Big night from Fresno State freshman, but ‘Dogs inexperience shows in loss to Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary’s, with a veteran backcourt, had a lot of answers in a 68-58 men’s basketball victory over Fresno State on Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center.

Led by senior Jordan Ford, the Gaels guards handled the Bulldogs’ pressure up the floor.

They beat them off the dribble, knocked down shots, came up with the 50/50 ball.

They made plays down the stretch when Fresno State was a stop, a score and a stop away from becoming a credible threat to a Saint Mary’s team that started the season ranked in the Top 25.

Ford scored a game-high 24 points with just one turnover in 40 minutes. Tanner Krebs, another senior, had 14 points, six rebounds, three steals. Tommy Kuhse, a junior, had nine points, six assists and five steals.

Hyder shut down in second half

The Bulldogs (2-3), meanwhile, they had one question.

Why did Jarred Hyder, who scored a team-high 20 points, get only four shots in the second half?

Mostly, it was the Gaels’ defensive adjustments.

“Give them credit,” coach Justin Hutson said. “They did a good job getting out there and double-teaming him on those high pick-and-rolls.

“You want to try to get Jarred more involved, you run some high pick-and-rolls. He really shoots it well off the bounce so they doubled and at that point in time we have to move it and get other guys shots.”

Hyder, the freshman guard who came in leading the Bulldogs with 17.0 points per game, hit his first six shots Wednesday, including two from the 3-point line, and had 15 at halftime when Fresno State trailed 33-27.

But Saint Mary’s forced the Bulldogs freshman into two turnovers early in the second half, and five for the game. Hyder didn’t take a shot in the second half until more than seven minutes in.

“I have to be more consistent when it comes to taking care of the ball,” Hyder said. “We’ll get back in the lab and work on that and we’ll be better.

“You always have to bounce back. It’s always a next-play mentality. I wasn’t really thinking about it too much. You just have to keep going when that happens and try to make another run.”

Hyder finished 8 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 5 behind the arc.

Who’ll step up?

Fresno State, however, did not have another player score in double-figures as the rest of the team went a combined 14 of 41 (34.1%) including 6 of 18 (33.3%) at the 3-point line.

Nate Grimes was the second-highest scorer for the Bulldogs with eight points.

“We had some good looks inside that we didn’t finish,” Hutson said.

The Bulldogs’ struggles to get stops also made it difficult to sustain a run. Saint Mary’s (4-1) hit 51% of its shots (26 of 51).

Fresno State did not have senior New Williams due to a back injury. Hyder did not play on Sunday in the Bulldogs’ victory over Cal State San Bernardino due to a hip flexor injury.

They do get a break – the next game is Nov. 30 at Cal State Northridge – and getting healthy will be a priority.

“We’re still hoping to get Jordan Campbell (eligible) and establish our style, start to establish more of a rotation,” Hutson said.

“We have to see who is going to step up in these seven, eight days of practice that we’ll have and move forward from there. But the most important thing is to get healthy.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 12:35 AM.