Tag: SJSU Spartans

Memphis Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke can’t be overlooked

Memphis Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke started his college career at SJSU and is now one of the best rookies in the NBA.

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Since SJSU, Brandon Clarke has continued to develop

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The Memphis Grizzlies are not the top team in the NBA at the moment, but its young roster has sprung some surprises along the way. Ja Morant is the NBA Rookie of the Year favorite, but he is not the only first-year player making noise for the Grizzlies.

Brandon Clarke is contributing with an average of 12.1 points per game. More impressively, he is shooting at 62.0% from the field, fifth best in the league. That shooting percentage is also putting him on track to break the rookie record, currently held by Steve Johnson at 61.34% during the 1981-81 season.

Clarke almost didn’t finish the season on the court. He suffered a quadriceps injury late February but the NBA pause gave him enough time to heal.

Prior to becoming the No. 21 pick in 2019, the Vancouver native was a college basketball standout at Gonzaga University. But before that he actually started his career at a less high-profile school. After graduating from Desert Vista High School high school in Arizona in 2015, he spent his first two college years in California with the San Jose State Spartans.

His freshman year he averaged 8.8 points per game and was named Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year after putting up 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in conference play.

The following year he more than doubled his scoring average. He was registering 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, which got him into the All-MW First Team and Mountain West All-Defensive Team.

The Spartans, not usually at the top of the conference, held a 23-38 losing record through 2015-17 even with Clarke in the roster. Head coach Dave Wojcik resigned in July 2017 and Clarke entered the transfer portal not long after. He landed at Gonzaga that August and sat out for the first year.

As a redshirt junior during the 2018-19 season, Clarke made 37 appearances, 36 of those as a starter. He averaged 16.9 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting at 68.7% from the field. He showed off his shooting abilities against North Dakota State on Nov. 26, 2017 going 9-for-9.

Clarke was first in the West Coast Conference in field goal percentage and made it into The All-WCC First Team. He earned both the WCC Defender and Newcomer of the year honors.

Clarke was part of a Bulldogs roster that went 33-4 overall and 16-0 in the conference and made it to the Elite Eight in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. He set the single game record in an NCAA Tournament game for Gonzaga with 36 points when the Bulldogs played Baylor in the second round of the Big Dance.

Now at the next level of his basketball career, Clarke continues to stand out. He was the 2019 NBA Las Vegas Summer League MVP, and also made the first team All-Summer League.

He has done enough during the regular season to get his name mentioned as a potential member of this season’s All-Rookie Team, one of these mentions coming from ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s ballot.

Clarke has also been talked about for Rookie of the Year and 6th Man of the Year award. When asked about the latter during his media availability on July 22, Clarke didn’t try to hide his confidence but also expressed gratitude.

“Just me as a player, I have a lot of trust in myself. I’m not shocked to have my name there but it is really cool to see that because obviously it’s my first year and there’s so many other great players that come off the bench,” he said. “Just to have my name even near them is something that’s really cool to me and I’m very grateful about it.”

Five Memphis players are scoring in double figures, and four of those are under 25 years old. Morant leads with an average of 17.8 points and 7.1 assists per game.

Jaren Jackson Jr. followed closely with 17.4 points per game while leading the team in blocks with 1.6 per game. The team won’t count with him anymore as he’s out due to a meniscus tear, but they have the third most consistent scorer in 24-year-old Dillon Brooks with 15.7 points per game.

Memphis is still in the running for a spot in the playoffs, but injuries and inexperience are making it more difficult as the Grizzlies have yet to get a win since the restart.

Even though Memphis has been getting itself into an uncomfortable situation, Clarke was still positive on Thursday afternoon.

“Our group is also very, very resilient and able to fight back,” he said in a post-practice press conference. “It’s something that we’ve done pretty much the whole season… We just gotta keep on doing our thing and tune up the things that we were doing wrong and then we’ll be fine.”

 

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Colorado State Comes Back For 78-71 Win Over San Jose State

The CSU Rams came back from a first half deficit to keep their hopes of a third seed alive. The Spartans didn’t make it easy, however.

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Rams Win In Continuing Quest For The Third Seed

CSU staged a second half comeback over the Spartans

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Seneca Knight’s 37 points not enough for San Jose State

The Colorado State Rams staged a second half comeback to keep their hopes of a third seed in the Mountain West Tournament alive. San Jose State drops another close game, but are showing signs on continued growth. The Spartans have the chance to potentially play spoiler in the tournament.

The Rams had an ok first half, but too many fouls let the Spartans take the halftime lead. The Rams had nine personal fouls in the first half, with three players collecting two fouls a piece. Adam Thistlewood had 14 of his team leading 16 points in the first half.

The second half was a different story as the Rams outscored the Spartans by 10 points. Thistlewood was joined by three teammates in double figures at the end of the game. Nico Carvacho and David Roddy each had 10 points. Carvacho also had 12 rebounds for a double-double. While Dischon Thomas finished with 13 points in a nice performance off the bench for the freshman.

The San Jose State Spartans had the Rams on the rocks for a minute in the first half. Seneca Knight had 26 of his 37 points in the first half. The Spartans were a thorn in the side of the Rams, forcing 12 turnovers in the first half. And their free throw shooting had them heading into the half with a three point lead.

San Jose State just couldn’t hold on in the second half. Knight got no help, as only Zach Chappell joined him in double figures, finishing with 12 points. No other Spartan finished with more than two made baskets. If the Spartans want to take that next step as a team, they’ll need to have other players step up.

The Rams now head on the road and face the San Diego State Aztecs. Meanwhile, the Spartans will stay on the road as they head to Utah to face the Aggies.

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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

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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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