Deshon Taylor is out, but Bulldogs keep moving the ball and moving forward

Fresno State won its fifth game in a row and its first without guard Deshon Taylor, who suffered an elbow injury in practice and will be sidelined for four weeks, maybe longer.

That injury will sting, and will be tougher to overcome as the level of competition inches upward once the Bulldogs are into Mountain West Conference play.

But a 92-71 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday included a lot of hints that the Bulldogs can continue to thrive while the all-conference guard is out, if they continue to defend, if they move the basketball, if they get early offense, if they can score in transition.

That is a lot of ifs, but they all were key for the Bulldogs (7-2) in getting past the 49ers, as were guard Noah Blackwell and forward Nate Grimes.

“I feel like everybody has that responsibility to pick up their game,” Blackwell said. “Deshon is one of our best players, so we know we have to step up …”

Blackwell, a Long Beach State transfer, put up 22 points with six rebounds, six assists and three steals while playing 38 minutes.

Grimes again was a factor at both ends of the floor, scoring 15 points with 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in just 26 minutes.

The 6-foot-8 forward even knocked down a 3-pointer, the first of his career.

Clicking on offense

When the Bulldogs moved and moved the ball, they took off.

“We have to get that ball moving – Deshon needed to move it better than he did (when he was out there),” coach Justin Hutson said.

“That’s one thing that I hope we continue to get better at. It’s not an easy thing to do, because you want to be aggressive. But that’s one thing we want to continue getting better at – moving the ball – and we did a good job.”

Fresno State had just three assists in the first 14-plus minutes against the 49ers and was in tight, up or down by no more than six points. But Blackwell had an assist on a three by freshman Aguir Agau at the 6:14 mark and soon enough they were gone.

With that basket by Agau, Fresno State had an assist on six of its next eight baskets to end the first half, and one of the baskets without an assist came on a put-back.

At the start of the second half, the Bulldogs had an assist on three of their first seven makes with another score off a steal and another off an offensive rebound.

In that stretch they went from down one to up 19.

‘We have good players’

Taylor is the Bulldogs’ best at creating offense for himself and for others late in the shot clock. Without him on the floor, Hutson said, the Bulldogs can’t afford to get bogged down.

“We have good players,” Hutson said. “They’re inexperienced, but they’re good players. They’re talented, They play the right way, so sometimes you see us turn it over or have defensive lapses, not get back or not play as well, but that’s all part of experience.

“I thought they all rallied behind (Deshon), saying, ‘We have to step up,’ and they really did. I thought they shared the ball really well. I thought our defensive intensity stayed for the most part, for earlier in the year. I’m proud of the group.”

Taylor’s injury, a dislocation, happened in a three-on-three drill on Friday, maybe 24 hours out from tipoff against Long Beach State (3-8).

“We weren’t even playing five on five,” Hutson said. “He fell down and put his arm out, hurt his elbow. It wasn’t pretty. It took us back a little bit in practice.

“But he came back in and told us to get our heads up and practice and then he went and got taken care of at the hospital. We finished practice for the next hour or so, then we all went and ate afterward together. Then the guys really stepped up (Saturday) and came back to shootaround focused in on what they were supposed to do.”

Five Bulldogs scored in double-digits and the defense allowed the 49ers to hit only 37.3 percent of their shots. Fresno State out-rebounded Long Beach State 45-36, forced 17 turnovers and had 44 points in the paint to just 18 for the 49ers.

“It was tough, but next man up,” Grimes said. “We know Deshon is a very good player, the best player on the team, and we’re going to miss him. But when he comes back we know he’s going to come back 10 times better. We’ll be all right.”

Next up

The Bulldogs are off until Wednesday, Dec. 19 when they face Cal at the Save Mart Center.