Fresno State again gives away big chunk of game, loses at Air Force
Fresno State gave away a big chunk of the basketball game Wednesday at Air Force, which is habit by now, particularly on the road.
But that was not the Bulldogs’ biggest problem, because they did work their way back, cutting a 14-point deficit to four and a nine-point lead to two in the first half, then a 13-point deficit to four in the second half.
They got close, but they could not get it right at the defensive end and were continuously sliced up by back cuts and drives to the rim before they were finished at the foul line in a 81-72 loss to the Falcons at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs.
While Fresno State (10-7, 2-3 Mountain West) took a while to figure itself out, launching threes over the Air Force zone including some open looks, the Falcons had no such issues. They scored 42 points in the paint and 22 at the free-throw line.
Six of their first eight baskets and 11 of 15 in the first half came within a few feet of the basket, all on layups or dunks when a step or two ahead of the Bulldogs.
Air Force (9-8, 2-2) hit 51.9 percent of its shots (27 of 52) and had an assist on 16 of its makes.
The Bulldogs, after closing to 59-55 with 8:13 to play, couldn’t sustain their run. Fresno State made nine of a season-high 26 shots from the 3-point line and was ourebounded 39-23, 14 of the Falcons’ rebounds coming at the offensive end.
Stat of the game – Air Force made 27 shots in the game and 17 were layups or dunk. The Falcons hit 64.7 percent of their shots (22 of 34) inside the 3-point line.
Notable – The Bulldogs’ 26 shots beyond the 3-point line topped the season-high by four. They had attempted 22 in a loss at Oregon, hitting six or 27.3 percent. The past three times they have played the Falcons they have gone 9 of 25, 9 of 30 and 9 of 26 from the 3-point line, hitting 27 of 81 or 33.3 percent.
The 30 threes tied a season high a year ago set in a double-overtime victory over UNLV.
Jahmel Taylor, who went into the game ranked ninth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.8, hit 3 of 11 (27.3) and Paul Watson was 3 of 8 (37.5).
Quotable – Fresno State coach Rodney Terry: “It’s never been easy over here. We’ve had possession games where we were able to pull something out, but tonight we played an older team that got off to a good start and played well.”
Coming up – The Bulldogs’ slow start, Terry said, was nothing more than missing shots. But that was only part of the problem.
Robert Kuwada: @rkuwada
Up next
FRESNO STATE VS. BOISE STATE
- Saturday: 4 p.m. at Save Mart Center
- Records: Bulldogs 10-7, 2-3 Mountain West; Broncos 11-4, 4-0
- Webcast/radio: Mountain West Network (themwc.com)/KFIG (AM 940), KGST (AM 1600)
- Notable: The Broncos are the only undefeated team in conference play, having taken out Utah State, Colorado State, UNLV and San Diego State. They did not play a midweek game. Chandler Hutchison is leading Boise State and is third in the conference in scoring at 18.3 points per game.
AIR FORCE 81, FRESNO STATE 72
FRESNO STATE (10-7): Russo 5-8 2-4 13, Edo 1-3 4-4 6, Hopkins 4-9 0-0 8, J.Taylor 4-13 0-0 11, Watson 6-12 5-8 20, Williams 1-3 1-1 3, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, D.Taylor 3-5 1-2 9, Bittner 0-0 0-0 0, McWilliams 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-54 13-19 72.
AIR FORCE (9-8): Graham 8-13 4-4 21, Toohey 0-2 2-3 2, Kocur 2-5 6-8 10, Lyons 6-9 4-5 18, Van 5-10 4-4 14, Norman 2-6 2-2 6, Scottie 0-0 0-2 0, Manning 4-5 0-1 10, Siples 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 27-52 22-29 81.
Halftime — Air Force 37-33. 3-Point Goals — Fresno State 9-26 (Watson 3-8, J.Taylor 3-11, D.Taylor 2-4, Russo 1-2, Hopkins 0-1), Air Force 5-18 (Manning 2-2, Lyons 2-4, Graham 1-4, Norman 0-1, Siples 0-1, Toohey 0-1, Van 0-2, Kocur 0-3). Fouled Out — Toohey, J.Taylor. Rebounds — Fresno State 22 (Russo 8), Air Force 33 (Graham 8). Assists — Fresno State 17 (D.Taylor, Russo 4), Air Force 16 (Graham 6). Total Fouls — Fresno State 26, Air Force 21. A — 1,232 (5,858).
This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Fresno State again gives away big chunk of game, loses at Air Force."