Bulldogs’ defense fuels offense in beating San Jose State

Fresno State coach Rodney Terry likes for his team to get lost on defense, a double entendre, of course. Get lost the wrong way and the bad guys are making lots of layups.

But the Bulldogs were able to get lost the right way, and for the first time in a long while, in a 77-59 victory over San Jose State on Wednesday night that snapped a three-game losing streak and gave Terry the 100th victory of his coaching career.

Down at halftime to a Spartans team that had come into Save Mart Center on a four-game winning streak, the Bulldogs extended themselves at the defensive end and that energy sparked a slumping offense.

What they did, basically, was erase Terrell Brown – a freshman guard who had hit 7 of 9 shots in scoring 17 points in 17 first-half minutes – and then go from there.

“He got some really good baskets early, but we let him get going early,” Terry said. “Now, somebody has to take the challenge of guarding this guy. This guy is killing us right now. I thought our guys stepped up and responded to the challenge.”

It was Deshon Taylor at the start of the second half and by the end of that 20 minutes the Brown stat line had changed considerably – as had the Spartans’ chances to extend their winning streak and the Bulldogs’ skid.

Brown finished 7 of 13 and with 18 points, just one in the second half.

The Spartans went from shooting 60.9 percent in the first half (14 of 23) to 33.3 in the second (7 of 21). while Fresno State went from 34.4 (11 of 32) to 64 percent (16 of 25).

The Bulldogs (15-11, 7-7 Mountain West) outscored San Jose State 47-24 in the second half. The Spartans (13-11, 6-7) had scored fewer points in a half just once this season, getting 23 in the first half of a Jan. 10 loss at San Diego State.

That defensive effort fueled the offense, which had been a missing piece through a five-game stretch where the Bulldogs went 1-4.

They went from scoring an average of 77.1 points in their first eight conference games to 73.4 in their next five, a number inflated by a four-overtime loss at Wyoming. The Bulldogs had 65 in regulation and 35 more in what amounted to an extra half.

Without those four extra 5-minute periods, the average was 66.4.

“I think in the first half we were making mistakes offensively, so we kind of let it get to our defense,” point guard Jaron Hopkins said. “In the second half, we flipped our mindset and let our defense contribute to our offense and that’s how we made stops and got out in transition and played to the best of our ability.”

The Bulldogs were much more aggressive at the offensive end, beating the Spartans in transition and off the dribble. At one point, Fresno State hit 9 of 10 shots. In a run where the Bulldogs went from down one to up 18, there were seven layups or dunks.

Taylor, who scored a game-high 22 points, had the first one. Hopkins, who added 19 points, had the last. In between, the Bulldogs were in attack mode with Paul Watson also slamming one down and Jahmel Taylor knocking down two wide-open shots beyond the 3-point line as part of a 24-3 run.

“That was a presence that we didn’t have, definitely on that last road trip,” Watson said. “For whatever reason that may have been – fatigue, injury, illness. It’s not an excuse, but I definitely feel that is something that was lost.

“We came into practice and that was something we tried to emphasize and find right away because that’s something that’s going to help us win games. The defensive intensity was a big part of winning this game.”

The trick remains sustaining it. But the chances of landing a top-five seed for the conference tournament depend on it.

Fresno State moved them into sole possession of sixth, a half game behind San Diego State. The Bulldogs’ next three games are against the teams directly ahead in the standings, starting with New Mexico on Saturday at Save Mart Center followed by games at San Diego State and Boise State.

“We have a young team still,” Terry said. “We were kind of going the other way, so you need to experience a little success. This definitely helps.”

Celebrating a century – Terry is one of four Fresno State coaches to reach the 100-win milestone. Boyd Grant is the all-time leader with 194 and is followed by Ed Gregory (172) and Jerry Tarkanian (104).

“I give all the guys that have come through this program, I give those guys all the credit for those wins,” Terry said. “I just said to our team a little while ago, that first team that we had here was a team that played with unbelievable effort. They did everything we asked from a preparation standpoint.

“I can remember the first game that I got a chance to coach here against a real good Illinois State team. We came out and competed at a very high level and were able to come out with a win. But that team laid the foundation for how hard this team here has to compete every night in terms of their effort and preparation and I thought we had good execution especially from a defensive standpoint in the second half.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Bulldogs’ defense fuels offense in beating San Jose State."