San Jose State 84, Seattle U 74
Box Score
Seattle, Wash.--(SJSU Media Relations) James Kinney scored a career-high 31 points leading San Jose State to the Elgin Baylor Classic title with an 84-74 victory over Seattle University in the championship game.
Kinney was 12-of-21 from the field including 6-of-12 from 3-point range as the Spartans (6-8) notched their first two-game winning streak of the season and won their first road game of 2011-12 in seven tries.
"James is an elite scorer. He's going to have big games," said San Jose State head coach George Nessman.
"I shot the ball with more confidence. I worked hard off the ball to be ready when I got the ball," said Kinney, San Jose State's leading scorer on the season. He scored just 8 points a night earlier on 3-of-10 shooting in an 81-66 victory over Coppin State.
MORE SPARTANS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
San Jose State guard Keith Shamburger was named the Classic's Most Valuable Player. He added 16 points and handed out 7 assists for the second night in a row.
"It feels good to win two games on the road. That was our agenda this week. These are wins we needed before conference play," said Shamburger, who was joined by Kinney on the All-Classic team.
The Spartans' second win by double figures in as many nights was much different in style than a night earlier. Seattle University pressured San Jose State the entire game forcing the Spartans into a season-high 18 turnovers. Points were hand to come by for nearly everybody except for Kinney who scored 10 in the first 20 minutes helping San Jose State take a 27-24 halftime lead.
Despite opening a pair of seven-point advantages in the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Redhawks tied the score at 50-50 with 8:37 remaining on a basket by forward Aaron Broussard who led Seattle U. in scoring with 19 points.
San Jose State took the lead for good with a 10-0 rally over the next 3:13. Two Shamburger free throws started the scoring spree and two baskets by Kinney, one a three-pointer, capped it off. Seattle U. never got closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Redhawks extended the game with six two-shot fouls for the Spartans in the final three minutes of play.
Though the Seattle U.'s pressure forced the Spartans into longer possessions, once San Jose State advanced the ball into the frontcourt, the results were largely positive. The Spartans made 50.0 percent of their field goal tries and were 12-of-24 from 3-point range. In the Classic, San Jose State was 28-of-64 from outside the arc.
ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSIVE EFFORTS
Seattle University (3-9) made just 34.2 percent of its field goal tries. According to Nessman, "...this was one of our best defensive efforts of the season."
"This was a real grinder, because they are hyper-physical. They create havoc. We had to attack their double teams and we got some easy baskets. It's good to get a win like that.
BENCH HAS ITS SAY
For the second night in a row, Calvin Douglas and D.J. Brown came off the bench and contributed double-figure scoring efforts. Douglas hit four three-pointers for 12 points and Brown's free throw shooting down the stretch en route to 10 points kept San Jose State's lead in a comfortable position.
The San Jose State coach also praised the play of his reserves and starting forward Chris Jones who scored 7 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Outmatched size-wise, the Spartans and Redhawks each finished with 40 rebounds. San Jose State's Wil Carter led all players with 12 rebounds - his second double-figure rebound total in as many nights.
The Spartans are next in action, Saturday, January 7, for the start of Western Athletic Conference play at the University of Hawaii in a 7:00 p.m. (HST) contest.