Take three on Fresno State win vs. IUPUI: ‘Dogs aren’t missing the point in 95-64 rout
In the Fresno State Bulldogs’ first 11 basketball games they have had Noah Blackwell and Jarred Hyder, their top two point guards, available just five times.
They have had Hyder but not Blackwell three times, and Blackwell but not Hyder once.
The past two, Blackwell and Hyder have been sidelined with knee injuries.
But while both of those games have been blowout victories, a 95-64 victory over IUPUI on Friday at the Save Mart Center was nothing like the 62-37 victory at Cal Poly that preceded it.
A big piece of that was Mustafa Lawrence, more of a shooting guard than a true point guard, who had nine assists and one turnover in 38 minutes against IUPUI.
In that game at Cal Poly, when the Bulldogs built a double-digit lead in the second half coach Justin Hutson took more control of the offense. He slowed the Bulldogs as they made they way up the floor, called plays, and after a shaky first half gave them more of a chance to get a credible look at the basket and to preserve their lead.
Fresno State had 13 assists in that game, but also 19 turnovers.
Against the Jaguars, Hutson let them go from the start and they moved the ball, found quality looks at the basket even when they didn’t convert.
“(Lawrence) had three good days of practice,” Hutson said. “He was turning that ball over like hot cakes in that first half at Cal Poly so I wanted him to slow it and control it.
“We watched film, he had three good days of practice. I had more trust in what we were doing and what we were looking for. With Jarred and Noah being out, that first game at Cal Poly the guys didn’t really know what we were looking for. We did change a few things. So with having a couple more days of practice I had some trust in them that they knew what we were looking for.”
The Bulldogs definitely found it against IUPUI. They had an assist on five of their first seven field goals and the two they did not were a layup off a steal and a putback off an offensive rebound.
Lawrence had three of those assists and the Bulldogs were off, building a double-digit lead less than 10 minutes in, a 20-point lead less than 15 minutes in.
Fresno State (4-7) finished with a season-high 21 assists on 32 made baskets and turned it over just 10 times.
“That is maturity kicking in to me,” Lawrence said. “Two big players down … I had to mature up, I had to play a lot of minutes so I couldn’t be in foul trouble, I couldn’t be out there doing silly things, because I had to run a team. I had to step up. I had a big space to fill and I think I’m doing that pretty well and getting better every day.”
Hutson put 10 players on the floor and eight of them had at least one assist, with the nine from Lawrence, three from freshman Anthony Holland and two from freshmen Orlando Robinson and Niven Hart and senior New Williams.
Williams knocked down nine shots in scoring a game-high 24 points and the Bulldogs recorded an assist on six of those field goals.
He has now scored 20 or more points in three of the past four games.
“Just being comfortable,” Williams said. “Coach has a lot of confidence in me. My teammates have a lot of confidence in me, so I’m comfortable out there on the floor and I’m just playing free and playing my game.”
CAMPBELL AWAITING A ‘GO …’
Jordan Campbell, a mid-year transfer guard from Oregon State, completed final exams on Thursday. But anyone who thinks it a good idea to hold their breath waiting for Campbell to be cleared to play hasn’t spent much time around Fresno State or the Bulldogs program.
A couple of years ago they did get guard Jahmel Taylor cleared for a Sunday game at the end of finals week.
But this also is the place that had two key players almost miss a Mountain West Conference game at San Diego State because they had not been admitted to graduate programs with the spring semester starting.
One was Taylor, a Fresno State graduate with a degree in economics and a member of the conference all-academic team.
The other was Jaron Hopkins, a Fresno State graduate with a degree in communications and, also, a member of the conference all-academic team.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Rodney Terry, the Bulldogs’ former coach, said at the time.
The Bulldogs play Monday against San Francisco and Dec. 28 against UC Riverside at the Save Mart Center, then after Christmas they get back into Mountain West Conference play with games on Jan. 1 at San Diego State and Jan. 4 against San Jose State.
FRESHMAN FLING
The Bulldogs had four freshmen play between 15 and 29 minutes and they all were productive.
▪ Orlando Robinson had 11 points with nine rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes.
▪ Niven Hart scored a career-high 16 points with six rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes.
▪ Anthony Holland scored nine points with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes.
▪ Assane Diouf also had a career high with nine points and pulled two rebounds in 15 minutes.
Hart has flashed at times, but also has been in and out quickly after a poor shot, a turnover, a defensive lapse. But against IUPUI he was on the floor for longer stretches, and made the most of them.
“He doesn’t have a confidence problem and that’s a positive thing,” Hutson said. “I want a man with confidence. If a man doesn’t have any confidence he’s not worth his salt out there. I love that about him and I think as he matures he’s going to understand what we;re talking about.
“But that’s not surprising to me, that he could go out there and get 16 points. I don’t think it’s surprising to anybody in our program. It’s about him learning how he’s going to fit in, then you’ll see more games like that from Niven.”