The San José State men’s basketball team continued to struggle Tuesday night as the Spartans extended their losing streak to five games in a 70-55 loss to Fresno State.
With the loss, the Spartans fell to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in Mountain West Conference play.
San José played much of the game without junior starting point guard Colby Garland, who exited early after suffering what appeared to be a head injury and did not return.
Head coach for SJSU, Tim Miles, explained how the team never found its rhythm.
“(It was) a disappointing night,” Miles said. “I thought we came out flat, very low energy and you could just see it from the get-go.”
Garland briefly contributed early, scoring two in the paint before ending his night with only 10 minutes of action, as the Spartans began to struggle adjusting offensively without their floor general.
Fresno State took advantage, using transition opportunities and second-chance points to build momentum.
Miles pointed to ball movement as a major issue.
“I just didn’t think we shared the ball very well early,” Miles said. “Your goal is to shoot off the assist pass — and I don’t know what we had for assists tonight — but it couldn’t have been very good.”
Starting freshman guard, Melvin Bell Jr., logged a career-high scoring of 16 points.
SJSU struggled to generate consistent offense in the first half and trailed 37-24 at the break despite an energetic performance from Bell.
The Spartans opened the second half with improved effort, briefly cutting into the deficit with defensive stops and transition baskets.
Bell continued to be active on both ends while redshirt freshman guard Ben Roseborough, returned after a six-game hiatus and provided a spark by dropping five points off the bench.
“It’s good to have Ben back,” Miles said. “You can see immediately he makes a difference in the game.”
The Spartans managed to narrow the gap to single digits during a late push, but the Bulldogs responded with timely shooting and control of the boards to seal the win.
Miles emphasized effort as his biggest concern following the loss.
“Those guys we put out there, I want to see a fighting spirit and that’s the most disappointing part,” Miles said. “I just didn’t see a fighting spirit out of us tonight.”
San José State ultimately could not overcome the early deficit as injuries and inconsistency continued to challenge the Spartans on the court.
Senior forward Yaphet Moundi was among the absent as he missed his second straight game in a row after having started every game this season.
The Spartans will look to regroup when it faces Grand Canyon University on Saturday, Jan 10. at 5 p.m. in the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
