The Spartans of San Jose State come into the CBI with a record of 17-15 (5-11 in the WAC, good for eighth place out of nine teams). Its the first winning season they’ve had since 1996 and has earned them their first postseason bid since 1994. That modest win total is the most wins the program has had since 1981; including this year, they’ve won as many as 17 games just five times since moving to what would later be called D1 status in 1950. Each of the five times they’ve won 17 or more games, they’ve advanced to the postseason, however: NCAA bids in 1951, 1980 and 1996, an NIT bid in 1981, and a CBI bid this year.
To say they have an underwhelming basketball history is putting it mildly.
They’ve had their greatest success on the gridiron, where they’ve sent 110 players on to the NFL, including Jeff Garcia, Steve DeBerg, Dick Vermiel and Bill Walsh; seven former Spartans were on NFL rosters a year ago. Eight bowl games, 70 All-Americans, and six first round draft picks are nothing to sneeze at for a school competing in the Big West Conference for football. Its impressive.
Their tradition in hoops may not be a strong one, but assuming this particular team is a pushover just because they finished one spot from the cellar in the WAC would be a mistake. Half of their 32 game schedule came against teams who earned postseason bids to one of the four tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI, CIT) and they went a respectable 6-10 against those 16 teams. They also feature a high-scoring backcourt that includes the nation’s third leading scorer in Adrian Oliver, who averages 24.3 points a night. To put that in perspective, there have been just three visiting players since 1988 to come to Omaha with an average that high: BYU’s Jimmer Fredette this past December (24.8 ppg on gameday, 28.5 currently), Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks in March of 2009 (24.0), and Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins in February of 1988 (36.3). Of the three, only Hawkins came close to his average; Fredette had 13, Meeks had 16, and Hawkins had 35.
Obviously Oliver is a talented offensive player, but when you combine his 24.3 average with the 12.0 points averaged by freshman point guard Keith Shamburger, and the 14.3 poured in by Justin Graham, their starting backcourt averages just over 50 points a night.
That’s a lot of scoring, as Coach Greg McDermott noted during a press conference on Monday. Its also a bit deceiving, as all three players average 31 minutes or more each game, with Oliver playing 35 a night and Graham logging 36.3. Their starting forward, Wil Carter, also plays in excess of 30 minutes a game on average, so as you’d expect, their bench doesn’t provide them with much, if any, production. They get a combined 15.2 points total from their entire bench, on average, over the course of a game out of four reserve players getting the bulk of what few minutes the starters aren’t on the court. Their SID, Lawrence Few, told WBR’s Patrick Marshall that “typically, the starters play more than 150 of the 200 minutes in a standard game,” which is an astounding stat to me. Or maybe I’m just still used to the Dana Altman Gameplan after watching Oregon in the Pac-10 tourney…
Anyway, given the heavy minutes their starters play, the Spartans are susceptible to foul trouble and in several of their losses, their lack of quality depth has hurt them when frontline players had to sit for long stretches with fouls. Of those frontline players, their two tallest are the 6’8″ Carter and 6’9″, 220 lb center Matt Ballard. It sounds like a broken record at this point, but on paper it would seem like the Jays have a decided advantage in the paint — its up to Kenny Lawson and Gregory Echenique to make it so during the game.
It seems to me that the gameplan for the Jays to win is to exploit both their superior post play and the lack of Spartan depth while asking their guards to expend their energy on defense stopping Oliver and Graham from getting hot. For San Jose State to win, they need to probably have all three players in their backcourt score their average, and for all five of their starters to stay out of foul trouble so that they don’t have to leverage their bench for huge minutes. It also wouldn’t hurt their chances if Oliver challenged the arena scoring record of 42 held by Cavel Witter (or even the visitor’s scoring record of 34 by Dayton’s Brian Roberts).
One last thing. I hate to point this out, but like it or not, its a factor in these smaller tourneys — given that all of the quality referees will be working either the NCAA or the NIT this week, there’s likely to be some inexperienced refs tonight and thus, some brutal calls. We can only hope that nothing they call swings the outcome of the game for either side, a la Miami in the NIT in 2006.
About the Spartans: San Jose State is 6-1 in games decided by three points or less this season … SJSU defeated Oregon, 75-72, on Nov. 20, one of eight wins in 17 games away from home this season … Adrian Oliver ranks second in SJSU history with 1,736 career points, just 32 shy of Ricky Berry’s school-record of 1,767 from 1986-88. Berry was a first-round pick of the Sacramento Kings in 1988 (18th overall) … The Spartans outrebound foes by 1.8 caroms per contest and shoot a stellar 75.7% at the line … Oliver was named to the 2011 WAC All-Tournament team after being the leading scorer in the tournament, scoring 73 points in three games. He is the first San Jose State player to be voted to a WAC All-Tournament team since the Spartans joined the conference in July, 1996 … San Jose State is 15-5 in games scoring 70 or more points, and enters the game tonight averaging 72.4 points a contest … Six times in the last 13 games, San Jose State made at least 50 percent of its three-point field goal tries. The Spartans shot a season best 61.5% from three-point range (8-of-13) in the March 3 Hawai’i game and made a season-high 13 three-pointers in the March 10 Idaho win in the WAC Tournament. In the last 13 games, the Spartans have made 43.4% (92-of-212) from three-point range.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Greg McDermott is shooting for his 300th win as a head coach tonight. McDermott owns a head coaching record of 299-209 in 17 seasons, a 168-145 mark in 10 Division I years and a 19-14 mark in his first year at Creighton … Creighton is one of six schools with 20 or more wins in exactly 11 of the previous 12 years. That list consists of Creighton, Kent State, Kentucky, Texas, Utah State and Xavier … Creighton has made the postseason in 14 consecutive seasons, the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history … Creighton and San Jose State have played no common opponents this season … In the three-year history of the CBI, home teams are a combined 32-18, including a 20-6 mark after the first round … MVC teams are 5-4 all-time in the CBI … Greg McDermott has led Creighton to a 19-14 mark so far this year, the second-most wins by any first-year coach in school history. Tom Apke went 20-7 in 1974-75 … McDermott’s 19 wins are more than the combined number of first-year wins by his two predecessors, Dana Altman (7 in 1994-95) and Rick Johnson (9 in 1991-92).
The Last Time They Played: On December 5, 1988, Creighton defeated SJSU 84-77.
The Series: Creighton leads 3-0, having won the aforementioned game in ’88, as well as one in 1971 in Omaha (70-59). Their first meeting came in the Roadrunner Invitational in December of 1969 in Las Cruces, where the Jays also won, 83-70.
Creighton is one of six Missouri Valley Conference opponents in San Jose State’s basketball history. The Spartans are 2-10 with wins against Wichita State in 1978 and Illinois State in 1977.
Gratuitous Linkage: Greg Anthony and Bill Walton in Viking helmets! Random wild animals roaming a SportsCenter-esque set! Its funny in an absurd, bizarre sort of way.
Out of Context Simpsons quote: “Greetings, friend. Do you wish to look as happy as me? Well, you’ve got the power inside you right now. Use it, and send one dollar to Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don’t delay. Eternal happiness is only a dollar away.”
(Later)
“This is Homer Simpson, aka Happy Dude. The court is making me call everybody back and apologize for my telemarketing scam. I’m sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, send one dollar to Sorry Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. You have the power.” -Homer Simpson
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: On this date in Creighton history, this happened.
Hard to believe that was nine years ago, isn’t it? March 15, 2002.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: It just feels like a Billy Idol day to me. I can’t explain it, but I’m going to spin old Billy Idol 45s on my record player in the office…and link to this video. You bet.
The Bottom Line: Any tournament not featuring the letters “NCAA” is as much about motivation as it is about talent. Some teams clearly show their disappointment and disinterest, and are upset by teams who aren’t as good. That makes the NIT/CIT/CBI really tough to forecast.
I think the Jays young players want this one. I think their veterans want to win and keep alive the hope of a matchup with Dana Altman’s Ducks later in the tourney. Mostly, I think the Jays win.
Creighton 69, San Jose State 64