Somehow, someway, with 1.3 seconds left and the score at 67-67, Myron “MJ” Amey Jr. drilled a wildly improbable three from the corner to lift San Jose State to a 70-67 win over Air Force.
AMEY JR. FOR THE WIN‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️@AmeyMyron#AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/tFcswP0VSK
— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) January 14, 2024
But as Amey Jr. (16 points and nine rebounds) was a portrait of unbridled joy after his buzzer-beater while teammates mobbed him, it was easy to forget that SJSU fumbled a 10-point second half and was down 66-64 with 1:58 remaining.
So now comes the difficulty of identifying what’s more meaningful: SJSU rallying back in those final few minutes? Or how it fumbled yet another second half lead?
“They [SJSU] can be 4-0 in this league,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles said after the win. Miles’ quote came a few dafter the Spartans nearly upset No. 19 San Diego State.
Now, some may be thinking, ‘How can you not leave a buzzer-beater completely happy?’
That’s because SJSU (8-9, 1-3 MW) has made a habit of turning promising first half starts into disappointing second half finishes. For example, it squandered a 17-point first half lead to Wyoming in its conference opener. One game later, against a stellar Boise State, it fell 78-69 after it held a nine-point lead with nine minutes remaining. And in its six non-conference losses, SJSU outscored its opponent just once following the first half.
On Saturday, SJSU ended the first half up 46-33 after it outrebounded the Cadets 18-7 and outscored them in the paint 24-18. Then, in the second half, SJSU was outrebounded 18-13, outscored in the paint 12-10 and outscored AFA by seven fewer points than it did in the first half on second chance opportunities.
Looking ahead, what’s particularly worrisome is that Air Force is the second lowest-ranking team in the NET (232) in the conference. The Cadets aren’t particularly sharp, either. They average the third-most turnovers in the conference (12.9) and have the third-lowest free throw percentage. Both were was put on full display in the final seconds from Rytis Petraitis who went 1-for-2 with a chance to give AFA the lead with 10 seconds left. Moments later, it was Petraitis who stepped out with 1.3 seconds left after rebounding SJSU point guard Alvaro Cardenas’ (11 points and nine assists) airballed three.
Then came Amey Jr.’s dagger that Miles called “insanity.
Without Petraitis’ sloppiness, it’s hard to say SJSU wouldn’t be 0-4. What’s more, it’s hard to say SJSU wouldn’t continue to crater.
But maybe, just maybe, within those final couple minutes and Amey Jr.’s heroics was SJSU realizing it can be a conference force.
For the lead!!! @yungXtey
SJSU 67 AF 66
📺https://t.co/DhumoI3A1J #AllSpartans pic.twitter.com/AlNlkgCSJ2— San Jose State Men’s Basketball (@SanJoseStateMBB) January 14, 2024
Or, will the momentum from Saturday slip away and the Spartans struggle to handle a Fresno State (No. 251 NET ranking) this Tuesday night?
Even more intriguing now is how SJSU will fare in the six-game gauntlet after FSU which features four teams in the top-40 of the NET and five teams in the top-100.
Ask someone their prediction of how SJSU will fare in the first half on Saturday, when Adrame Diongue (four points and three rebounds) slammed down an alley-oop from Cardenas and Garret Anderson (six points) was attacking at will, it may yield a positive one. What if you asked in the second half when SJSU let a 46-33 halftime lead whither into a 66-61 deficit?
And eventually, after Amey Jr.’s buzzer-beater, where will that same person land?
“We looked like we are dead in the water and Myron Amey Jr. makes this incredible, miracle of a shot,” Miles said, “… Great way to get out first Mountain West win.”
