by Bryan Boettcher, USD Sports Information
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Points were hard to come by in San Jose State’s 61-52 win against South Dakota Tuesday night inside Event Center Arena.
The Spartans, who improved to 3-3 overall, went more than 10 minutes without a point in the second half, but still led 46-43 with under seven minutes to go and pulled away again late. The home team made 10 3-pointers and got 18 points from Omari Moore to win the first meeting between the two teams since 2017.
Mason Archambault (Standing Rock Sioux) scored a career-high 21 points to pace South Dakota, which fell to 4-3 overall and is still seeking its first road win. Archambault was 8-of-15 from the field including 5-of-9 from downtown. But his teammates combined to make 12-of-40 shots (30 percent) and South Dakota shot just five free throws.
Moore’s 18 led four Spartans in double figures. Tibet Gorener buried four triples and had 14 points. Big man Ibrahima Diallo had 10 points and blocked two shots. Shon Robinson came off the bench to give San Jose State 10.
The Spartans shot 48 percent in the first half and led 33-22 at the break. That lead grew to 46-27 on a Robinson 3 with 15:44 to go.
But San Jose State didn’t score again until the 5:21 mark. South Dakota, meanwhile, couldn’t cut into the lead until Archambault hit a 3 with 11:45 to go. Hunter Goodrick and Kruz Perrott-Hunt combined to score the game’s next nine points for USD. Erik Oliver made a jumper that made it 46-41 with 7:21 left and Perrott-Hunt scored again to make it 46-43.
The Spartans countered with a Diallo dunk, a Moore 3 and a layup by Gorener that quickly pushed the lead back to double-digits and San Jose State cruised from there.
