A last-minute rally and raucous home crowd weren’t enough for San Jose State to overcome a 73-70 NIT loss to Loyola Chicago on Wednesday at Provident Credit Union Event Center.
However, the Spartans (15-20, 7-13 Mountain West) left the 3,627 in attendance on the edge of their seat until the bitter end against the Ramblers (23-11, 12-6 Atlantic 10), with a ferocious comeback over the final minutes of the game.
Led by guard Latrell Davis' scoring outburst over the game’s final 2:28, the Spartans cut a 15-point deficit down to just one, but their valiant effort fell short in the end.
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“It was really fun tonight to watch a good college basketball game,” fourth-year SJSU coach Tim Miles said postgame (h/t SB Nation’s Vic Aquino). “I can’t imagine people coming home from the game and not telling their friends about it at work tomorrow.”
“When we can pack the house like that, it helps the players so much,” Josh Uduje added, after leading the Spartans with 18 points. “Once the crowd got behind us down 12 at the end; that literally spearheaded our run.”
The Spartans’ quartet of Donavan Yap Jr., Sadaidriene Hall, Uduje and Davis combined for 59 points. Des Watson carried the Ramblers with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting with five rebounds and three assists while Miles Rubin followed with 14 points and seven boards.
Of course, SJSU wanted to advance and finish its season above .500. Miles, though, made his optimism about the South Bay program confidently clear after leading the Spartans to their first NIT appearance since 1981.
NCAAB
“This is a great experience for our program and our fans,” Miles said. “Playing in a high-level playoff game and competing our tails off to the bitter end is also a great step forward.
“Now, how do you build on this and put more things in place? I think college basketball is a great sport. It’s so fun to watch these young guys compete. They play their guts out and that’s the cool part.”
Quite a season for @SanJoseStateMBB culminating in @NITMBB berth. 2/3 post season appearances for the Spartans!!! The crowd and atmosphere for our last game was GREAT!!! pic.twitter.com/lZjqhPpBZ1
— Tim Miles (@CoachMiles) March 21, 2025
During the 2024-25 NCAA season, the Spartans improved on their 9-23 record from 2023-24 by six more wins and three fewer losses – that’s progress. SJSU also endured a stronger strength of schedule (3.99) than it did a campaign ago (3.28) and faced three NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament-qualifying teams in New Mexico, Utah State, Colorado State .
Perhaps most impressively, the Spartans’ 72.1 points per game was their highest average since 2016-17 (73.2).
SJSU has shown promise throughout its four seasons under Miles. After finishing 8-23 in Miles’ inaugural 2021-22 season, the Spartans went 21-14 in 2022-23 and have received invitations to tournaments in two of the last three campaigns.
While SJSU has cracked just three NCAA Tournament brackets in its history and none since 1996, the energy in the South Bay is real and is something Miles envisions building on.
“We’ve seen what reality can be at San Jose State,” Miles said Wednesday.
Miles reached an NCAA tournament at his previous two stops – Colorado State and Nebraska – and will be eager to do the same for the Spartans during his soon-to-be fifth year at SJSU.