
The first half was full of ball movement across the paint from the Rebels (14-11, 9-5 MW). However, the Spartans were able to keep up.
SJSU’s ability to drive and keep pace with UNLV was able to keep it up by the end of the first half, 31-28.
The team was fired up in the beginning of the second half. Sophomore guard Noah Baumann broke the school’s record for the most consecutive games (22) with a made 3-pointer.
“I gotta thank my teammates. They know how to find me,” Baumann said. “It’s just another record that I wanted to beat.”
Junior guard Brae Ivey, freshman forward Christian Anigwe and Baumann had four fouls each, while junior center Ashtin Chastain fouled out near the end of second half.
With that many fouls from the Spartans, the Rebels were able to go into extra bonuses that ultimately gave them the lead on the scoreboard. The team went 12-15 from the free-throw line in the second half.
Offensively, freshman guard Zach Chappell put on a great performance with 11 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds.
“I thought Zach Chappell was outstanding tonight,” Prioleau said. “Sky’s the limit with Zach and I definitely think he’s capable of playing in this league.”
Junior forward Michael Steadman was the lead scorer with 16 points.
The Spartans face off against Colorado State Wednesday at the Event Center.
Follow Annabelle on Twitter @BosqueAnnabelle