With fouls and overtimes mounting, Bulldogs finally fall at Wyoming
Fresno State and Wyoming went into overtime, then a second, third and a fourth, and along the way the Bulldogs lost players.
Jaron Hopkins went out after picking up a fifth foul and was followed by Paul Watson, Terrell Carter II and Bryson Williams. Karachi Edo went down in the third OT with a right ankle injury, landing awkwardly trying to corral a rebound.
Playing short, the Bulldogs were left in some bad matchups at the defensive end and down scorers on offense. After fighting out of a hole in the first three extra periods, they finally fell 102-100 in a Mountain West Conference game at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyo.
The Bulldogs (14-10, 6-6) had the ball down three with 3.5 seconds to go out of a timeout, but Wyoming was denying a catch anywhere near the 3-point line. Ryan Beddeo ended up in-bounding in front of their bench to Jahmel Taylor some 35 feet from the basket.
Wyoming (16-9, 6-6) pounced, sending Taylor to the free-throw line where he could make one or two foul shots but not three.
Taylor hit the first and intentionally missed the second to give Fresno State a shot at a rebound and tip to tie, but the Bulldogs were called for a lane violation. By that point, the tallest players on the floor were 6-foot-6 guards Sam Bittner and Johnny McWilliams.
Fresno State needed three foul shots by Deshon Taylor with 2 seconds left to get to the second overtime, two with 18 seconds to go to reach the third OT and a 3-pointer by Jahmel Taylor with 44 seconds remaining to get to the fourth.
Deshon Taylor and Jahmel Taylor played 55 minutes, with the former scoring 32 points including 17 of 18 at the free-throw line.
Stat of the game – The score was tied 16 times and there were 14 lead changes. The Bulldogs led for 30:10 to 19:17 for Wyoming.
Notable – Edo’s status for Saturday’s game at Colorado State, Terry said, was still to be determined.
“At the moment it’s hard to say,” he said. “I don’t know what it is at the moment. Hopefully, he’s going to be OK. We’ll know more here soon.”
The Bulldogs are scheduled to bus Thursday morning to Fort Collins.
Quotable – Terry: “We said going into this game that everybody that traveled was going to have to be ready to play tonight and everybody got an opportunity. The guys that got in the game late, they practice extremely hard. They give us a great look every day, so you’re not afraid to put those guys in the game. Tonight we needed those guys to play a little for us and we knew we would. You come up here, you play at altitude, you’re going to need everybody to compete.”
Coming up – Playing short, the Bulldogs got some big minutes and big plays from their bench. But if Edo is to miss any time, it is Watson, Carter and Williams who are going to have to take a step forward.
Robert Kuwada: @rkuwada
Up next
FRESNO STATE AT COLORADO STATE
- Saturday: 1 p.m. at Moby Arena (8,745) in Fort Collins
- Records: Bulldogs 14-10, 6-6; Mountain West; Rams 16-9, 8-4
- Webcast/radio: Mountain West Network (themwn.com)/KFIG (AM 940)
- Notable: The Rams will have an extra day to prep for the Bulldogs after dropping Utah State 69-52 on Tuesday, their second consecutive win and fifth in six games. Gian Clavell hit six shots from the 3-point line in scoring 24 points for Colorado State. Fresno State beat the Rams 78-57 on Jan. 18 at the Save Mart Center, with Deshon Taylor scoring 19 points, Jaron Hopkins 18 and Jahmel Taylor 15.
WYOMING 102, FRESNO STATE 100, 4OT
FRESNO STATE (14-10, 6-6): Williams 3-5 1-3 7, J.Taylor 6-11 2-3 18, Hopkins 6-16 3-7 16, D.Taylor 6-23 17-18 32, Watson 7-19 0-0 15, Edo 1-5 2-4 4, Carter 2-2 0-0 4, Beddeo 0-1 0-0 0, McWilliams 0-3 1-2 1, Bittner 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 32-90 26-37 100.
WYOMING (16-9, 6-6): Naughton 2-4 4-5 8, Herndon 5-10 3-8 17, McManamen 8-17 7-8 30, Lieberman 4-10 0-0 9, Adams 0-2 0-0 0, Dalton 7-15 6-8 21, James 4-15 0-0 10, Marshall 0-3 6-7 6, Kelley 0-1 1-1 1. Totals 30-77 27-37 102.
Halftime — Wyoming 30-29. End Of Regulation — Tied 65. End Of 1st Overtime — Tied 73. End Of 2nd Overtime — Tied 85. End Of 3rd Overtime — Tied 90. 3-Point Goals — Fresno State 10-31 (J.Taylor 4-7, D.Taylor 3-10, Bittner 1-3, Hopkins 1-3, Watson 1-5, Beddeo 0-1, McWilliams 0-1, Edo 0-1), Wyoming 15-38 (McManamen 7-13, Herndon 4-7, James 2-7, Dalton 1-4, Lieberman 1-5, Adams 0-1, Kelley 0-1). Fouled Out — James, Herndon, Carter, Watson, Hopkins, Williams. Rebounds — Fresno State 49 (D.Taylor, Edo 9), Wyoming 52 (Dalton 20). Assists — Fresno State 7 (Hopkins 4), Wyoming 18 (Dalton 5). Fouls — Fresno State 35, Wyoming 27. A — 4,156 (15,028).
This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 10:48 PM with the headline "With fouls and overtimes mounting, Bulldogs finally fall at Wyoming."