Bulldogs lose their bite in sloppy loss at San Jose State
Fresno State coach Rodney Terry spent the last 12.8 seconds of a 69-62 loss at San Jose State on Saturday in the locker room, which obviously wasn’t where he wanted to be at that point but not all bad, really.
He was spared watching at least part of a game that was unsightly, at best. Before the Bulldogs’ coach was ejected after being hit with a second technical foul protesting what he felt were some uneven calls, Fresno State had plenty of other issues.
The Bulldogs committed a season-high 23 turnovers, blew a lead that was at 15 four times in the first half, were held to a season-low point total and were out-juiced and outplayed when they had a chance to gain some semblance of control down the stretch.
“We had some opportunities where we had a chance late in the game to kind of pop that thing – we were up five and had some empty possessions that cost us a little bit along the way,” Terry said.
“It was a hard game to play, though, because of the way it was officiated, because the game was so choppy. Guys could never get into a flow, both sides, both of us. But you give them credit. They finished the game the way they needed to and we didn’t.”
The Bulldogs (10-6, 2-2) went up 61-56 with 3:53 to go on a layup by Karachi Edo off a nice feed by Cullen Russo, but that was the last basket they made.
San Jose State (8-6, 1-2), which had lost its first two Mountain West games, tied the score at 61 on a layup by Brandon Clarke with 1:29 remaining. Russo was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws at the Bulldogs’ end and Clarke hit1 of 2 after Edo was called for a block with 50 seconds remaining – a call that would come into play later. After the teams traded the free throws, the Spartans took a 64-62 lead when Jalen James scored right of the lane with 21 seconds to play.
Fresno State had a season-high 21 turnovers in a victory at Drake, and had matched that with 5:06 remaining. The Bulldogs didn’t make it the rest of the way turnover-free in a rough game where there were almost as many giveaways (42 – 23 by Fresno State to go with the 19 by the Spartans) as field goals (46 – 25 by the Bulldogs and 21 by San Jose State).
With the ball and a chance to tie the score, Paul Watson was called for a charge with 16.3 seconds to go, after which Terry was hit with his first technical.
We had some opportunities where we had a chance late in the game to kind of pop that thing - we were up five and had had some empty possessions that cost us a little bit along the way.
Fresno State coach Rodney Terry
“Same play, same play on the other end, so that was my gripe,” Terry said. “Why don’t we get that same call. It’s the same deal. Their kid is moving the same way. If you’re going to call it down there, you have to call it here. It just wasn’t consistent, probably one of the most inconsistent games I’ve been a part of since I’ve been a head coach.”
The Bulldogs stole the inbounds pass after Gary Williams Jr. knocked down the technical free throws, but Watson turned it over with a pass that didn’t connect and that is when the second technical call came and Terry was directed to the locker room.
Robert Kuwada: @rkuwada
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FRESNO STATE AT AIR FORCE
- Wednesday: 6 p.m. at Clune Arena (5,558) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Records: Bulldogs 10-6, 2-2 in the Mountain West; Falcons 8-8, 1-2
- Webcast/radio: Mountain West Network (themwc.com)/KFIG (AM 940)
- Notable: The Falcons lost 85-58 on Saturday at Colorado State. Air Force turned over the ball a season-high 18 times, leading to 26 points for the Rams, and also hit just 5 of 19 shots (26.3 percent) from the 3-point line.
SAN JOSE STATE 69, FRESNO STATE 62
Fresno State | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Edo | 30 | 10-13 | 0-2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
Russo | 29 | 4-10 | 2-4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
Hopkins | 30 | 3-13 | 3-4 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 9 |
J.Taylor | 28 | 2-7 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
Watson | 34 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
D.Taylor | 28 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Bittner | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
B.Williams | 9 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Carter | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 25-54 | 9-14 | 34 | 16 | 24 | 62 |
Percentages: FG .463, FT .643. 3-Point Goals: 3-11, .273 (D.Taylor 2-3, Russo 1-3, Watson 0-2, J.Taylor 0-3). Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: 23 (0 PTS). Blocks: 3 (Edo 2, Watson). Turnovers: 23 (Watson 7, Hopkins 6, Russo 3, B.Williams 2, J.Taylor 2, Bittner, Carter, D.Taylor). Steals: 7 (Hopkins 3, Edo, J.Taylor, Russo, Watson). Technical Fouls: coach Rodney Terry, 00:16 second; coach Rodney Terry, 00:12 second.
San Jose State | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Clarke | 38 | 6-11 | 3-4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
Schwartz | 30 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Welage | 22 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
James | 33 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
G.Williams | 19 | 3-8 | 11-12 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
Mitchell | 19 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Nichols | 14 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Thornton | 13 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Boyce | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hillsman | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Chastain | -- | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 21-49 | 20-24 | 24 | 12 | 17 | 69 |
Percentages: FG .429, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 7-16, .438 (James 2-2, Schwartz 2-5, Welage 2-5, G.Williams 1-2, Boyce 0-1, Mitchell 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 19 (0 PTS). Blocks: 9 (Clarke 5, Mitchell 2, Thornton, Welage). Turnovers: 19 (Clarke 4, G.Williams 4, Welage 4, Nichols 3, Schwartz 2, Hillsman, Mitchell). Steals: 7 (James 2, Mitchell 2, Clarke, G.Williams, Nichols). Technical Fouls: team, 8:38 first.
Fresno State | 37 | 25 | — | 62 |
San Jose State | 29 | 40 | — | 69 |
This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Bulldogs lose their bite in sloppy loss at San Jose State."