Bulldogs follow familiar on-court script in winning sixth in a row

Through the first four games of the 2017-18 season, Fresno State was not where it wanted to be, which went beyond a record of 2-2.

But since then, and an ugly loss to Evansville down in Mexico, the Bulldogs have worked their way to the free-throw line and played inside out at the offensive end. As they have, the games and the wins have come easier.

An 83-63 victory on Saturday at Cal Poly was their sixth in a row and it fell right in line with the five that came before it with the exception of contributions from Jaron Hopkins (back) and Johnny McWilliams (ankle), who did not play.

“It’s the way we try to start every game in terms of the way we play,” coach Rodney Terry said. “We try to establish an inside presence and that opens things up for our perimeter players to have an opportunity to play at a high level.”

At the start of the second half, up 14 already, Ray Bowles Jr. hit a short jumper, Bryson Williams and Bowles made layups and Terrell Carter II scored in the lane.

The next time down the floor, Carter, working inside out, fed Deshon Taylor for a wide-open 3-pointer. Deshon Taylor followed with a drive and kick to Jahmel Taylor for another wide-open 3-pointer.

Williams then scored, again in the paint.

“Through 10 games, we’ve done a pretty good job of attacking that paint with paint touches, paint drives, post feeds,” Terry said.

“The guys, they understand how important it is to establish that and we have some pretty good low-post guys that can get some things done.”

In scoring 80-plus points for the fourth time in the winning streak, Fresno State (8-2) hit 51 percent of its shots (26 of 51). It got to the free-throw line 27 times, making 22. It also got 34 of its points in the paint.

To emphasize the point: the Bulldogs had zero fast break points.

But they had five players score 10 or more points led by Deshon Taylor with 21. Bowles had 19, Carter had 16, Sam Bittner had 12 and Williams had 11.

“I think that (Evansville) loss really brought us together as a team,” Bowles said. “We really learned from that night. We were able to come together and talk to each other openly about what we need to do individually and as a team to get better and I think ever since then we’ve been clicking and everything has been positive.

“I think guys stopped thinking so much. I think some guys, including myself kind of had things going on in their minds, and I think everybody is playing free now and playing together. That just makes everything much better.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Bulldogs follow familiar on-court script in winning sixth in a row."