Bulldogs had the crock pot on high in 77-74 victory over Winthrop on Paul George Day
The shot went up and then it went down. Mustafa Lawrence hit a buzzer-beating three to lift the Fresno State Bulldogs to a 77-74 victory over Winthrop on Sunday, Paul George Day, a huge shot but also a fringe benefit for a team that took a decisive step away from a season-opening loss at Oregon.
“Felt great,” Lawrence said.
The first 10 or so minutes against the Eagles, the Bulldogs at the offensive end looked a lot like they did in their opener. The shots were lacking. It was more of the same. They hit just three of their first 14 shots and, again, in a hole in front of 8,529 at the Save Mart Center.
But the Bulldogs (1-1), with eight first-year players including five freshmen, fit some pieces together in the second half, coming from eight points down with 12:39 to go.
“You didn’t know what was going to happen coming into a game with eight new guys and five freshmen and a starting guard (Noah Blackwell) out, playing a really good team,” coach Justin Huston said. “They run hard stuff to guard and spread you out, five out. They can play a big guy inside. What you can bank on is play hard and play together, try to stay emotionally stable, move into the next play and see if the coaching staff can help you in any way with adjustments.
“But to have guys step up like they did was not a surprise, but it was very optimistic for our future. We have another tough game coming up here in a couple of days, no rest. But for (Jarred Hyder and Lawrence), the way they rebounded and hit some big shots. Anthony Holland made a big shot. For them to get comfortable in the game and have some poise to say, OK, it’s my time to take this shot. This is my strength. That’s what we’ve been looking for.”
Down the stretch, it was the freshman Hyder and the junior college transfer Lawrence that pulled the Bulldogs along.
Fresno State, which had hit only 34.5% of their shots in the loss at Oregon including 9 of 36 from the 3-point line, made their final eight shots to end the game.
Hyder hit a three with 17 seconds remaining to give Fresno State a 74-71 lead, but Winthrop answered with a three from guard Hunter Hale.
The Bulldogs put the ball in play with five seconds on the clock, racing up the floor.
Mustafa got a shot in transition, and let it go.
Hyder finished with 26 points, hitting 8 of 12 shots including 5 of 7 from the 3-point line in a team-high 35 minutes. Nate Grimes had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds in 33 minutes. Lawrence scored 13 with four assists in 25 minutes.
“Confidence has to be earned and I think some guys really gained some confidence from this,” Hutson said. “We’ll look at the things we did good. We’ll go back and try to correct some of the things that we didn’t do so well. We’ll build some real confidence in our team.
“That’s what the preseason is going to be about with eight new guys and five freshmen. We’re going to learn on the fly out there. We talk about the crock pot all the time – it’s going to take a while. But we’re not going to take a while trying to play hard and play together.”