Upcoming games: Santa Clara, Wednesday, December 3, 2008, Walt McPherson Court, San Jose, Calif., 7:00 p.m. (PST)

San Diego, Monday, December 8, 2008, Jenny Craig Arena, San Diego, Calif., 7:00 p.m. (PST)

San Jose State record: 2-2. The Spartans lost at Presbyterian (47-46) on November 24.

Santa Clara record: 2-4. The Broncos ended a four-game losing streak by winning at Montana (71-68) on November 30.

San Diego record: 3-3 before the December 1 game at Cal State Bakersfield. The Toreros also face San Diego State on December 6 before hosting the Spartans. Most recently, San Diego defeated San Diego Christian (82-48) on November 29.

Radio Coverage: 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 Santa Clara and San Diego broadcasts. Games also are available on a subscription basis on www.sjsuspartans.com and Yahoo!Broadcast.

Television coverage: There is no play-by-play coverage of the Santa Clara nor San Diego games.

San Jose State-Santa Clara series: Santa Clara leads the series, 70-28. The teams split a pair of contests last season with the visiting team winning each game. San Jose State won the most recent game (62-59) at the Leavey Center on January 7, 2008. Santa Clara was victorious at Walt McPherson Court (73-63) on December 8, 2007.

San Jose State-San Diego series: San Diego leads the series, 7-5. The Toreros won last year’s game (60-40) on December 5, 2007 at the Jenny Craig Arena.

Seeking a 2-0 home start: San Jose State plays its second home game of the season when the Spartans host Santa Clara. The Spartans won their home opener over California Maritime on November 19. The last time a San Jose State team won its first two home games in a season was in 2002-03 when the Spartans topped Menlo College and Cal State Monterey Bay.

Looking for two in a row over Santa Clara: San Jose State has not beaten Santa Clara in back-to-back games since posting victories over the Broncos on December 22, 1984 (74-67) at the San Jose Civic Auditorium and December 19, 1985 (58-55) at Toso Pavilion. The Spartans’ 62-59 victory on January 7, 2008 is the most recent meeting between these teams.

First two of four West Coast Conference opponents: The Santa Clara and San Diego games mark the first two of four West Coast Conference opponents on the San Jose State schedule. Later in December, the Spartans have back-to-back games against USF on December 22 and Saint Mary’s in the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic in Moraga, Calif., on December 27. The last time San Jose State played four West Coast Conference teams in a season was 1998-99. That Spartan team defeated Portland and lost at Saint Mary’s, to Santa Clara in double overtime and to Pepperdine.

Topping the WAC in scoring defense: After four games, San Jose State tops the Western Athletic Conference in scoring defense allowing 52.2 points a game. Last season after four games, the Spartans yielded 70.2 points a game and had a 3-1 win-loss record. The last time a San Jose State team gave up fewer than 200 points in its first four games was in the 1999-2000 season when Spartan opponents averaged 42.5 points a game.

Topping the WAC in field goal defense: San Jose State’s first four opponents have combined to shoot 32.5 percent from the field – the best figure in the WAC for games played through November 30. Nebraska, who defeated the Spartans on November 16, has the best shooting percentage against San Jose State this season with a 35.9 percent mark.

Collecting rebounds: San Jose State has outrebounded each of its last two opponents. The Spartans enter the Santa Clara game with a +2.8 rebounding margin, third best in the Western Athletic Conference for games played through November 30.

Three different lineups: San Jose State started a different starting lineup in each of the first three games. With the return of forward C.J. Webster, who missed two games after stepping on the foot of a South Dakota player in the season opener, the Spartans started different lineups at Nebraska and against California Maritime. Forward Tim Pierce, center Chris Oakes and guards Justin Graham and DaShawn Wright have started in each of the first four games.

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