San José State University’s men’s basketball team is set to compete in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, beginning with a game against Tulsa on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. The event will take place at Acrisure Arena. Depending on the outcome, the Spartans will face either Northern Iowa or Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, November 26, with tipoff scheduled for either 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Both games are part of the team’s early non-conference schedule.
The Spartans are aiming to reach postseason play for the third time in four years, which would mark their best run in program history. Last season, San José State participated in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the first time since 1981. Over the past three seasons, they have accumulated 46 wins—the most since achieving that number between 1985 and 1988 while competing in the Big West Conference.
This week’s matchup with Tulsa is notable as it marks their first meeting since both teams were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1996 to 2005. If San José State faces Loyola Chicago during this invitational, it will be a rematch of last season’s NIT opening round; if they play Northern Iowa, it will be their first-ever encounter.
Individually, Colby Garland has been leading San José State’s offense by averaging 21.2 points per game—first in the Mountain West Conference and ranked No. 28 nationally. He is one of five players nationwide averaging at least 21 points per game while shooting over .631 from the field. Garland became “the first Spartan since Adrian Oliver in 2008-09 to score 20+ in each of his first three games of the season.” His .631 field goal percentage ranks third-best within his conference.
Garland’s performance includes scoring at least sixteen points in every game so far this season and shooting efficiently from both inside and outside the paint; he notably scored thirty points without attempting a three-pointer against UCSB—a feat not seen since Brandon Clarke did so against Air Force on January 14, 2017.
Yaphet Moundi has also contributed significantly by recording four double-doubles through five games—leading all Mountain West players and ranking seventh nationally. He averages nearly twelve points and just over ten rebounds per contest and has achieved double-doubles in three consecutive games—the first Spartan to do so since Michael Steadman in 2019.
Redshirt freshman Ben Roseborough is averaging almost twelve points per game and stands out as one of Mountain West’s top three-point shooters so far this year.
Jermaine Washington has increased his playing time this season while posting career-highs across several categories including scoring (12 ppg), assists (3.2 apg), and made threes (2.4 per game).
San José State enters this tournament with a completely new starting lineup for a second straight year after returning only three players who saw minutes last season—Sadraque NgaNga, Jermaine Washington, and Pasha Goodarzi—which accounts for less than twenty percent of last year’s scoring output.
The roster features six transfers—including Garland—and five freshmen additions alongside redshirt freshman Roseborough who missed last year due to injury but was previously rated as one of California’s top recruits.
In preseason projections, San José State was picked to finish tenth in the Mountain West poll.
