Spartans grind down high-octane Southern staying perfect at home

San Jose State (2-3, 0-0 MW) showed once again that its defensive identity is becoming more than early-season chatter, locking up a fast, confident Southern University squad 80–66 Friday night at Provident Credit Union Event Center.

The win keeps the Spartans undefeated on their home floor and offered a meaningful step towards what expects to be a tough Palm Springs Invitational ahead.

Spartan forward Yaphet Moundi was the tone-setter all night, stacking up 21 points and 11 rebounds. Moundi’s rugged, poised performance steadied SJSU, when Southern started flying around with pressure.

“Our paint presence has to be better and we got a little of that early tonight,” said head coach Tim Miles, overall praising the interior physicality that has been missing in recent seasons.

The Jaguars (who just pushed the Washington Huskies into overtime last week) came out with supreme confidence, knocking down early threes and exceeding SJSU’s energy early on.

Southern opened with a corner three from Cam Amboree and held a brief early lead before the Spartans responded with a 7–0 run to settle in.

From there, SJSU slowly asserted its pace.

A 13–0 explosion flipped the game’s rhythm entirely, fueled by defensive stops and Jermaine Washington dribble penetrations. Washington finished with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting including four threes.

As the typical flow goes, Southern wouldn’t fade.

The Jaguars hit consecutive threes late in the half and trimmed the margin to 36–33 before Spartan guard Colby Garland answered with two mid-range scores to keep SJSU in front.

Garland, who finished with 16 points and five assists, continues to be the “slow & sure” engine the Spartans can lean on when games turn frantic .

Second-half: Defense tightens and the Spartans surge

The early minutes of the second half featured some Southern traps forcing turnovers, as the Spartans briefly struggled with ball security.

“If there’s something I didn’t prepare them enough for, it was the trapping and pressing,” Miles admitted. “That’s why it got ugly at times.”

But the Spartans countered by dialing up their own full-court pressure, flipping the intensity right back.

Halfway into the half, the Spartans began to pull away; punctuated by two highlight plays that brought the crowd to its feet:

A Moundi chase-down block leading to Washington’s falling-away, off-balance corner three while crashing into the SJSU bench — easily the play sequence of the night.

SJSU’s efficiency then took over.

The Spartans hit five of six shots during one key stretch while Southern went 2 for 10 due to San Jose’s pressure defense. The effort allowed the lead to balloon as high as 19 with 4:09 to play after a late Sadraque Nganga three. Nganga finished with 8 points and 11 boards in a gritty workload-heavy outing

Miles acknowledged that the short rotation with just six players carrying most of the minutes isn’t ideal.

“We need to get healthy,” said Miles. “It put a lot of pressure on six guys tonight to do all the heavy lifting.”

Still, the defensive results were undeniable. Southern entered the evening averaging 99 points per game and SJSU held them to 66, including only 31 in the second half .

For a team still recalibrating its offensive style and weaving in new personnel, Friday’s performance was a continued foundational phase.

SJSU relied less on threes and more on paint attacks, offensive boards, and physical defense, which is the precise identity Miles prefers.

“We’re starting to assemble what looks to me like a solid basketball team,” Miles said. “Tonight was a big night for us defensively.”

The Spartans now head to Palm Springs with confidence of a group that just beat one of the SAC’s best and may have found its early formula along the way.