Box Score UNO-SJSU Box Score
SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State avoided an in-season home and home sweep at the hands of New Orleans by picking up a 71-64 victory at The Event Center on Tuesday night.
SJSU (9-6) was able to overcome a 3 of 18 shooting performance by James Kinney, one of the nation's leading scorers. Kinney managed nine points in the contest along with six assists.
Louis Garrett picked up all five fouls in the second half, but not before scoring a team-high 14 points for the Spartans. D.J. Brown and Alex Brown added 13 apiece as SJSU avenged a 72-68 loss to UNO (3-11) at Lakefront Arena on Nov. 9.
Lovell Cook led the Privateers with a game-high 20 points along with a career-high matching nine rebounds. Cook connected on 6 of 9 attempts from the field in addition to a 7 of 9 performance from the charity stripe.
Rarlensee Nelson contributed 11 points for UNO, which benefited from a career-high 10 rebounds from
Corey Blake. The rebounding effort by Blake and Cook enabled the Privateers to close their six-game road stretch with a win in the 'battle of the boards' for the second time this season.
UNO held two leads in the game, the last at 6-4 following a Blake jumper at the 17:44 mark of the first half.
A pair of runs by the Spartans during the opening 20 minutes enabled the hosts to grab the lead and maintain it. SJSU scored 18 of 23 points to move ahead with a 22-11 advantage as 10:02 remained before the break.
During the latter part of the Spartans' spurt, UNO missed 10 straight field goals until
Tradarrius McPhearson completed a three-point play with 9:17 left prior to the half. The McPhearson basket started a streak of four straight made field goals as the Privateers went on a 9-2 run to pull within four with 8:19 left on the clock.
UNO's deficit reached three points on two occasions before SJSU closed the half with seven straight points to gain a 10-point edge heading into the break. The Privateers did not make a field goal during the last 3:11 of the opening half.
In the second half, UNO cut the Spartans' edge to single digits in the first minute of play, where it would stay through the final buzzer.
The Privateers'
Evans Ganapamo connected on consecutive three-pointers to trim the deficit to 41-35 with 15:06 left in the contest. UNO fought to get closer to their hosts, finally breaking through on a three-point play from Cook with 7:23 remaining.
The field goal by Cook pulled the Privateers within three at 56-53 before a UNO went without a field goal for the next 4:10 of clock. SJSU took advantage of the Privateers' missed baskets to score nine of the next 11 points to seal the win.
“This was a game we felt we had we gave away,'' UNO head coach
Mark Slessinger said. “We came out slow in the first half but got things corrected as the game went along.
“But offensively, we missed point blank shot after point blank shot. And we had some turnovers down the stretch that hurt us.''
UNO will play their first home game since a Dec. 12 victory against Nicholls State as they host Champion Baptist at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Lakefront Arena. Saturday's contest is the frontend of a doubleheader with the Lady Privateers, who will host future Southland Conference rival Houston Baptist at 2 p.m.
NOTES
The UNO basketball team spent Monday visiting San Francisco. The team's trip into the city included a San Francisco Bay boat tour, a trip to Chinatown and the Fisherman's Wharf.
SJSU's James Kinney was the second scorer in two games ranked amongst the nation's leaders to face the Privateer defense. Kinney shot 3 of 18 from the field to follow a 1-of-7 effort by Butler's Rotnei Clarke. Combined, the duo shot 4 of 25 against UNO over the last two games.
UNO's bench outscored their San Jose State counterparts 16-11. The Privateer bench has outscored opponents in 11 of 14 games on the season with a single tie.
UNO won the 'battle of the boards' 52-39. Prior to Tuesday night's game, the Privateers had only won the rebounding category in a victory against Blue Mountain College (Nov. 20) while tying on the road against Southeast Missouri State (Dec. 19).
A pair of Privateers established or matched career-highs on the glass.
Corey Blake's 10 rebounds surpassed the eight rebounds he pulled down against Boise State on Dec. 23, 2012.
Lovell Cook's nine rebounds matched similar efforts in games against Christian Brothers (Dec. 31, 2011) and Delta State (Jan. 17, 2012).
