Free-throw gap sinks Bulldogs in MW opener, but it’s not only issue

Fresno State always has been a foul-heavy team, giving up a hefty percentage of points at the free-throw line. It was 24.7 percent going into the Mountain West Conference opener at New Mexico, 327th of 351 in the nation.

Last season, the Bulldogs were at 24.9 percent, 341st of 351. The Lobos won the game there Wednesday night, knocking down 29 of 33 foul shots.

Fresno State tries to challenge teams defensively, get steals and force turnovers. Sometimes, the Bulldogs simply run into a tough matchup, a tough guard. And sometimes, it catches up to them at the end as it did in a 78-73 loss at The Pit in Albuquerque.

That should be a concern in their bid to get off to a good start in conference play, considering the Bulldogs play Nevada on Saturday and Wyoming on Jan. 4 at Save Mart Center, followed by games at San Jose State and Air Force.

The Wolf Pack have attempted more free throws than any team in the conference, Wyoming is fourth and Air Force fifth.

As coach Rodney Terry said after the loss to the Lobos, “You can’t guard that free-throw line.”

But there is nothing new there.

The difference is in the ability to offset that at the offensive end.

Fresno State (8-5) committed 14 turnovers at New Mexico, not an inordinately high number and it did not lose because of them.

But, taking the wider view, in 11 games against Division I opponents the Bulldogs have turned over the ball on 20.2 percent of their possessions, the highest percentage in the conference. That is going to leave a mark.

After cutting a 14-point first-half deficit at New Mexico to 36-34 at the break, the Bulldogs lost momentum in two handfuls of possessions. It went like this …

They opened the second half with a turnover by point guard Jaron Hopkins, which was followed by a turnover by forward Cullen Russo. Forward Paul Watson missed a jumper and Hopkins a shot in the lane. There was another turnover, a make and a miss in the paint, and then another turnover.

The Bulldogs scored just two points in the first 5:52 of the half and three in the first 6:44. They had six turnovers in that stretch.

“We had a couple of empty possessions,” Terry said. “We didn’t score the ball at the basket and we did get one in at the rim there, but we had a couple of empty possessions to start the half. We went into the half with momentum and had an opportunity to come out and to execute a couple of plays to start the second half.”

The offense, he said, remains a work in progress. There are stretches where it just flows – the ball doesn’t stick, they get and make good shots. The Bulldogs still are leading the conference in field-goal percentage at 48.5 percent and in closing that first-half deficit in the loss to the Lobos, they hit 7 of 11 shots. In making it a one-possession game with 25 seconds to go, they hit 7 of 12.

But in every loss this season, there has been a funky stretch where they get very clunky – they were up one on Prairie View A&M with 6:50 to go and proceeded to miss their next eight shots, and the Panthers this season have allowed opponents to hit 48.9 percent of their shots.

When the Bulldogs get to the free-throw line – they have attempted 280, eighth in the conference – they don’t convert. Only 62.5 percent have gone down. The bench lacks a consistent spark with sharp-shooting guard Jahmel Taylor, who was in that role down the stretch last season, now in the starting lineup and still knocking down 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs, Terry said, just need to keep at it and gain some consistency. When advancing to the NCAA Tournament last season, they turned over the ball on 14.7 percent of their possessions and were 13th in the nation. This season, they are 259th.

“We could have had a few more assists,” he said. “I think the ball could have moved a little more early in the game, we could have shared the ball a little more. As the game went along, we got better with that and we got some better looks.

“We have to continue to move the basketball – ball movement, player movement. That, again, is something that we have to continue to grow with as a team. We had got to a point where we were pretty good with that, but we have to get back in there and find the groove a little bit. We just have to keep working.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Free-throw gap sinks Bulldogs in MW opener, but it’s not only issue."