Poor shooting, everywhere, costs Bulldogs in 59-57 loss to Evansville

Fresno State got the tough stuff right for the most part on Tuesday in a 59-57 loss to Evansville in the Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun.

The Bulldogs forced 17 turnovers, had 13 steals and some stops down the stretch. They got scattered a bit too much at the defensive end, straying from scouting report. But they didn’t let Ryan Taylor, the Purple Aces’ leading scorer, get away with too much too easily.

Taylor, who had taken 35.7 percent of the shots attempted by Evansville and was scoring 24.0 points per game, was scoreless down the final 10 minutes in the first half and made only one basket in the final 7:10.

That was the game-winner with seven seconds to go. But it wasn’t so much that jump shot that sunk the Bulldogs.

It was the easy stuff that cost Fresno State (2-2), which will play George Mason (3-2) on Wednesday in the third-place game in the Riviera Division.

In a two-point loss, the Bulldogs were just 5 of 14 at the free throw line, 35.7 percent. Before Deshon Taylor knocked down three foul shots to tie the score at 57 after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt with 36 seconds to go, they were just 2 of 11.

The Bulldogs also were 5 of 14 finishing at the rim, missing nine layups.

“We’re having a hard time finishing. We’re missing a lot of easy shots that we have to make,” coach Rodney Terry said. “Those are big plays. They deflate you.”

Fresno State had trouble at the line through its first three games, hitting only 55.7 percent of its foul shots to rank 344th of 351 in the nation. But, 5 of 14? Ray Bowles Jr. and Bryson Williams each were 0 of 4 and Jaron Hopkins 0 of 1, the miss the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:31 to go and the Bulldogs down three.

The Bulldogs hit only 38.6 percent of their shots, with a higher percentage at the 3-point line (8 of 20, 40.0 percent) than inside it (14 of 37, 37.8) and at the foul line.

While Fresno State got the stops it needed own the stretch – Evansville was 1 of 4 in the final 3:49 – it couldn’t convert given opportunities. The Bulldogs hit only 1 of their last 8 shots and were without a field goal for the final 3:30.

“We have to shoot it better,” Terry said of the free throws. “That’s just the bottom line. At the end of the day, we’re getting there. We’re trying to get there – it’s an emphasis every game to get there. You’ve got to make them.

“We have to go to work on them and continue to try to get better.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Poor shooting, everywhere, costs Bulldogs in 59-57 loss to Evansville."