Tag: seneca knight

Illinois State forward Seneca Knight: ‘I’m one of the best all-around players in the draft’

Rookie Wire caught up with Knight to discuss his college career, his pre-draft workouts and much more.

After five years in college, Illinois State forward Seneca Knight is focused on beginning the next chapter of his basketball career and proving himself during the pre-draft process.

The journey for Knight began at San Jose State. He produced his best season with the Spartans as a sophomore. That season he was named to the All-Mountain West third-team after averaging 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and one steal.

Knight opted out of the 2020-21 season because of the coronavirus pandemic and left San Jose State for BYU. Wanting a change of scenery, Knight spent one year with the Cougars and transferred to Illinois State this past season.

He averaged 12.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 47.4% shooting from the field. He posted a massive jump in 3-point percentage, improving from 30.6% at BYU to 39.6% this past season. He ranked second in 3-point percentage during conference play (44.4%).

The 6-foot-7 forward emerged as a versatile scorer throughout his college career. He can get into the paint and finish strong at the rim and get to the free-throw line. He served as the go-to scorer at times for the Redbirds and also helped facilitate things when needed.

Knight is working to showcase himself in the pre-draft process.

He is training with other prospects in Dallas, Texas, and has participated in workouts with teams. He has visited Charlotte and Oklahoma City so far, and has workouts scheduled with the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.

Rookie Wire caught up with Knight this week to discuss his college career, playing soccer growing up, his pre-draft training, what he wants to show teams and much more.

Note: This interview was edited for clarity

Report: Seneca Knight worked out for the Thunder in pre-draft visit

Illinois State guard Seneca Knight worked out for the Thunder in a pre-draft visit, per @RookieWire

The 2023 NBA draft combined is scheduled to take place soon from May 15 to May 21, which means the draft season is right around the corner.

It looks like the Oklahoma City Thunder are underway with draft evaluations as they have begun conducting pre-draft visits. According to Rookie Wire, Illinois State guard Seneca Knight has recently worked out for the Thunder.

He also posted the news on his Instagram story:

The 25-year-old averaged 12.3 points on 47.4% shooting, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 32 games last season. He also shot 39.6% from 3 on three attempts.

Knight spent five seasons in college, where he spent the first three seasons at San Jose State before transferring to BYU for the 2021-22 season and eventually concluding his college career at Illinois State last year.

Knight is currently viewed as an undrafted free-agent target. With OKC’s rich history with UDFAs, this could be another low-risk investment for the Thunder.

The 2023 NBA draft is scheduled to happen on Thursday, June 22.

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Five For ’21: Ranking The Mountain West’s Top Scorers

Five For ’21: Ranking The Mountain West’s Top Scorers Predicting the top five Mountain West scorers of the ’20-21 season Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Who are the top scorers in the MW? As part of Mountain West Wire’s continued dedication …

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Five For ’21: Ranking The Mountain West’s Top Scorers

Predicting the top five Mountain West scorers of the ’20-21 season

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Who are the top scorers in the MW?

As part of Mountain West Wire’s continued dedication to offseason basketball content, we welcome you to the second installment of the Five For ’21 series.

The Five For ’21 series features our ranking of the top five Mountain West players in five different skill sets: passing, scoring, defending, rebounding, and shot blocking.

As for the scoring list, the focus here is on guards and forwards who create and score from all three levels.

We hope you enjoy the five-article series and engage in further conversation about where certain players should rank or appear on our Five For ’21 lists.

The Five For ’21 series schedule is below.

  • Monday: Passers
  • Tuesday: Scorers
  • Wednesday: Shot Blockers
  • Thursday: Defenders
  • Friday: Rebounders

Without further adieu, we open up our top scorer list with one of the conference’s top-five returning scorers from last season.

5) Seneca Knight, San Jose State

’19-20: 17.1 PPG, 40.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%, 53.2 TS%

There were plenty of capable scoring candidates for this list, especially at the number five spot. But not too many with the potential to lead the conference in scoring like Seneca Knight does in 2020-2021. On the surface the 6-6 combo guard is a returning top-five scorer on a bottom half Mountain West team who struggled to score last season. With the Spartans averaging a combined 69.9 PPG last season which was good enough for 9th in the conference.

But what do they say when you’ve hit rock bottom? There is nowhere to go but up. Knight has the potential to break twenty points a game next season and may do so in spectacular fashion if he takes a similar step up in production similar to what he averaged from his freshman to sophomore year (a difference of 10.9 PPG).

There’s no denying Knight’s position as a top five scorer in the Mountain West, especially given his versatility in his ability to knock them down from deep, from the field and at the free throw line. We just have to wait patiently to see what another offseason of development does for the now junior’s game in anticipation of a big year ahead.

4) Bryce Hamilton, UNLV 

’19-20: 16.0 PPG, 45.3 FG%, 33.9 3P%, 106.0 ORtg, 52.6 TS%

Hamilton burst into the all-conference conversation at the onset of the new year, after going scoreless at home against Robert Morris on December 21st. He followed up that lackluster performance by scoring in double-digits the next nineteen games, including eight performances of twenty or more with his season high of thirty-five coming against New Mexico in January.

The Runnin’ Rebels will look a lot different this year with a combination of outgoing transfers and a very large incoming recruiting class. Hamilton will now be paired up with one of the best scorers in the country in David Jenkins Jr., but isn’t foreign to sharing the scoring duties as he did last season with now Oregon Duck Amauri Hardy last season.

The 6-4 scoring guard uses his combination of size and length against smaller guards while driving the lane relentlessly to get to the line as a means of putting points on the board.

As previously mentioned next year’s squad will look a bit different, and so might T.J. Otzelberger’s plan of attack with a different set up personnel. The second year head coach has in the past mentioned a desire to run-and-gun like the UNLV squads of years past. If there are any Rebels not recruited by Otzelberger that have stuck around for the upcoming season capable of excelling in such a system, it’s Hamilton.

3) Justin Bean, Utah State

’19-20: 11.9 PPG, 51.8 FG%, 27.6 3P%, 122.9 ORtg, 57.8 TS%

Bean is going to be a player featured on multiple five for ’21 lists this week and that is just the kind of player he’s become at Utah State. The 6-7 post uses a tremendous motor and relentless pursuit of the ball around the rim to take advantage of second change opportunities while outworking bigger forwards in the paint.

He saw a jump in production from his freshman year to this past season with an increase in playing time on a top-three Mountain West squad. Though Bean was destined for a supporting role last season behind one of the conferences best scorers in Sam Merrill, but exceeded expectations down low in Neemias Queta’s absence early on.

Expectations are a bit different going into 2020-2021 with the now redshirt junior gearing up for a further leadership role in Craig Smith’s third year in Logan.

Bean is definitely up for the task, boasting the highest offensive rating on the list at 122.9. The only question remaining is how the Aggies aim to use Bean in an offensive system without Merrill. As he was one of the best clean up big men in the country when it came to offensive boards last season. So unless Sam Merrill’s license to shoot the ball transfers to the next starting two guard, I can imagine Bean’s offesnsive opportunities will look very different next season.

2) David Jenkins Jr., UNLV

’18-19: 19.7 PPG, 45.8 FG%, 45.3 3P%, 111.3 ORtg ,61.4 TS%

Jalen Harris and Malachi Flynn reintroduced the appeal and power of transfers into the Mountain West in 2019-2020. Just in case anyone forgot why Eric Musselman built Nevada into the west coast “Transfer U” with them just a season earlier.

UNLV combo guard David Jenkins Jr. is the Mountain West’s next installment, of the high impact incoming transfer.

Jenkins Jr. hails from Tacoma,WA but made a name for himself at his last stop in Brookings, SD (population 24,509) at Summit League powerhouse South Dakota State. There under now UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger,  the 6-2 scoring guard played a supporting role to college basketball legend Mike Daum (25.3 PPG & 11.7 RPG) while averaging 19.7 PPG and shooting 45.8% from the field and 45.3% from deep in his last season as a Jack Rabbit.

For those who might try to say “yeah 19.7 PPG, in the Summit League” need not look further for proof that his scoring ability translates to the Mountain West than performances against Memphis (35 points on 12/4/18), Texas (19 points on 3/19/19), Tulane (23 points on 11/19/18) and Colorado State (32 points on 11/21/18). No matter the opponent Jenkins Jr. manages to score regardless.

1) Derrick Alston Jr., Boise State

’19-20: 17.3 PPG, 41.3 FG%, 33.5 3P%, 51.5 TS%

Alston Jr. is  the conference’s returning leading scorer from last season, but if we plan to revisit this list come March we may not find him atop the list. That’s because he may have even more scoring support next season than he did in 2019-2020, which is a scary thought.

The 6-9 scoring guard entered his name into the 2020 NBA draft but decided to return to Boise to contend for a conference title and boost his draft stock. He’s in a great position to do both but needs to be a little more offensively efficient next season to position himself as a first round prospect. With his size, length and an rare ability to handle the ball at his height, Alston Jr. is a match up nightmare for smaller guards. These attributes make him a back to the basket bully for many guards in the conference, plus the frame to take it to the rim and get fouled if necessary among players more his size.

But he may need to release the reins a bit when it comes to facilitating the offense and focus on putting points on the board. Through no fault of his own, Alston Jr. was one of the better primary ball handlers on last season’s Broncos team but certainly not among the most efficient in the conference. He and entire squad may benefit greatly from those duties being passed on to say RayJ Dennis or Marcus Shaver Jr., in order to create more scoring opportunities and hinder turnovers.

Also Considered: Hunter Maldonado, Wyoming; Matt Mitchell, San Diego State; Desmond Cambridge Jr., Nevada; Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State; David Roddy, Colorado State; A.J. Walker, Air Force; Richard Washington, San Jose State; Kwame Marble II, Wyoming; Adam Thislewood, Colorado State; Makuach Maluach, New Mexico

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections

Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections The results are in, take a look at the awards and the 17th week’s results. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire The month of February made it a close …

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch list Results: POY and All-Conference Selections

The results are in, take a look at the awards and the 17th week’s results. 

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The month of February made it a close one but the Player of the Year watch list results are in, and the winner is….

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We kept track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and voted on who had the best performances that week.

The process churned out 17 weeks of results, highlighting multiple player’s performances in that time. Overall 31 different players received top-5 votes and every Mountain West team is represented on the list. But without further ado here we go.

[Editor note: As a staff there will be a one-time vote on these same awards, plus more, and it will be interesting to see if they are different because a one or two week surge would help them in these weekly rankings.]

Player of the year: Malachi Flynn, San Diego State (42 total points)

NCAA Basketball: San Diego State at Fresno State

Malachi Flynn has been a major catalyst in the Aztec’s historic 2019-2020 season. His presence on the court this season for a Brian Dutcher team that reached twenty wins last season but lost it’s top-two scorers is more than impressive. Flynn’s leadership has led to a 28-1 (17-1 in MW) regular season finish, top-5 ranking, an at-large bid and maybe most importantly he’s helped make the players around him better.

His numbers weren’t eye popping, but were efficient and made an impact consistently on the best team in the Mountain West. He averaged 17.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.1 APG & 1.8 SPG in 29 games this season (all starts). Certainly an all-conference worthy stat sheet and his assists and steals per game totals were good enough to lead the entire conference in both categories. Flynn performed at a high level consistently throughout the season and had the best start of any in the conference and kept his level of play just high enough to fend off some other player’s late season surges for the award.

The dagger might have come this weekend in what looked like the battle for Player of the Year against Nevada and Wolf Pack guard Jalen Harris. Flynn helped his team obtain an 83-76 win while scoring 36 points on 13-20 made field goals (65%) while also grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out five assists. This performance cemented Flynn as the inaugural 2020 Mountain West Wire’s Watch list Player of the Year. Congrats to Malachi and a special thank you to all who participated in the voting process throughout the year.

The rest of the All-Mountain West First team:

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Jalen Harris, Nevada (35 Points)

Sam Merrill, Utah State (20 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, Boise State(19 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, New Mexico (15 Points)

All-Mountain West second team:

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Nico Carvacho, Colorado State (12 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, UNLV (12 Points)

Seneca Knight, San Jose State (10 Points)

Jazz Johnson, Nevada (9 Points)

Justinian Jessup, Boise State (7 Points)

The order for the Final week is as follows:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Sixteen

Who is in the running for Player of the Year? Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Sixteen Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Jalen Harris shrinks the POY gap, Seneca Knight goes off and the Runnin’ Rebels down …

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Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Sixteen

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Jalen Harris shrinks the POY gap, Seneca Knight goes off and the Runnin’ Rebels down the Aztecs. 

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week. 

How it works description now at the bottom of the article

The order for the sixteenth week is as follows:

1. Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (5 Points)

28 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists against New Mexico

20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals against Fresno State

Nevada’s current second place standing in the Mountain West has made the transition between coaching staffs seamless for Wolf Pack Fans. Steve Alford has brought his winning Mountain West pedigree with him to Reno but a big reason if the not THE reason for Nevada’s success this season has been the man listed above, Jalen Harris.

Harris has been tremendous all season for the Wolf Pack but has really turned it on in conference play, which has included four straight games with thirty points or more and has the squad riding a current five game winning streak coming into the week.

Harris has made the biggest run at Player of the Year in the entire conference, and has turned Nevada into a real force to be reckoned with while making a name for himself nationally in February. It is a bit odd to even think his performance last week where he averaged 24.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 2.5 APG seemed like a slow week but that’s Harris’ reality at the end of February.

Most people would say that Harris has become the best player in the conference and his push for first on our list is a pretty good indicator of that notion. But even though Harris has been catching up, Malachi Flynn has kept his first place position with consistent play throughout the year. But with only two games left in the regular season for both Harris and Malachi Flynn, the February 29th showdown in Reno on senior night should settle some bets and help some voters decide.

2. Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (4 Points):

23 points, 1 steal and 1 assists against Boise State

37 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal against Colorado State

3. Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (3 Points):

24 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists against UNLV

4. Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (2 Points):

25 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block against Colorado State

11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals against San Diego State

5. Roderick “RJ” Williams, senior forward Boise State (1 Point):

13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists against San Jose State

27 points, 17 rebounds and 1 assist against New Mexico

Past Weeks:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3| Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9| Week 10|Week 11| Week 12| Week 13|Week 14|Week 15|

Current Overall Point Totals:

Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (37 Points)

Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (31 Points)

Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (20 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (19 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, senior guard UNM (15 Points)

Nico Carvacho, senior center CSU (12 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (11 Points)

Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (10 Points)

Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (9 Points)

Justinian Jessup, senior guard Boise State (7 Points)

Hunter Maldonado, sophomore guard Wyoming (7 Points)

Isaiah Stevens, freshman guard Colorado State (6 Points)

Alphonso Anderson, junior guard USU (5 Points)

Carlton Bragg Jr., senior forward New Mexico (5 Points)

Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 Points)

Justin Bean, sophomore forward USU (4 Points)

Marvin Coleman, sophomore guard UNLV (4 Points)

Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (4 Points)

Neemias Queta, sophomore forward Utah State (4 Points)

Orlando Robinson, freshman forward Fresno State (4 Points)

David Roddy, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Roderick “RJ” Williams, senior forward Boise State (4 Points)

Corey Manigault, senior forward New Mexico (2 Points)

Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 Points)

Donnie Tillman, junior forward UNLV (2 Points)

Abu Kigab, junior forward Boise State (1 Point)

Zane Martin, junior guard UNM (1 Point)

Matt Mitchell, junior forward San Diego State (1 Point)

Ryan Swan, senior center Air Force (1 Point)

Richard Washington, junior guard San Jose State (1 Point)

Yanni Wetzell, senior forward San Diego State (1 Point)

How It Works: 

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points. 

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays. 

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Fourteen

Who is in the running for Player of the Year? Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Fourteen Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Jalen Harris averages 35.0 PPG and Neemias Queta makes his list debut. The staff at …

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Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Fourteen

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Jalen Harris averages 35.0 PPG and Neemias Queta makes his list debut.

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week. 

How it works description now at the bottom of the article

The order for the fourteenth week is as follows:

1. Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (5 Points)

38 points, 4 assists and 6 rebounds against Air Force

32 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds against San Jose State

Four, that’s how many straight games the Wolf Pack’s Jalen Harris has scored thirty points or more, did I mention that was consecutively? Harris is on fire, and that feels like an understatement as the junior guard has the hot hand for a very neutral temperature Nevada team. Still with week fourteen’s first place finish he is only seven points away from current first place holder Malachi Flynn to make his case of Player of the Year.

Yes Harris is averaging 30.0 PPG over his last five games, but the Wolf Pack are 3-2 in the same span, and like most teams fighting it out in the middle of the Mountain West. Still when he takes the floor he is the most dominant player on the court, no matter the opponent. And he gets his points from everywhere from distance, inside the lane and without the ball as he’s constantly moving looking for a possible alley oop.

Nevada played well last week, earning two wins against Air Force and San Jose State by an average of 26.0 PPG. This may seem like easy pickings but any momentum that can be gained in this middle of the pack heavy Mountain West is useful. Especially seeing that the Wolf Pack drive south to the Thomas and Mack Center on Wednesday and then take a six day break before heading further south to The Pit (i.e. Dreamstyle Arena) next week. Either way I haven’t decided which streak I’m going to be rooting for this weekend, whether it be the Aztecs undefeated streak or hoping for another 30 point performance from Mr. Harris on Wednesday night.

2. Neemias Queta, sophomore forward Utah State (4 Points):

21 Points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks against UNLV

21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks against Boise State

3. Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (3 Points):

17 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds against Air Force

4. Nico Carvacho, senior center Colorado State (2 Points):

17 points, 16 rebounds and 1 assist against Fresno State

5. Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (1 Point):

34 points, 3 assists and 8 rebounds against Nevada

Past Weeks:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3| Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9| Week 10|Week 11| Week 12| Week 13|

Current Overall Point Totals:

Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (30 Points)

Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (23 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (19 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, senior guard UNM (15 Points)

Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (15 Points)

Nico Carvacho, senior center CSU (12 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (9 Points)

Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (9 Points)

Hunter Maldonado, sophomore guard Wyoming (7 Points)

Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (6 Points)

Isaiah Stevens, freshman guard Colorado State (6 Points)

Alphonso Anderson, junior guard USU (5 Points)

Carlton Bragg Jr., senior forward New Mexico (5 Points)

Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 Points)

Justinian Jessup, senior guard Boise State (5 Points)

Justin Bean, sophomore forward USU (4 Points)

Marvin Coleman, sophomore guard UNLV (4 Points)

Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (4 Points)

Neemias Queta, sophomore forward Utah State (4 Points)

Orlando Robinson, freshman forward Fresno State (4 Points)

David Roddy, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Roderick “RJ” Williams, senior forward Boise State (3 Points)

Corey Manigault, senior forward New Mexico (2 Points)

Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 Points)

Donnie Tillman, junior forward UNLV (2 Points)

Abu Kigab, junior forward Boise State (1 Point)

Zane Martin, junior guard UNM (1 Point)

Matt Mitchell, junior forward San Diego State (1 Point)

Ryan Swan, senior center Air Force (1 Point)

Yanni Wetzell, senior forward San Diego State (1 Point)

How It Works: 

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points. 

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays. 

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Boise State Looks to Extend Home Streak against Pesky Spartans

Boise State men’s basketball hosts San Jose State on Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena. The game tips off at 7:00 PM Mountain.

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San Jose State at Boise State: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

Both teams have already surpassed last year’s win totals

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Can the Spartans sneak up on the Broncos in Boise?

GAME DETAILS

WHO: San Jose State (7-14, 3-6 MWC) at Boise State (13-8, 5-4 MWC)

WHEN: Wednesday, January 29 — 7:00 P.M. MT / 6:00 P.M. PT

WHERE: ExtraMile Arena, Boise, ID

WATCH: Mountain West Network

LISTEN: TuneIn

ALL-TIME: Boise State leads the series, 32-3

ODDS: Boise State -16, per KenPom

GAME PREVIEW

Boise State returns to ExtraMile Arena on Wednesday night as they take on San Jose State. The Broncos have a chance to move into a third-place tie in the Mountain West, but these Spartans are not the same pushovers they were a year ago. The game tips off at 7:00 PM Mountain Time and will be shown on the Mountain West Network.

The Broncos (13-8, 5-4 MW) will be intent on extending a burgeoning winning streak, which so far features victories over Utah State and Fresno State on consecutive Saturdays. It may have taken a miracle for Boise State to escape with a win over the Aggies, but their defeat of the Bulldogs was as sound as they come. The Broncos coasted to a 34-point victory in Fresno four days ago.

The team has seemingly turned a corner in the second half of the season, thanks in part to the addition of transfer forward Abu Kigab. The former Oregon Duck is averaging 14.4 points per game and more than four rebounds nightly, having started in all eleven of his appearances since joining the active roster in December.

Kigab joins teammates Derrick Alston, Justinian Jessup, and RJ Williams as double-digit scorers. Alston, a 6’8” junior with pro potential, leads the charge with better than 19 points per game. The sharpshooting Jessup has regained his form after an early season slump, shooting 45% on three-pointers during conference play, and scores 15 points an outing.

Williams, in particular, has been a very important piece for the Broncos. He was thrust into the starting lineup at the start of this season after serving almost exclusively as a sixth man during his time on Leon Rice’s bench in 2018-19. Though he seemed somewhat miscast as the center, standing at just 6’7”, Williams responded by becoming one of the most tenacious defensive rebounders in the country. He has shown continued development with his offensive game, posting nearly 12 points per game.

The arrival of Kigab has allowed Williams to slide back into his old role—and the results have been enouraging.

And while this team has had its fair share of issues on the road, ExtraMile has been something of a safe haven for the Broncos.

All four of Boise State’s conference losses have come in enemy territory. In fairness, those games have been at The Pit, Viejas Arena, Lawlor Events Center, and Clune Arena. None of those venues are exactly welcoming. But the Broncos haven’t lost a home game since a November 15 upset at the hands of UC Irvine.

The Broncos will try to keep their eight-game home winning streak alive on Wednesday, but another Californian team could sneak up on them.

It may not be instantly obvious looking at the standings, but head coach Jean Prioleau has architected a quiet turnaround for San Jose State this season. Before judging this team solely on its 7-14 record, consider that the Spartans won just four games a year ago. They already have three victories in league play alone in 2019-20, including wins over Nevada and New Mexico.

The third member of that trio of wins came in their most recent contest, when they hosted Air Force. The Spartans prevailed 90-81 at home against the Falcons, with Seneca Knight turning in another 20-point performance.

It was the sophomore’s fifth such effort this season, and his fourth in the past five games. Knight is averaging nearly 18 points and seven rebounds in Mountain West games and will be at the center of Prioleau’s program for the foreseeable future.

For the program to find any sustained success, however, Knight needs more support from the cast of players around him.

Senior guard Brae Ivey has been a serviceable game manager in the backcourt, averaging nearly ten points and three assists, while playing solid defense (1.2 steals per game) and limiting his turnovers (1.5 per game). But Ivey isn’t best suited as the second option in this offense.

Ideally, that person would be Richard Washington, Jr. The JUCO sniper was brought over after a successful stint at Tallahassee CC and was thought to be the offensive weapon that Prioleau’s team needed behind Knight.

Unfortunately, the returns haven’t been exactly as hoped, with Washington struggling with his shot at the Division I level. The junior is shooting just 36% from the field, a number weighed down by a pedestrian 32% clip from beyond the arc.

Still, Washington has the talent to get hot on any given night. If he and Knight can coordinate their efforts, they could pose a serious threat for a Boise State team that would do well not to look past this matchup in advance of their date with Nevada on Saturday.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Ten

Who is in the running for Player of the Year? Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Ten Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Flynn pulls ahead, while Air Force and San Jose State find representation on the list, in …

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Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Ten

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Flynn pulls ahead, while Air Force and San Jose State find representation on the list, in a week full of upsets.

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week. 

How it works description now at the bottom of the article

The order for the tenth week is as follows:

1. Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (5 Points)

28 Points, 9 Rebounds and 3 Steals against Nevada

21 Points, 8 Rebounds and 2 Assists against Colorado State

Knight makes his debut on the list and does so with a bang with a first place finish after a week that featured handing the Nevada Wolfpack their first loss in conference play while averaging 24.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG for the Spartans. San Jose State has had a well known tough transition into the Mountain West, failing to finish above .500 in conference play, posting a 16-98 record since their move in 2014.

Knight has played well for a Spartan’s team that is enjoying 9th place in the conference standings after two wins against top half teams New Mexico and Nevada this season. Those two conference wins give head coach Jean Prioleau more wins in conference play than his previous two years in San Jose combined (which add up to two).

Knight is leading the team in scoring with 13.7 PPG but is averaging 16.6 PPG in conference play. The Spartans are a bit two sided and can bring an upset caliber team to the court (i.e. Hofstra, New Mexico, Nevada) or a team riding an eight game losing streak (Nov. 23rd-Dec. 22nd) any night.

To be fair the Spartans only have one loss to a team outside KenPom’s top-250, and have a strength of schedule rated 67th in the country. Either way this Spartan team may be a bit underrated (I know how it sounds but ask the Lobos or Wolfpack) and would have a “successful” or progressive season if they finish anywhere inside the top-10. And Knight’s play as of recent can get them there.

2. JaQuan Lyle, senior guard New Mexico (4 Points):

14 Points, 10 Assists and 3 Steals against Fresno State

20 Points, 4 Assists and 2 Rebounds against Air Force

3. Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (3 Points):

19 Points, 4 Assists and 3 Steals against Wyoming

19 Points, 6 Assists and 3 Rebounds against Boise State

4.  Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (2 Points):

20 Points, 5 Rebounds and 5 Assists against San Jose State

31 Points, 3 Assists, and 3 Rebounds against Utah State

5. Ryan Swan, senior center Air Force (1 Point):

31 Points, 11 Rebounds and 3 Assists against Utah State

10 Points, 7 Rebounds and 2 Assists against New Mexico

Past Weeks:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3| Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9

Current Overall Point Totals:

Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (17 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, senior guard UNM (15 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (14 Points)

Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (11 Points)

Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (11 Points)

Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (9 Points)

Nico Carvacho, senior center CSU (7 Points)

Hunter Maldonado, sophomore guard Wyoming (7 Points)

Alphonso Anderson, junior guard USU (5 Points)

Carlton Bragg Jr., senior forward New Mexico (5 Points)

Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 Points)

Justinian Jessup, senior guard Boise State (5 Points)

Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (5 Points)

Justin Bean, sophomore forward USU (4 Points)

Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (4 Points)

Orlando Robinson, freshman forward Fresno State (4 Points)

David Roddy, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Isaiah Stevens, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Roderick “RJ” Williams, senior forward Boise State (3 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (2 Points)

Corey Manigault, senior forward New Mexico (2 Points)

Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 Points)

Donnie Tillman, junior forward UNLV (2 Points)

Abu Kigab, junior forward Boise State (1 Point)

Ryan Swan, senior center Air Force (1 Point)

How It Works: 

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points. 

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays. 

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San Jose State at UCLA: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

San Jose State at UCLA: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More Spartans looking to regain form against formidable foes Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire Prioleau has tinkered with his lineups, but can he find the right formula? …

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San Jose State at UCLA: Game Preview, TV, Radio, Live Stream, Odds, More

Spartans looking to regain form against formidable foes

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Prioleau has tinkered with his lineups, but can he find the right formula?

WHO: San Jose State (3-4, 0-0 MWC) at ULCA (5-3, 0-0 Pac-12)

WHEN: Sunday, December 1 — 5:00 P.M. PT / 6:00 P.M. MT

WHERE: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

WATCH: Pac-12 Network (cable subscription required); Get a free one-week trial of FuboTV.

LISTEN: TuneIn

ALL-TIME RECORD: UCLA leads the series, 8-1

ODDS: UCLA -17, per KenPom

PREVIEW: San Jose State will be looking for an upset victory on Sunday night as they travel down to Pauley Pavilion to do battle with UCLA.

The Spartans come into the game on the heels of two disappointing losses to Portland State and Oregon State. Things were looking up for Jean Prioleau’s team after beating Hofstra in the opener and snagging another early win over a Grambling State squad that could win the SWAC.

But the other shoe dropped hard, with SJSU losing their last two games by a combined 50 points.

This drop in production comes at an unideal time for a team that plays its next four games against UCLA, Utah State, San Diego State, and Stanford. In fact, the Bruins might be the easiest opponent of the Spartans’ upcoming slate.

The Bruins also find themselves in the midst of a slide. After starting the year at 4-0, UCLA has lost three of its last four. They picked up a cheap win over Chaminade, the host of the Maui Invitational, but otherwise dropped games against Hofstra, BYU, and Michigan State.

Mick Cronin’s side saw early success going inside to big man Jalen Hill, but the redshirt sophomore has gone quiet in the past two games. Hill scored in single digits against both the Cougars and the Spartans after a 24-point explosion against Hofstra.

Nobody else on the Bruins has consistently stepped up when Hill has struggled.

Prince Ali, Tyger Campbell, and Cody Riley are all capable options, but none of them appear to playing at a level to truly take over a game as the primary scorer. UCLA was able to skate through their first four games, but their lack of scoring punch outside of hill has exposed a weakness that other teams can and should exploit.

That means that the San Jose State frontcourt will have their work cut out for them on Sunday evening.

Prioleau ran out a new starting lineup for the first time against the Beavers on Wednesday, starting former Wake Forest big man Samuel Japhet-Mathias. The transfer center responded by scoring a team-leading 10 points. Omari Moore also started in place Seneca Knight but had little impact in just 15 minutes on the floor.

Knight and fellow double-digit scorer Richard Washington Jr. combined to shoot just 2-for-15 off the bench. They have been the Spartans’ leading scorers over the first handful of games, but were nowhere to be found in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Shooting woes also followed Christian Anigwe, who shot 1-for-8 against Oregon State. The sophomore forward did secure 14 rebounds and block three shots, though.

But those issues are just about the shots they actually get off. Nearly a quarter of the Spartans’ possessions never make it that far, instead ending in a turnover. To put that in context, San Jose State ranks 308th in turnover rate, per KenPom.

There’s a lot that Jean Prioleau needs to get cleaned up if SJSU stands a chance at UCLA. But on the bright side for the Spartans, they’re catching the Bruins on a cold streak.

Prediction: UCLA 81, San Jose State 63

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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