Not to NIT-pick, but Bulldogs need to keep playing after tournament exit

The NIT field will be announced on Sunday and Fresno State has a good chance to keep playing men’s basketball there this season. The Bulldogs’ résumé has 20 wins on it, an NIT-solid RPI rating and eight wins over teams in the Top 100, and there has been communication over the past week between athletic department and tournament officials.

The paperwork already is done and turned in and here’s the thing: They need to keep playing. Consider it a must going forward, for as much as coach Rodney Terry mentioned that he had a young team this season, the Bulldogs (20-12) never looked younger than they did on Friday night in an 83-72 loss to Nevada in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

It was not just in the second half, when everything got away from them. There were plays and opportunities missed in the first half, too, even as they were limiting the top scoring team in the conference to 21 points and a ridiculous .583 points per possession.

It could have been a stronger blockout, a stronger finish at the rim, a better decision with the ball. Fresno State had nine turnovers in the first half, but Nevada, struggling at the time, just didn’t fully capitalize.

But it did have that experience the Bulldogs lacked, having played three extra win-or-you’re-done games last season to get to the championship series in the College Basketball Invitational and then two more in winning the title.

How valuable was that?

“I think the postseason experience was vital,” Nevada coach Eric Musselman said after the victory over the Bulldogs. “When we made the decision to do it, it was because we had a lot of young players. And I thought for Cameron (Oliver) and for Lindsey Drew, especially, it was really important. And then even for juniors like D.J. Fenner, I thought it was important.”

Paul Watson, one of three Fresno State seniors and the only one to play in all 32 games to this point, also said something very telling after the loss to the Wolf Pack.

“They made a run, just like any other team would, being down. But you know, we really didn’t bring the intensity that we did in the first half to the second,” he said.

“We weren’t able to sustain the run that they made. That definitely hurt us, not being able to be in the right spots at the right time and just being intense the whole second half.”

The Bulldogs need to put that behind them. Young or not, Terry in six seasons has built a program that should have some oomph to it every time the Bulldogs take the floor no matter who is on the other side of the court.

There definitely was some carryover, this season from last. But the Bulldogs lost a lot of their NCAA Tournament experience in senior guards Marvelle Harris, Cezar Guerrero and Julien Lewis. Jaron Hopkins and Deshon Taylor sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules. Bryson Williams and Johnny McWilliams are freshmen. Terrell Carter II is a junior, but last season played only 12.8 minutes in the Bulldogs’ four tournament games, three in the Mountain West Tournament and one in the NCAA Tournament. Jahmel Taylor, who transferred in from Washington, played in 19 games, though in five of them he was on the floor for two minutes or less.

The Bulldogs’ ceiling is high, but that cuts two ways. There is a lot of room – and work – to get there and even one more game in a tournament environment will prove beneficial going forward.

“We’ve got a young team coming back,” Terry said. “We’re going to be really good again next year. I’m excited how we were able to finish out the season with our older players, Paul Watson and Cullen Russo, Karachi (Edo) got a chance to do some things for us in terms of their leadership. Those guys have played in a lot of big games and been on a lot of big stages, and helped move our program in another direction.

“Our young guys have emerged, as well. Having an opportunity to play in postseason, where it’s one-and-done, gives them more growth from what we had (Friday night). Freshmen were out there doing big things. It’s a grown man’s game this time of year. And Deshon was doing what he did over the latter part of the season. And J.T. (Jahmel Taylor) and Jaron, all those guys get a chance to grow up and be hungry for a really big run next year.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 10:45 AM with the headline "Not to NIT-pick, but Bulldogs need to keep playing after tournament exit."