AO is the WAC POW

Per the announcement by Jason Erickson, the WAC Director of Media Relations, SJSU's Adrian Oliver is the WAC Player of the Week:

San Jose State's Adrian Oliver has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-20. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Oliver.

Oliver, a junior guard from Modesto, CA helped the Spartans to a 69-58 win at UC Irvine. Oliver became just the second player in SJSU history to score 30 or more points in back-to-back games as he scored 31 points in the win at UC Irvine.

Oliver had one of his best shooting nights of the season, making 10-of-19 shots from the field, including a season-high 3-of-6 from beyond the arc as SJSU became the first team this season to beat the Anteaters at home. Oliver also connected on 8-of-10 attempts at the free throw line. He tallied eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in the win.

Other nominees:

* Boise State junior forward Daequon Montreal
* Fresno State sophomore guard Mike Ladd
* Louisiana Tech senior forward/center Magnum Rolle
* Nevada sophomore forward Luke Babbitt
* New Mexico State junior guard Jahmar Young
* Utah State junior forward Tai Wesley

SJSU on the road Monday

Luckily, the road doesn't go on forever (sorry Robert Earl Keen) but it does continue in the near term for San Jose State basketball. On Monday, the Spartans face Big Sky Conference member Northern Colorado -- make that the 9-3 Bears.

Based 49 miles north-northeast of Denver, the University of Northern Colorado squad has a built-in advantage simply by being 4,600 feet above sea level. No, oxygen is not supplied to opponents at the benches a la the type of misters used by football teams on steamy days.

SJSU won the game between these two teams last season, 89-78. Adrian Oliver played in his first game for the Spartans in the contest played at the Civic Auditorium. San Jose State shot 67% to Northern Colorado's 55%. Backcourter Devon Beitzel bedeviled SJSU for 27 points on 12-14 shooting.

UNC is primarily a guard-oriented team, offering a lot of middle and long-distance shooting.

For what it's worth, both the Big Sky coaches and media placed the Bears sixth in pre-season polling.

NC Schedule To Date

Nov. 13 vs. McNeese St. @ Honolulu, Hawaii/Rainbow Classic W, 101-73
Nov. 15 vs. Southern Utah @ Honolulu, Hawaii/Rainbow Classic W, 73-51
Nov. 16 at Hawaii/Rainbow Classic W, 81-75
Nov. 20 vs. Texas Southern @ Air Force Academy, Colo. W, 66-62
Nov. 21 at Air Force W, 70-46
Nov. 27 at North Dakota W, 70-63
Dec. 1 Colorado State W, 70-63
Dec. 4 at Montana State L, 87-63
Dec. 5 at Montana W, 59-48
Dec. 12 vs. Wyoming @ Casper, Wyoming L, 76-70
Dec. 16 La.-Monroe W, 95-84
Dec. 19 at Oklahoma L, 80-79


The Bear Starting Five

6-foot-7 Taylor Montgomery - 8.8 and 4.3 points and rebounds a game respectively

6-foot-8 Mike Proctor - 8.2 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds while shooting 59% on the season

6-foot-1 Devon Beitzel - the second leading points producer at 13.7 a contest, 2.3 assists each time out, tops with 28 steals

5-foot-9 Will Figures - the leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, he's a scorer more than a shooter but is hitting 20-50 from long distance, 2.8 assists a contest is tied for team lead

6-foot-1 Yahosh Bonner - shooting 45% on his treys(13-29) but just 41% overall, very good defender, tied for lead in assists, he also sings the National Anthem at times before home games, Bonner was named the MVP in the Rainbow Classic

The Primary UNC Reserves

6-foot-8 Chris Kaba

6-foot-7 Neal Kingman

6-foot-1 Elliott Lloyd - 12-26 on his three-point attempts

The UNC Roster by position

Kevin Hanes C Freshman 6-10 200 (betcha he looks good in shorts)
Connor Osborne C Freshman 6-9 250

Emmanuel Addo F/C Freshman 6-8 215
Hauns Brereton F Freshman 6-6 205
Ben Jenkins F/C Senior 6-9 240 (Golden, CO - we best not leave a comment here)
Chris Kaba F Junior 6-8 185
Neal Kingman F Junior 6-7 220
Taylor Montgomery F/C Junior 6-7 235
Mike Proctor F/C Sophomore 6-8 225

Travess Armenta G Junior 6-0 190
Dave Arnold G Freshman 6-1 200
Mike Bedford G/F Freshman 6-4 175
Devon Beitzel G Junior 6-1 180
Yahosh Bonner G Senior 6-1 215
Will Figures G Senior 5-9 155
Lee Hall G Sophomore 5-8 155
Elliott Lloyd G Freshman 6-1 165
Tate Unruh G Freshman 6-2 155 (Branson, MO - meaning he can probably sing a bit, too)

What To Expect

* Northern Colorado is averaging 75 points per game so look for scoring in this contest-- the Bears are also out-shooting opponents from the floor and the foul line

* Bear fans stormed the court when UNC topped rival Colorado State on December 1 so they take their hoops serious in Greeley

* Northern Colorado won the Rainbow Classic earlier this year on the road when Hawaii fell to the Bears

* UNC is coming off an 80-79 road loss to Oklahoma where the Bears out-boarded the Sooners 40-31, shot 47% for the game and 41% from three-point range

Due to technical difficulties

Well, we couldn't connect to the game last night as KSJS was having some technical difficulties -- we're hoping it wasn't on our end, so this is the best we could do for a media game report:

UC Irvines fades in the second half
Kenny Connolly
Orange County Register

IRVINE -- As the second half of UC Irvine's game against San Jose State progressed Friday, the frustration of Anteaters coach Pat Douglass became more and more evident.

The 12 second-half turnovers and 31-percent shooting were not the cause of Douglass' anger, though. Instead, it was a lack of effort he said he failed to see from his team.

UCI, which led for the first 28 minutes, saw a 10-point first half lead turn into a 69-56 loss at Bren Center.

"We started out good, but the last five or six minutes of the first half we lost all emotion, interest and focus in what we were doing," Douglass said. "We have played with effort most of the year, but why this happened, I don't have an answer for that."

The Anteaters (5-5) led for all but one possession of the first half, forcing the Spartans into eight turnovers and converting those mistakes into four easy baskets.

Irvine center Zack Atkinson scored 10 points and blocked three shots in the first half, giving UCI a 32-27 halftime lead.

But UCI was unable to keep that trend going into the second half.

"Defense is intensity, and the emotional involvement just wasn't there," Douglass said.

San Jose State (5-4) made two easy baskets in the opening minute of the second half to cut the deficit to one point. Anteaters guard Michael Hunter responded, draining two consecutive 3-pointers, extending the lead to 40-33 with just over 16 minutes left.

Over the next seven minutes, the Spartans went on a 16-4 run, grabbing a 49-44 advantage, their first lead since the opening minutes. San Jose guard Adrian Oliver spearheaded to comeback and added to the Spartans' lead, scoring 13 points over the final 13 minutes.

Over that span, San Jose scored points on 15 of their final 18 possessions, while UCI was limited to seven field goals down the stretch.

Adrian finished with a game-high 31 points and became the first Spartans player since 2005 to record consecutive 30 points games.

"We gave the game away," Wise said. "Just a lack of execution, turnovers and no rebounding. They beat us, but we didn't help ourselves."

The loss overshadowed a career night for Hunter. With his layup in the third minute, Hunter eclipsed the 1,000-point total over his time at Irvine, making him the 19th UCI player to reach the mark. Hunter finished with 13 points.

"He (Hunter) has been playing awfully well lately," Douglass said. "But when you have a performance like this, it's really hard to send praise onto anybody."

San Jose State travels to Irvine Friday night

When we hear the name UC Irvine, we still think of Coach Bill Mulligan and the late Kevin Magee. Mulligan led the Anteater program from 1980 to 1991 and the 6-foot-8 Magee was his most prominent player. Both used to torment our Spartans at the Civic Auditorium.

But now UC Irvine is headed by Pat Douglass and San State ventures to Orange County Friday night to meet the Big Westers.

In one of those strange coincidences, Douglass led Cal State Bakersfield -- San Jose State's last opponent -- to three Division II national titles back in the 90s. Another obscure fact: Douglass was a backcourt teammate of current Pacific coach Bob Thomason when both played for the Tigers way back when.

More current, Donald Bren is the chairman and sole shareholder of the Irvine Company, which donated the land where the college is located. Hey, if you think Anteaters is peculiar, it could have been the Brens.

In showing the appropriate respect for all the financial donations, UC Irvine does play basketball in the on-campus Bren Events Center.

We totally digress for a moment but, for your next trivia game, the Irvine Company is the model for The O.C.'s "The Newport Group," and also inspiration for the Bluth Company on the late and much lamented television series "Arrested Development."

The Irvine Season to Date

11/15/09 at Texas L, 89-42
11/18/09 at Loyola Marymount W, 84-78

O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic
11/23/09 vs. UTSA Richmond, KY. L, 66-56
11/24/09 vs. Eastern Kentucky Richmond, KY. L, 67-57
11/25/09 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Richmond, KY. W, 75-54

12/02/09 vs. Hawai'i W, 80-70
12/12/09 vs. Vanguard W, 81-73
12/15/09 at Seattle University L, 82-81

The Anteater Starting Five

6-foot-9 Zach Atkinson - 9.0 ppg. and 4.6 rpg.

6-foot-8 Pavol Lavonsky - 7.4 ppg., and 4.4 rpg.

6-foot-5 Eric Wise - leads the team in rebounding at 5.4 rpg., is second in scoring at 12.9, his 39 assists leads the team, was a pre-season All Big West selection

6-foot-3 Darren Moore - 9.0 ppg. plus 33 free throw attempts (second on the team), a team-leading 16 steals

5-10 Michael Hunter - second leading scorer at 14.7 ppg. and tops in assists with 24, also tops in three-point attempts with 40, Hunter led the squad in steals last season but is second so far this season

The Calvary

6-foot-0 Patrick Rembert

6-foot-2 Mike Wilder

6-foot-4 Emil Kim

6-foot-8 Adam Folker

6-foot-2 Derrick Strings


The Irvine Roster (by position)

Zack Atkinson 6-9 220 Center SR
Peter Simek 6-9 245 Center JR (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Adam Folker 6-8 220 Forward SO (Markham, Ontario)
Pavol Losonsky 6-8 235 Forward JR (Pezinok, Slovakia)
Rashaad Ubah 6-6 210 Forward SO
Eric Wise 6-5 235 Forward SO (his father Francois, is a former Long Beach Stater who is the 49ers' career leader in rebounds)
Derick Flowers 6-0 175 Guard FR
Michael Hunter 5-10 160 Guard SR
Emil Kim 6-4 200 Guard JR
Jonas Lalehzadeh 6-5 203 Guard
Darren Moore 6-3 185 Guard JR
Patrick Rembert 6-0 185 Guard JR
Brandon Scott 6-2 180 Guard FR (Archbishop Mitty HS)
Derrick Strings 6-2 180 Guard SO
Mike Wilder 6-2 205 Guard FR

What to Expect

* Even if SJSU doesn't get 'em in the O. C., Irvine will return the favor and be at Walt McPherson Court on December 28 for a 7 p.m. rematch.

* Irvine is a very good free throw shooting team at .768% and even the bigs are proficient at the foul line so limited fouling will be necessary for the Spartans to be victorious

* Against Hawaii, the Anteaters frontcourt shot 12-22 with Atkinson and Losonsky combining for 25 points as Irvine as a team shot 23-39. The Rainbow Warriors put up 19 more shots but made just one more basket

* Expect Douglass to hedge his perimeter defenders inside, daring SJSU -- other than Adrian Oliver -- to shoot from the perimeter.

KSJS (90.5 FM, San Jose) originates San Jose State University basketball broadcasts. Mike Chisholm calls the play-by-play. Air time is 6:30 p.m. for the UC Irvine game.

Spartans win 84-80 in overtime

Hey, it was good. San Jose State didn't burst out to a large halftime lead -- not succumbing to that temptation.

It did take an overtime period to defeat Cal State Bakersfield 84-80 but the Spartans owned that -- make that Adrian Oliver took possession. In the extra period, he totaled four points to provide a quick 76-72 cushion. Cal State Bakersfield hit one of two free throws and Oliver followed with a 17-footer and eventually a 10-foot deuce. That proved too much for the Roadrunners.

Oliver finished with 30 points (plus 11 boards) while Chris Oakes double-dipped on 18 in both points and rebounds. Mac Peterson contributed 14.

In regulation play at the 7:36 mark of the second half, the score was 56 apiece.

San Jose State then built a 69-60 lead.

Bakersfield followed with a 10-0 run to take a one point lead at 70-69.

With 54 seconds remaining, Oliver nailed a three-pointer to make it 72-70 Spartans.

6-foot-8 pogo stick Donald Johnson then grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in to tie the score with 33 seconds remaining.

It was 72 apiece at the buzzer.

At the half, it was 35-31 in favor of the Spartans. The Roadrunners came out in a zone defensively and used aggressive offensive boardplay to jump out to a 6-0 lead.

It isn't true but it would be easy to believe that the Bakersfield offense is designed to get the ball up on the backboard and go for a close-in shot after grabbing the offensive rebound. With just 4:02 gone off the clock, the RRs had collected eight offensive boards.

Then it became the Chris Oakes Special. His rebounding, scoring and shotblocking propelled the Spartans to the lead which they maintained until 20 minutes of play had concluded.

It's Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday

So it's the Field of Bakers coming to town Wednesday night, specifically Walt McPherson Court, 7 p.m. The Roadrunners are struggling but is a team with a mix of talent and potential. As expected, Coach Keith Brown has encountered difficulty bringing in 'bigs' but he certainly has some players who can do damage.

Such as, from the 'We've Been Saving This For Quite A While' and 'The For What It's Worth' Departments comes this pre-season item from Rivals:

Rivals Independent Teams Preseason Picks
First team

F Trent Blakley, 6-4, Sr., CS Bakersfield
F Tyler Cain, 6-8, Sr., South Dakota
F Cecil Gresham, 6-5, Sr., Bryant
G Travis Bledsoe, 5-11, Sr., North Dakota
G/F Dana Smith, 6-5, Sr., Longwood

Rivals Independent Teams Preseason Picks
Second team

F Santwon Latunde, 6-6, Sr., CS Bakersfield
F Carl Montgomery, 6-7, Jr., Chicago State
F Mark Yelovich, 6-5, Soph., SIU Edwardsville
G Brian Fisher, 6-2, Sr., Winston-Salem State
G Nick Weiermiller, 6-1, Jr., UT Pan American


On January 12 of this year, Cal State Bakersfield won 61-55. The RR's grabbed 40 boards, including 19 offensively, to SJSU's 33. Forward Santwon Latunde led the way with 12 points (6-11 shooting) and nabbed nine rebounds.


Currently, CSUB is 1-5:

Nov 13 Santa Clara University 81 - 84 (L)

Nov 17 Utah Valley University 58 - 51 (W)

Nov 20 UCLA at Westwood, CA 64 - 75 (L)

Nov 30 Cal State Northridge at Northridge, CA 74 - 81 (L)

Dec 02 UC Riverside at Riverside, CA 47 - 87 (L)

Dec 06 Oregon State at Corvallis, OR 39 - 74 (L)


The Roadrunner Starting Five

Santwon Latunde F 9.2 ppg. 8.8 rpg. (39 free throws attempts in six games)

Trent Blakley F 16.3 ppg. 5.0 rpg. (52 three-point attempts, hitting 30%, just one assist in six games)

Stephon Carter G 10.3 ppg. 4.5 rpg. (leads the team with 17 assists, best freshman recruit so far for Coach Keith Brown)

Donovan Bragg G 10.2 ppg. 3.2 rpg. (the best passer on the squad)

Bryan Emmanuel G (the best backcourt defender, started every game last season as a freshman)

Off The Bench

Donald Johnson G

Jose Lara C

Cory Brown C - has been ill, unsure if he will be available



The Bakersfield Roster (by position)

Donovan Bragg G 6-3 196 Jr
Stephon Carter G 6-3 180 Fr
Bryan Emanuel G 6-2 200 So
Marcus Hall G 6-3 185 Fr
Robert Hayes G 5-10 186 Jr
Alex Johnson G 5-10 170 Jr
Jeff Osborne G 5-10 163 So
Chris Smith G 6-1 175 Jr (a bigtime junior college scorer, redshirted last season, has yet to play this season)

James Albright F 6-6 212 Fr (Fremont High, Oakland)
Trent Blakley F 6-4 220 Sr
George DeLeon F 6-4 200 Jr
Donald Johnson 6-8 215 So
Santwon Latunde F 6-6 262 Sr

Jose Lara C 6-8 280 Sr
Cory Brown C 6-10 223 Jr


What To Expect

* Bakersfield isn't shooting well as a team, just 34% overall and 29% on threes, scoring 61 ppg and allowing 75. Does San Jose State play man or zone or a mixture?

* The Spartans will look to pound it inside both for scoring purposes and to get the Roadrunner 'bigs' in foul trouble.

* Can Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham get their outside shooting going in this contest?

Coverage: KSJS (90.5 FM, San Jose) originates San Jose State University basketball broadcasts. Mike Chisholm will call the play-by-play and air time is 6:30 p.m.

USF wins 76-71

USF is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California. San José State University, of course, is California’s oldest institution of public higher learning. So the pecking order indicates rank goes to SJSU. Unfortunately, the score between the mens basketball teams on Tuesday night didn't indicate this as the Dons, based on a strong second half, won 76-71.

It was a definitive tale of two halves -- the best of times initially but the worst of times in the second one for Sparta.

At the end of the first 20 minutes, San Jose State led 34-23. Adrian Oliver started cold and then picked it up to finish with nine points. Robert Owens contributed eight at the half.

At the 11:47 mark, the Spartans led by one at 9-8. Soon it became 18-8. Later, a Justin Graham trey put San Jose State up by 13.

But the second half proved disconcerting for San Jose State. It was a combination of key turnovers translating into USF layups and dunks plus a definite lack of stops defensively by the Spartans.

USF edged closer as the second half opened and a 15-3 run put the Dons ahead.

The last few minutes had the Dons protecting a varying 6-9 point lead. Mac Peterson got a pair of treys to bring SJSU close -- the Spartans got to within four -- but USF made enough free throws to keep the lead comfortable.

Oliver led on the night with 17 points, Graham tallied 16. Dior Lowhorn led USF with 26 points. San Jose State shot 38.5% for the game to 48% for USF. The Dons were an en fuego 67% in the second half.

Tripping to Foggyville Tuesday night

The atmosphere surrounded USF hoops is much more settled now with the naming of Rex Walters as head coach prior to last season. Such was a necessity as a credible coach and coaching situation needed implementation on the Hilltop so as to not eliminate the lifeblood of college athletics -- recruiting.

Yes, this 7 p.m. road game Tuesday night against the Dons is another matchup against a private school, a la Pacific and St. Mary's, one that has no restrictions on the number of out-of-state or foreign recruits. Coach Walters currently has two citizens of France and one from the Czech republic on his roster.

How has USF done to date? It is a young-ish roster -- 10 underclassmen -- also filled with newcomers and the overall record indicates such.

Schedule To Date

11-13-09 Cal Poly 73-62 W (Dior Lowhorn 22 points, Perris Blackwell/Kwame Vaugh 7 rebounds)

11-20-09 at Arizona State 65-104 L (Kwame Vaughn 17 points, Dior Lowhorn 4 rebounds)

11-23-09 UC Santa Barbara 65-76 L Dior Lowhorn 26 points, Dontae Bryant 7 rebounds)

11/25/09 Montana State 66-70 L (Dior Lowhorn 19 points , Dior Lowhorn 9 rebounds)

11/29/09 at Colorado State 75-91 L (Rashad Green 21, Dior Lowhorn 21 points/Rashad Green 7 rebounds)

12/01/09 at Colorado 54-78 L (Michael Williams 12 rebounds, Parris Blackwell 9 rebounds)

12/05/09 at BYU 43 - 69 L ( Moustapha Diarra 13 points, Perris Blackwell 8 rebounds)


The Don Starting Five

6-foot-7 senior Dior Lowhorn 18.3 ppg. 5.0 rpg. (the best player on the Dons, he has been out with the flu so he may or may not be available)

6-foot-7 freshman Perris Blackwell 8.1 ppg. 4.9 rpg. (a long, rangy freshman)

6-foot-7 sophomore Angelo Caloairo 7.5 ppg. (very solid fundamentally, 12-22 on his trey attempts, 18-9 assist to turnover ratio)

6-foot-3 sophomore Kwame Vaughn 13.3 ppg. (the most creative Don, he can beat opponents off the dribble)

6-foot-2 sophomore Dontae Bryant (not necessarily a creator-type, 22-20 assist to turnover ratio)

Top Reserves

6-foot-4 sophomore Rashad Green

6-foot-0 freshman Michael Williams

5-foot-11 sophomore Peter Smith

6-foot-10 junior Moustapha Diarra

7-foot-0 freshman Tomas Bruha


The USF Roster by position

Kwame Vaughn 6-3/195 G SO (out of Oakland)
Dominique O'Connor 5-10/165 G FR
Michael Williams 6-0/170 G FR
Chioke Walker 6-2/175 G SO (out of Oakland)
Dontae Bryant 6-2/175 G SR
Rashad Green 6-4/195 G SO
Peter Smith 5-11/155 G SO

Blake Wallace 6-6/220 F SR
Perris Blackwell 6-8/240 F FR
Nikola Stojiljkovic 6-8/210 F FR(France)
Angelo Caloiaro 6-7/225 F SO (Archbishop Mitty)
Dior Lowhorn 6-7/230 F SR (out of Berkeley)

Tomas Bruha 7-0/225 C FR(Czech Republic)
Moustapha Diarra 6-10/235 C JR (France)


What To Expect

* Look for San Jose State to try and pound it inside, even more so if Lawhorn is out or plays minimal minutes

* USF is shooting .424% overall on the season while allowing .483% to opponents, also more turnovers and less steals

* Coach Walters' squad is at just 30% from long distance

* But the Dons are out-rebounding opposing teams, 34-31

Coverage: KSJS (90.5 FM) originates San Jose State University basketball broadcasts. Mike Chisholm calls the play-by-play and air time is 6:30 p.m.

San Jose State wins 82-74

The thermometer outside registered 30 degrees. The wind was blowing in from the northwest at 15 miles per hour. The sky a dismal gray overcast. Yep, San Jose State men's basketball was in Orem, Utah on the lookout for Wolverines. Check that, make it successful Wolverine hunting.

The Spartans took the measure of Utah Valley State 82-74 Saturday afternoon.

(to the right is Kyle Thomas in his high school incarnation)

A 14-point SJSU halftime lead was expanded to 19 as the second half wore on but the Wolverines cut the lead to 12 -- 67 to 55 -- with six minutes remaining. Sean Deadwiler added a pair of free throws to cut the Spartan lead to 10. Adrian Oliver lifted it back to 12 points with an 18-footer. UVS scored again but Oliver matched it... and then did it again as his fadeaway jumper was working.

At the 3:47 mark, the Wolverines had a chance to cut the deficit to nine but missed a free throw. Oliver broke his jumper string with a driving layup -- making it four baskets in a row for him. Jordan Swarbrick, a thorn in the thorn to the Spartans from the opening tip, then nailed a three-pointer. Yet another Swarbrick basket cut the Spartan lead to seven, 75-68.

UVS regained possession. 1:25 remained. Justin Baker was fouled with a 1:15 left, made his first free throw and also nailed the second. The Spartans led by just five. Robert Owens was fouled, went to the line for a one-and-one. He made the first and the second. Owens returned to the charity stripe, made the first but missed the second. After a Utah Valley State miss, Owens was fouled yet again. He put down both to give SJSU an 80-70 lead with 35 seconds remaining and the contest was over.

Swarbrick finished the game with 30 points. Chris Oakes earned a double-double for SJSU as five Spartans accomplished double-figure scoring led by Adrian Oliver's 17. Kyle Thomas added 15, Robert Owens 14, Chris Oakes 12 (plus 14 rebounds) and Mac Peterson contributed 10.

San Jose shot 30-50 on the game, including 6-8 from three-point range. UVS went 26-62 overall.

The team traded baskets early on in the game. SJSU was down 23-19 but then went on a tear. Kyle Thomas hit back-to-back baskets, Robert Owens nailed a pair of treys, and the point production was off and running. The Spartans out-scored the Wolverines 23-5 until the buzzer sounded after 20 minutes.

At that half, it was 42-28 San Jose State. Thomas had a season high 13 points -- this after the first 20 minutes. The Spartans shot 60% and out-rebounded UVS 23-12, with Chris Oakes nabbing 10.

On The Road Again...

Besides being home to Utah Valley State, Orem, Utah is adjacent to Provo and about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City. Marie Osmond lives there so it's a high probability a Nutrisystem franchise is close by that the San Jose State players can pick up meals at after they battle the Wolverines of UVS on Saturday afternoon, December 5.

Hey, if it comes recommended by Dan Marino...

Anyway, UVS is 3-3 so far this season. Here the Wolverines schedule:

11/13/09 North Dakota State W 80-72 (Jordan Swarbrick 20 points, nine rebounds)

11/17/09 at CSU Bakersfield L 51-58 (Justin Baker 10 points, Tyray Petty 11 boards)

11/19/09 at Minnesota Golden Gophers L 51-76 (Jordan Swarbrick 11 points, Tyray Petty nine rebounds)

11/25/09 vs Georgia State L 52-59 (South Alabama tourney) (Corey Claitt 13 points, Tyray Petty seven boards)

11/26/09 vs Alcorn State W 68-53 (South Alabama tourney) (Jordan Swarbrick 20 points, Jordain Scoubes 15 rebounds)

11/28/09 Northern New Mexico W 78-55 (Corey Claitt 15 points, Jourdain Scoubes 10 boards)


Let's Do It Again

On February 17 of last year, these two team met with San Jose State winning at home 52-47. Justin Graham put together an all-around game of 13 points, six assists and four steals. Adrian Oliver was injured and out for the game.

The focus of Graham's defensive attention that night, Andy Toolson, is gone. He was a prolific scorer, totaling 63 points in one game last year -- Graham held him to 14 points.

Coach Dick Hunsaker is in his seventh year in Orem, owning a 122-60 record. Coincidentally, he has a basketball playing son -- Holton Hunsaker -- who is finishing his LDS mission this year and should be on the court and playing for Louisiana Tech come the 2010-2011 season.


The Wolverine Starting Five

A number of players have earned starts so this is our best prediction:

6-foot-7 Joudain Scoubes - 7.7 ppg., 7.3 rpg., not an accurate shooter

6-foot-7 Justin Baker 12.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg.

6-foot-6 Jordan Swarbrick 13.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg., also tops in assists with 15 and has taken the most three-point attempts, 30

6-foot-5 Aaron England 8.7 ppg. .487% shooting overall, 9-19 from long distance

6-foot-1 Kevin Woods


Others receiving substantial playing time:

6-foot-3 Tyray Petty 7.0 ppg., 7.3 rpg.

6-foot-1 Corey Clait 12.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg.

6-foot-3 Sean Deadwiler 11 ppg.

6-foot-2 Eric Dearden


The USU Roster by position

Corey Claitt 6-1 G JR
Shawn Deadwiler 6-3 G JR (Loyola Marymount transfer)
Eric Dearden 6-2 G JR (a defensive stopper)
Aaron England 6-5 G JR (redshirted a year at Utah State before going the junior college route)
Tyray Petty 6-3 G SR (played high school ball in Alaska)
Jordan Swarbrick 6-6 G SR (his father Steve and his mother both played basketball at San Jose State)
Kevin Woods II 6-1 G SO

Justin Baker 6-7 F JR
Nick Jenson 6-5 F FR
Jourdain Scoubes 6-7 F SR
Lafayette Yarbray 6-7 F JR

Rory Fannon 6-9 C SO (out of New Zealand)
Jason Holm 6-7 C SO (a walk-on)


What To Expect

* San Jose State will want to pound it inside and pound it inside and pound it inside...for both points and in gaining fouls. Will the Wolverines pack it into the paint and dare the Spartans to score from outside?

* UVS is shooting 43% as a team and holding opponents to 38% as well as out-boarding teams 38-32 a game. But Coach Hunsaker's squad has totaled 102 turnovers to 61 forced as well as pilfering but 27 steals to 61 for opponents. There's some hay to be made here.

*** Swarbrick is the Wolverine leading scorer but Aaron England is the most accurate shooter, checking in at 49% overall and 47% from long range.