GAME NOTES: The two teams bringing up the rear in the Mountain West Conference get together in California on Saturday, as the San Jose State Spartans host the Nevada Wolf Pack.

In the case of the Spartans, they are not only winless in 10 league outings, they have also yet to defend a single opponent from the Division I ranks. Struggling with key roster changes due to injury and personal issues, SJSU has dropped 12 straight decisions since taking out St. Katherine (74-63) at home on Dec. 9.

The latest defeat for the Spartans came against in-state rival Fresno State on Wednesday night by a score of 81-63.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Pack are only slightly better than San Jose State at the moment with two wins in nine opportunities versus the rest of the MWC. Also in action three nights ago, Nevada made it close against San Diego State at home in Reno but still came up short in a 65-63 final. The loss extended the team's skid to seven in a row.

Nevada leads the all-time series between the former Western Athletic Conference foes by a count of 52-48, the teams splitting their two meetings a season ago as members of the MWC. The Spartans bowed to Nevada at home, 62-50, and then returned the favor with a 66-64 victory at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

The Pack appeared poised to take down San Diego State on Wednesday night, opening the meeting in Reno on a 13-4 run, but the hosts could not keep up that trend and eventually lost by just two points to the Aztecs after being tied with under a minute left in regulation. Eric Cooper Jr. was the high man for Nevada with 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting behind the 3-point line, followed by AJ West with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, seven of which came at the offensive end of the floor.

Cooper Jr. the leading scorer for the Pack in three of the last four outings, has been coming on strong of late but is still averaging only 6.0 ppg due to being primarily a backup with limited minutes. West figures to be the more prominent figure on offense with not just 12.5 ppg but also 10.1 rpg, not to mention coming up with 54 blocked shots in order to compensate for a mere 10 assists in 20 games.

The 63 points for the Spartans against Fresno State were the most in any Mountain West game this season, but still the team was blown out by 18 points on the road. San Jose State, which finished with almost as many turnovers (19) as field goals (20), was paced by Rashad Muhammad with 16 points, although he shot just 3-of-12 from the floor, followed by Isaac Thornton and Jaleel Williams with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Over the course of 10 conference games the Spartans are generating a mere 48.3 ppg, even after Wednesday night's breakout performance. Muhammad, a starter in nine of those league bouts, is responsible for 13.9 ppg but is shooting only 33.0 percent from the floor which is actually lower than his 35.5 percent behind the 3-point line. Williams pitches in with 10.4 ppg, but he too has struggled from the field (.343) and the perimeter (.216).

Unfortunately for the Spartans, this might be their one chance to finally break through against not only a league foe but a Division I opponent. However, a lot of things have to fall into place in order to make that happen.