Fresno State makes definitive defensive statement in men’s basketball opener

The opponent was not much, and that factors into the equation. But one game in, the Fresno State Bulldogs would appear to be very willing defenders.

While certainly efficient at the offensive end of the floor, the Bulldogs in a 96-65 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Friday simply smothered the Banana Slugs before losing some degree of interest in the final 5 or so minutes.

Fresno State (1-0), applying a high degree of pressure on the ball, forced 23 turnovers and had 12 steals. The Banana Slugs got up only 43 shots and ended with the 23 turnovers and 23 made baskets.

“That was our strategy going into the game, pressuring the ball,” said guard Deshon Taylor, who led the Bulldogs with 16 points and had three steals. “We’re trying to be the best defensive team in the conference so we have to start doing it now.”

Given that, it was not much of a game from a competitive standpoint – if it were, it would not be a good sign for the Bulldogs.

“I said to these guys this month, ‘We’re going to really challenge our team to have that identity, to know every night we’re going to play extremely hard defensively,” coach Rodney Terry said. “We’re going to try to stay in stances, we’re going to have good energy and we’re going to try to have good activity and we’re going to try to communicate at a very high level and at the end of that try to finish possessions.

“I think the guys are buying into that. I thought our energy and activity has been good to start this year. I think the one piece that we’ve continued to try to raise our level of emphasis has been the communication piece and I thought our guys were better in practice the past couple of days and there was carryover.”

The margin could have been much larger – UC Santa Cruz ended on a 15-1 run, hitting 6 of 8 shots over the final 4:31. Before the first of those baskets, a jumper by Haakon Ullrich, Fresno State had extended its lead to 95-50.

Fresno State at the offensive end had six players score in double figures led by Deshon Taylor’s 16. Bryson Williams had 15, Sam Bittner 14, Jaron Hopkins and Jahmel Taylor 13 and Ray Bowles 12.

Thievery – A telling stretch defensively came in the second half.

At 18:44, Hopkins had a steal and a dunk. At 18:25, Deshon Taylor a steal and a dunk. At 17:56, Terrell Carter II had a steal that led to a dunk by Deshon Taylor.

The guards, in particular, put a lot of pressure on the ball. Hopkins and Deshon Taylor both had three steals.

“Really good,” Terry said. “Deshon has been really good the past couple of games. Jaron was better tonight with his activity and stuff and if you get those two guys affecting the game on both ends of the floor, you can cause some havoc.

“We’re trying to develop great habits right now in terms of playing our principles the right way. We don’t have to go out and reach and gamble, we just have to be in the right positions and with the right activity and energy, and they’ll give you the ball.”

Live and let fly – The Bulldogs later in the season will be in need of a second scorer off the bench to go along with Jahmel Taylor. In their only real test to this point, an exhibition loss at Saint Mary’s, they were outscored 23-7 off the bench.

Bittner has been a somewhat reluctant shooter in the past, but he put himself into that mix Friday, hitting 5 of 6 shots including 4 of 4 at the 3-point line in scoring 14 points.

“Coach Terry, he has been harping on me to shoot it in practice more,” said Bittner, who last season took only 46 shots (12 of 46) in 26 games and nine starts. “Sometimes in practice I’ll just keep moving the ball and he’s like, ‘Sam, that’s messing up our offense. We have to shoot that shot.’ He’s been harping on me to get my confidence up and just be a valuable player offensively, not just defensively.

“Obviously, this game builds confidence in myself and it gives confidence for my teammates to keep looking for me.”

Terry is confident that shot will be there for Bittner all season.

“Sam has worked extremely hard this summer on his shooting,” he said. “He’s going to give you execution on offense and defense, but the next step for him was going to be a guy to take that shot. When we brought him in here we thought he would be a guy to really shoot the basketball, pick and pop and make open shots.

“But he really put the time in this summer at another level in terms of his shooting. He’ll continue to be a be a guy that is an option and a threat up there shooting the basketball.”

Numbers game – Bittner last season scored a total of 33 points and hit 8 of 33 shots beyond the 3-point line.

▪ Fresno State had 23 assists to only eight turnovers.

▪ The Banana Slugs, when they did get a shot, actually hit at a higher percentage than the Bulldogs. UC Santa Cruz was 23 of 43 (53.5 percent) while the Bulldogs were 36 of 68 (52.9 percent).

▪ The plus/minus for Deshon Taylor … plus-39.

▪ From the 1:07 mark in the first half to the 13:06 mark in the second, Fresno State hit 12 of 15 shots.

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Fresno State makes definitive defensive statement in men’s basketball opener."