Fresno State routs Holy Names in men’s basketball

Fresno State got a win and got out healthy Wednesday night against Holy Names, which is all the Bulldogs could ask for in a second game this season against an outgunned opponent, this one in the middle of finals week.

It was 88-54 at Save Mart Center and never really close, the Bulldogs pulling away in the second half when exerting a bit more pressure at the defensive end.

Fresno State allowed Holy Names to hit only 9 of 31 shots (29 percent) over the final 20 minutes and turned that into offense at the other end of the floor.

The Bulldogs (7-3) pounded the ball inside and easily drove past the NCAA Division II Hawks, who were playing this game as an exhibition and way up in competition considering they came in 1-9 with losses to Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Monterey Bay, Dominican and Academy of Art.

In the second half, the Bulldogs scored 30 of their 52 points in the paint and 11 at the free-throw line, and got their bench a lot of work.

Guard Deshon Taylor led the Bulldogs with 16 points, playing 24 minutes off the bench. Point guard Jaron Hopkins had 15, hitting 6 of 9 shots, and four assists. Terrell Carter II and freshman Bryson Williams each added 12 points, and Jahmel Taylor had 10.

Stat of the game – Holy Names scored just .740 points per possession, the fewest allowed by Fresno State since a 56-41 victory over Air Force on March 2, 2013. The Falcons in that game hit 27.9 percent of their shots (12 of 43) and were at .707 per possession.

Notable – Jahmel Taylor made his first two shots from the 3-point line, running a streak of consecutive makes to 11 before missing with 11:25 to go in the first half.

Taylor, who came in second in the nation with a 3-point field goal percentage of 60.8 (31 of 51) made 4 of 4 in a loss at Marquette and 5 of 5 in a victory over Cal Poly.

Quotable – Fresno State coach Rodney Terry: “Defensively, I thought we were really good to start, then we started to think it was a pickup game and we wanted to play a little easy. We’re not playing a pickup game. We’re trying to play the way we’re going to play when we have to play meaningful minutes. We had to hit the reset button and understand that’s what we’re trying to get done here. It’s not about who we’re playing; it’s about who we’re going to be playing.”

Fixable – Fresno State hit 14 of 24 free-throw attempts (58.3 percent) and has been under 60 percent in three of its past four games. The Bulldogs have won when going 6 of 19 at the line at Drake, 3 of 7 against Cal Poly and 14 of 24 against Holy Names.

The one game they were above 60 percent, they lost. They were 12 of 17 (70.6 percent) at Marquette.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 11:13 PM with the headline "Fresno State routs Holy Names in men’s basketball."