Injuries and mass suspensions make a rough season for San Jose State

Nobody ever told Dave Wojcik it would be easy to rebuild the San Jose State basketball program when he took the job before last season.

He could have never imagined just how difficult things would get this year, though.

The 2-13 record is just the beginning. Injuries and mass suspensions forced Wojcik to pull two players off the football team last month just to have enough bodies to put a team on the court.

Wojcik is starting to get a few guys back, including leading scorer and Bishop Gorman alum Rashad Muhammad. Still, the Spartans expect to dress only eight players tonight when they play UNLV at Thomas & Mack Center.

After a game at Wyoming last week, when San Jose State played the Cowboys close down to the wire, Wojcik said he may have played all five starters the entire 40 minutes if not for foul trouble. As it was, Muhammad and two other starters stayed on the floor the entire game.

The 5-point loss at Wyoming actually serves as one of the bright spots of the season.

Things have been that bad for the Spartans, whose two wins came against Saint Katherine and Bethesda.

San Jose State comes to Las Vegas with an 0-7 road mark and Wojcik pointed out Thursday during a radio appearance in town that he feels his team is a bit unfortunate to be catching a possibly angry UNLV team coming off a loss to UNR.

Muhammad and Darryl Gaynor II both hail from Las Vegas. Muhammad, who was suspended for three games, leads the team in scoring average and has been the team’s high scorer seven times this season.

He is coming off his best game of the year, a 26-point effort in a 78-56 loss at Air Force on Wednesday.

Gaynor, a freshman from Durango High School, asserted himself while Muhammad and several other players were suspended. The state of Nevada’s leading scorer last season paced San Jose State in that category four straight times.

Both players figure to see a lot of action today.

Two players who won’t play a role are Tyler Winston and Andrew Vollert. The football program got them back when a few of Wojcik’s regulars were able to return.

Winston scored four points in his only appearance. Vollert averaged three points and one rebound per contest in three games.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.