[jwplayer tJPh0k22-sNi3MVSU]
San Jose State vs. Saint Mary’s: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Livestream, Odds, More
Coming off a couple of PAC 12 match-ups the Spartans are back to take on Saint Mary’s in their last non-conference game.
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WHO: San Jose State Spartans (3-8, 0-0 Mountain West) vs. Saint Mary’s (8-6)
WHEN: Saturday, December 29th — 5:00 PM PT
WHERE: McKeon Pavilion Moraga, CA
TV: No TV
STREAM: W.TV
RADIO: KLIV 1590, TuneIn
After over a week off, Spartan basketball is back against Saint Mary’s. The Spartans are coming off back to back road losses at Stanford and at Cal. Although the Spartans are only 3-8, they have been playing much better basketball than their record shows. Against the Golden Bears, the Spartans lead at the half before giving up 58 points in the second half as they would go on to lose. In the game against Cal, San Jose Shot 55% from the field, 50% from 3, and outrebounded Cal 34-28 but their 15 turnovers came back to haunt them.
Saint Mary’s is entering Saturday’s game after a surprising loss to Western Kentucky. On the season, the Gaels are 8-6 and were projected to finish second in the Coaches preseason poll. Although San Jose State has been playing better they will surely have their hands full with the Gaels as they come in ranked 46 in the KenPom rankings. Saint Mary’s is lead by Randy Bennett who in his 17 seasons has led the Gaels to the postseason 11 straight times.
Overall, Bennett has a 392-162 record and has been named conference coach of the year 3 times while at Saint Mary’s. Junior Guard Jordan Ford was the only Gael player to picked on the coach’s preseason all-conference team and he has lived up to expectations. Ford comes into the game leading Saint Mary’s in points per game at 23.2, which is almost 10 points more than the next player is averaging, this is all while shooting 51% from the field and 46% from 3. Ford is also leading the Gaels in steals per game with 1.5 and is second on the team in assists per game with 2.9.
An interesting note about the Gaels overall roster is that it contains 10 players out of the 15 man roster who are from somewhere outside the U.S. A few of the players are from Australia, this should not come as a surprise as Randy Bennet has been recruiting players from down under since 2009 when the Gaels reeled in Matthew Delevodova.