San José State men’s basketball moved the ball successfully offensively and defensively during their matchup against Air Force.
SJSU (11-12, 4-7 MW) defeated Air Force (3-19, 0-11 MW) in a 75-64 win on Saturday afternoon at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Falcons kept pace with the Spartans through the majority of the first half, San José led 37-29 before halftime.
Senior guard Josh Uduje led the Spartans with 24 points, shooting 9 for 16 from field goal range and went 3 for 6 from 3-point range, according to a SJSU Athletics page.
Uduje shot efficiently from the floor to help propel the Spartans offense.
“Air Force has a really good offense, they run a Princeton offense,” he said. “So they move with a lot of back cuts.”
The Spartans had their best scoring run with 14:59 left in the first half.
SJSU eventually pulled away during the second half as their biggest lead was 16 points with 2:33 left.
“It always takes a bit of time to adjust to their actions,” Uduje said. “So once we locked in on that defensively we took care of business.”
The Spartans were able to contain the Falcons offense and held a double-digit lead throughout the second period.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles credits the defense as a key factor for the team's win.
“I think we got our most engaged guys defensively and our quickest guys defensively,” Miles said. “And once we got our most engaged physical guys out there, I thought it was good for us.”
Junior center Robert Vaihola recorded seven of the Spartans 10 blocks in the game which set the most recorded blocks by a Mountain West player this season, according to the SJSU Athletics page.
Miles praised Vaihola’s basketball IQ with his season and career-high in blocks.
“He’s not an above the rim rebounding guy but he understands angles, he reads the ball and then on offense we run a lot of things through him,” Miles said.
The offense and defensive sides clicked for the Spartans as the team racked a season high in blocks while going 26 for 52 from the field and shooting 50% from beyond the arc, according to an ESPN stats page.
However, Miles said the team could have done a better job protecting the paint.
“I thought Air Force was quick to the ball, hustling, sending multiple guys in on the offensive glass and we didn't handle that very well,” Miles said. “If you want to beat Air Force, you have to win the paint points and you can't lose the pain points.”
SJSU tied the paint battle 26-26, but Miles believes that it would have been a different ball game at halftime with better defense.
“You've got to be able to punish them inside right in the paint and the way they cut and the way they play, if they get you inside on second shots and cuts, you're dead,” Miles said.
Sophomore guard Latrell Davis had 18 points off the bench while shooting 7 for 8 from the field and went 3 for 3 on 3-pointers, according to the same SJSU Athletics page.
Davis has been a vital sixth man for SJSU off the bench as he went 22-30 on shooting on field goals and 11 for 14 from three in his last three games, according to the same SJSU Athletics page.
“I'm just working with the coaches, working with the managers, just getting shots up before after practice, just being consistent,” Davis said. “So it translates into the game, so it's not a shot that I haven't taken before just in a lot of games, so that's really what's going for me.”
Miles praised Davis’ performances and said confidence has been a factor.
“As you play well and you start to do it against multiple opponents over and over and over, and then you start to gain confidence,” Miles said. “He's always been a great guy in transition.”
The Spartans received vital scoring contributions from Uduje and Davis to secure the win.
Uduje also believes the team can improve and has the potential to go far as a team.
“We've had a slow start to the season, we had a slow start to conference, and we figured out a way to get out of that hole both times,” he said. “We're still within that hole, but we're trying to get out.”
Uduje credits the challenges the team went through to get to where they are at now during the season.
“Strong relationships are built through adversity, and I think for the most part, our team has been through quite a bit of adversity,” Uduje said.
SJSU will next head on the road to face Fresno State (5-17, 1-10 MW) on Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. at Save Mart Center.
