Take three on Fresno State’s loss to San Diego State: Bulldogs can’t close first half, or game
Fresno State was in with a chance, which is not the first time this basketball season and not likely to be the last.
It also fell short, again.
This time it was against No. 7 San Diego State, which after a 64-55 victory on Tuesday exited the Save Mart Center 18-0 and with the longest winning streak in the nation. Down only six points and with the basketball inside of six minutes to play the Bulldogs faltered badly, a turnover there setting off a San Diego State run that allowed the Aztecs to get away.
Fresno State is now 5-12 and 1-5 in Mountain West play.
Here are three takeaways from the game …
CLOSING TIME
The final five minutes of the first half and the final five minutes of the game are right in the Aztecs’ wheelhouse, which is not a surprise given the experience they put on the floor, and was very apparent in this game.
The Bulldogs, not so much. That, too, was evident.
Fresno State, which due to injuries played its 11th starting lineup in 17 games and has struggled with continuity at the offensive end all season, was 0 of 8 with two turnovers and 4 of 7 with four turnovers down the stretch of the first and second halves. The Bulldogs blew a lead, and then a chance to ramp up the pressure on the Aztecs.
It is not alone there. San Diego State, which is leading the Mountain West in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, is difficult to score on at critical points and particularly at the end of the first half.
The Aztecs have a plus-24 scoring differential in the final five first-half minutes of their seven Mountain West games, and have allowed opponents to hit just 10 of 42 shots (23.8%).
They are plus-3 in the final five minutes of the second half, a number impacted by some blowout victories, and have allowed opponents to hit 22 of 57 shots (38.6%).
The Bulldogs did have senior point guard Noah Blackwell back after missing eight games with a knee injury, though he was to get only 15 to 20 minutes and ended up playing 19.
Coach Justin Hutson also went only seven deep for the first time this season. But it figures to take some time and healthy bodies before the Bulldogs find some consistency.
“When you’ve had so many injuries like we’ve had and so many guys in and out of the lineup and you’re playing different rotations it’s not going to be very easy to flow,” Hutson said.
“We had enough time this week to flow a little better than we did. Hats off to them, they’re a very good defensive team. But when you’ve had the injuries that we’ve had, it’s hard to work on that. We watch a little film on that. We jog through it. But you look out there sometimes and you have three or four freshmen on the floor. That’s called experience.”
The Bulldogs in this game played freshmen a total of 119 minutes.
The Aztecs, zero.
STRIKING A BALANCE
The Bulldogs needed offense. Orlando Robinson was 6 of 12 and made all six of his foul shots in scoring a team-high 18 points, but outside of the freshman forward there wasn’t much there.
Jordan Campbell was 5 of 15 with one turnover. Jarred Hyder was 1 of 8 with one turnover. Nate Grimes was 1 of 5 with one turnover. Blackwell was 1 of 4 with three turnovers.
New Williams hit 5 of 8 shots, but for most of the game he was trying to fight through and dodge screens as the primary defender on Malachi Flynn, the Aztecs’ leading scorer.
Williams went into the game leading the Bulldogs in field goal attempts in Mountain West play, averaging 12.6 per game, and had taken 10 or more in eight of the past 10 games.
He had just five shots for the first 37 minutes against the Aztecs, going 3 of 3 to end it.
There is a balance to be struck there, defense to offense.
“That is really difficult,” Williams said. “Expending that much energy on the defensive end, you try to just stay poised on the offensive end and make sure you don’t rush any shots. You take the best shot possible. That’s kind of what I did. Chasing him off floppy screens and all that stuff and having to come down and come off those same screens, you have to rely on mechanics and discipline when it comes to that.
“When you get tired, you rely on the fundamentals – getting down, being ready to shoot, the right footwork. All that stuff comes into play … I’ve been getting used to it this season. I’ve had to do that a couple of times. A couple of times I’ve fallen short on the offensive end, but just understanding that part right there, focusing on those fundamentals, is very important.”
GOOD SHOT, BAD SHOT
Campbell, the mid-year transfer from Oregon State, again struggled at the offensive end despite a high usage percentage.
“Aggressiveness, getting to the basket a couple of times really well,” Huston said, assessing Campbell against the Aztecs. “A couple ill-advised shots from the outside, good defense.
“He’s going to get comfortable. He’ll learn what a good shot is and what’s not.”
The redshirt freshman guard can get to the rim, and that is where he has been at his best and presents a credible threat, but finishing has been an issue.
Against the Aztecs Campbell took a team-high 15 shots, but was 5 of 15 and 1 of 3 from the 3-point line in scoring 11 points. His usage percentage was 25%, second-highest on the team to Robinson.
In a loss at New Mexico in his first game with the Bulldogs, Campbell took a team-high 14 shots, but was 2 of 14 and 0 of 4 from the 3-point line in scoring eight points. His usage percentage was 34.6%, highest on the team.
He also has five turnovers in the two games.
A breakdown of his shots …
Layups and dunks: 5 of 13
Jump shots: 1 of 9
3-pointers: 1 of 7
Totals: 7 of 29, 24.1%
With Hutson tightening the Bulldogs’ rotation, Campbell likely gets plenty of opportunity to work through this slump. It’s not for a lack of work – he was on the floor an hour before practice two days before matching up against the Aztecs working on his shot, and was there again after practice getting up more shots.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 4:56 AM.