Upcoming games:    Louisiana Tech, Saturday, January 3, 2009, Walt McPherson Court, San Jose, Calif., 5:30 p.m.

    New Mexico State, Monday, January 5, 2009, Walt McPherson Court, San Jose, Calif., 7:00 p.m.

San Jose State record: 6-4, 0-0 WAC. The Spartans have won four of their last five games. Most recently, San Jose State topped William Jessup (82-61) in the consolation game of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic hosted by Saint Mary’s.

Louisiana Tech record: 6-7, 0-0 WAC. The Bulldogs closed out the calendar year losing at #10-UCLA (78-55) on December 28.

New Mexico State record: 6-7, 0-0 WAC prior to the January 3 game at Fresno State. The Aggies ended a two-game losing streak with their most one-sided win of the season defeating Loyola Marymount (104-62) on December 28. New Mexico State lost to in-state rival New Mexico (68-66) on December 30.

Radio Coverage: KSJS (90.5 FM, San Jose) and KLIV (1590 AM, San Jose) originate San Jose State University basketball broadcasts. Mike Chisholm calls the play-by-play. Air time is  5:00 p.m. for the January 3 Louisiana Tech game on KLIV and KSJS. The New Mexico State broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be aired on KSJS. 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 Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State games.

San Jose State-Louisiana Tech series: The Bulldogs lead the series, 11-5. San Jose State won two of three meetings between these teams last season including a 64-62 decision in the opening round of the 2008 WAC Tournament. The Spartans have won the last two games played at Walt McPherson Court. Louisiana Tech’s last win in San Jose was a 75-55 victory on January 26, 2006.

San Jose State-New Mexico State series: The Aggies lead the series, 25-10. New Mexico State has won the last seven meetings between these teams including six since the Aggies joined the conference for the 2005-06 season. San Jose State’s last win in the series was a 74-60 triumph on January 8, 1996 when both schools were members of the Big West Conference.

Seeking to open WAC play on a winning note: Since joining the Western Athletic Conference for the 1996-97 season, the Spartans are 1-11 in conference openers. The only victory came at home against Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State team on January 7, 1999 (91-64).
 
Potential winning record in non-conference action: With a current record of 6-4, San Jose State has a chance to be above the .500 mark in non-conference action for the second season in a row. In  2007-08, the Spartans were 8-6 in games against non-conference opponents. The last time San Jose State had back-to-back winning records in non-conference play was in 2000 (9-6) and 2001 (8-3).

Three double-doubles in William Jessup win: For the first time in at least the last 30 years at San Jose State, three players recorded a double-double for the Spartans in a game. Forwards Tim Pierce (21 pts., 15 rebs.) and C.J. Webster (15 pts., 10 rebs.) and center Chris Oakes (18 pts., 17 rebs.) each had at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in the 82-61 win over William Jessup on December 28.
     Among the NCAA Division I men’s teams to match this statistical phenomenon recently are UCLA in an 88-78 win over Western Kentucky in the 2008 NCAA Tournament Tempe, Ariz., Regional on March 27 and Syracuse’s  85-73 victory over Seton Hall on March 6, 2008.

65 rebounds in William Jessup win: San Jose State’s 65 rebounds in the victory over William Jessup on December 28 matches the third most rebounds by a NCAA Division I team in games played this season through December 28. Eastern Michigan’s 76 rebounds against Marygrove on November 14 and Maine’s 73 against Maine Presque Isle on December 4 are the top two single-game totals this season.
     The last time the Spartans had as many as 60 rebounds as a team in a game was on December 24, 1979 in a 78-63 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) in the All-College Tournament hosted by Oklahoma City when San Jose State was credited with 60 rebounds.

Shooting eyes currently in focus: In San Jose State’s last five games, the Spartans are shooting 51.2 percent (148-of-289) from the field. In the team’s first five games when San Jose State compiled a 2-3 record, the Spartans made just 40.7 percent of their field goal attempts.

Distributing the ball: In the last five games, San Jose State was credited with 84 assists or 16.8 per game. In the first five contests, the Spartans averaged 10.6 assists a game.

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