SDSU at San Jose State
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Provident Credit Union Event Center, San Jose
On the air: CBS Sports Network; 760-AM
Records: SDSU is 15-6 (8-4), San Jose State is 12-13 (5-8)
Series history: SDSU leads 50-35 and has won 14 straight after the 71-68 win at Viejas Arena two weeks ago that required the Aztecs coming back from 21 down. The last San Jose State win came in 2017 at the Event Center.
Aztecs update: This amounts to a can’t-lose proposition to keep alive their fading hopes of an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. Saturday’s 68-63 loss at Colorado State was particularly agonizing because of the manner of defeat, leading 50-47 with 14 minutes left, then scoring only one basket (and going 1 of 8 from the line) over the next 11 minutes. Magoon Gwath continues to be a bright spot, finishing with another double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) at CSU and averaging 17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks over the past four games. With two blocks Saturday, he broke Sylar Spencer’s freshman school record with 52 (accomplished in 21 games compared with 34 by Spencer). Nick Boyd is in a 4-of-23 shooting slump on 3s but had five rebounds, eight assists and three steals at CSU. Jared Coleman-Jones returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury made a pair of 3s off the bench (Miles Heide started). The problem Saturday was free throws. The Aztecs were 11 of 21 overall, 5 of 13 in the second half and 1 of 8 in key stretch with the game on the line. The Kenpom metric has SDSU at 49th and San Jose State at 171st, projecting a 71-63 Aztecs win.
Spartans update: They are 5-3 over their last eight games after opening the conference 0-5. That includes New Mexico’s only conference defeat, 71-70 in San Jose on Jan. 14. Their most recent game didn’t go so well, a 79-52 loss at Boise State on Friday. The Spartans rank first in conference games in 3-point accuracy (37.8%) and 3-pointers (8.9 per game), something SDSU knows well after they made nine in the first half at Viejas Arena and took a 21-point lead. The margin was still 16 in the second half before an 18-0 Aztecs run squeaked out a three-point win. The Spartans finished with 15 3s and only six 2-point baskets — shooting 48.4% behind the arc and 30.0% inside it. Latrell Davis had 23 points off the bench. Josh Uduje, the Mountain West sixth man of the year last season at Utah State, had 21. But starting big Robert Vaihola was held scoreless for the first time in 47 games with Heide as his primary defender. Davis and Uduje each had 30 in a double-overtime win at Fresno State on Feb. 4, the first time in school history they’ve had two 30-point scorers in the same game. The Spartans are 10-1 when they shoot a higher percentage than their opponent and 9-1 when they win the battle of the boards. The problem is defense, ranking 220th nationally and ninth in the Mountain West.
Next up: Saturday vs. Boise State (7 p.m., CBSSN)
–MARK ZEIGLER
