Bulldogs expect to have guards in play for Mountain West matchup against Colorado State

Deshon Taylor is back after missing four games with a dislocated left elbow. Braxton Huggins is back after missing one due to the flu.

When Fresno State plays Colorado State on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, it will be as close to full health as it has been in some time.

How that looks on the floor could be interesting.

The Bulldogs won three of the four games they played without Taylor, a first-team all-conference guard last season. They rolled up 90-plus points in wins over Long Beach State, Cal and Tennessee-Martin, averaging 19.1 assists per game with a 58.4 assisted-basket percentage. Noah Blackwell stepped in and up at the point, putting up 15.7 points and 7.7 assists in those three games – the first time Fresno State had scored 90 or more in three games in a row since the 2000-01 season.

When Taylor, Huggins, Blackwell and New Williams were in the rotation at the guard spots, the Bulldogs had some good games along with some that were not so good.

“We had them early and like everybody is saying, ‘Noah has played a bigger role since Deshon has been out,’ ” coach Justin Hutson said. “But, yes, the strength of our team is the guards, so you want to make sure you have them all. …

“When you have other guys out on the floor that can score the ball and handle the ball, there’s always a thin line between how aggressive you’re being for yourself and for others. But they played together before. There were some good games in Anaheim (at the Wooden Legacy) where they were all playing together.”

The last time all four guards played, the Bulldogs took out Weber State 71-52 though they were not particularly efficient at the offensive end.

The field-goal percentage (44.3), assisted-basket percentage (48.1) and points per possession (0.934), all were among the lowest Fresno State has had this season.

And, Colorado State is not a spot to struggle on reentry, fitting the pieces together.

The Rams are 5-9, 0-1 in conference play after an opening loss at UNLV. They have one of the tougher individual matchups in the conference with 6-foot-10 forward Nico Carvacho, but have struggled defensively allowing 77.3 points per game.

A trouble spot has been the 3-point line – they have allowed opponents to knock down 36.6 percent of their 3s — 10th of 11 in the Mountain West.

That, obviously, is a place the Bulldogs excel when right and rolling.

Fresno State (10-3, 1-0 in the MW) has hit 125 3-pointers at 37.5 percent, ranking second in the conference in both statistical categories.

It has hit 10 or more 3s six times in 13 games, nine or more nine times – last season the Bulldogs hit 10 or more 3s six times in 32 games.

In the Bulldogs’ 73-53 victory at San Jose State, they hit 8 of their first 14 shots from the 3-point line (57.1 percent).

“It’s fun knowing you have three other guards or four other guards with Sam (Bittner) that can shoot 3s,” Taylor said. “It’s fun trying to get them the ball.”

Taylor and the Bulldogs did that at San Jose State, finding wide-open shots.

The senior guard, who hit 4 of 10 shots in scoring nine points and had four assists and one steal in 26 minutes against the Spartans in his comeback game, will wear a brace on his elbow for the rest of the season. But it is not restrictive – he can go left, he can go right, he can drive through contact at the rim.

Missing the four games did have its benefits, as well.

“It felt good to see a different perspective,” he said. “Like coaches say, you get a different perspective when you’re sitting on the bench and you can see everything.

“You learn to see more, learn how teams are guarding. You can see when a team hedges or a team drops back you can see what’s open rather than when you’re on the court you don’t really see it as well. When you get back in the game, it becomes easier.”

Meaty matchup

Forward Nate Grimes is coming off two strong games back-to-back, including a 19-point, 12-rebound effort in the Bulldogs’ conference-opening win at San Jose State.

It gets significantly tougher against the Rams and Carvacho, who is averaging 14.9 points and 12.9 rebounds per game.

In a loss at UNLV, he had 28 and 20.

“Nate had a great game for us at San Jose, and it was a big one for us,” Hutson said. “San Jose is probably one of the biggest teams in the league, and they tried to pound it inside. He really came trough for us with a double-double.

“He’s getting better, fighting for that consistency, and we’re excited to have him. I think he’s going to continue to get better because he’s working hard in practice.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2019 at 3:23 PM.