Three takeaways from Fresno State’s basketball season-opening rout of William Jessup

Fresno State opened its basketball season with an 87-47 victory over NAIA William Jessup on Wednesday at the Save Mart Center, and level of competition aside, there were some promising signs for the Bulldogs coming off an 11-19 season and seventh-place finish in the Mountain West.

A different dynamic with Bulldogs’ guard play

Fresno State (1-0) played at a high pace for much of the game, pushing the ball up the floor and attacking the rim when in the half court.

It scored 52 of its points in the paint and the flip side of that is the Bulldogs were not settling for shots from the 3-point line, something they just could not get away from last season. They took 49.1% of their shots from three, the seventh-highest percentage in the nation, and a tough way to go for a team that made only 34% of those shots.

Even in the Bulldogs’ non-Division I game last season against Cal State San Bernardino they still took 29 of their 62 shots from the 3-point line (46.8%).

Against William Jessup it was 11 in 53 (20.8%) and those shots were, for the most part, good, open looks. Deon Stroud knocked down the first one on a break, off a nice pass out of the paint from Orlando Robinson. Isaiah Hill hit the second, off an assist from Stroud.

They hit five threes, all of them off an assist.

But the guard play dynamic is much different than a year ago.

William Jessup had a difficult time staying in front of the Bulldogs’ guards, and Devin Gage, Hill, Stroud, Kyle Harding and Jordan Campbell got to the rim rather easily to score or kick it out and create shots for open teammates.

The five guards combined hit 20 of 30 shots, with Hill scoring 16 points and Stroud 13.

“I thought we did a good job of moving it. I thought we did a good job of penetrating and getting the ball into the paint, whether it was off the dribble or off the pass,” coach Justin Hutson said.

Bulldogs go big with Robinson, Meah

Braxton Meah, the 7-foot-1 freshman, played 10 minutes, many of them alongside the 7-foot Robinson. That is a look the Bulldogs might roll out more as they get deeper into their schedule and conference play – two 7-footers who can run the floor, score in the paint, rebound, block shots and defend, out there at the same time.

“It’s great,” said Robinson, who hit 6 of 10 shots and had the sixth double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “Braxton is a very good player and he compliments me very well, takes the pressure off me a lot.

“With two 7-footers in the game it’s hard to pick and choose, or pick your poison in a way. Do you want to get a bucket from me or do you want to get dunked on by Braxton? It’s very hard. We put pressure on a lot of defenses, we’re going to. I look forward to playing with him.”

Meah had four rebounds including a team-high three offensive rebounds in his 10 minutes, along with two blocked shots.

Isaiah Hill, a plus/minus of +39

Hill, the Tulsa transfer, was on the floor for 23 minutes and in that time the Bulldogs outscored William Jessup by 39 points.

The Bulldogs’ next highest plus/minus was Robinson at plus-32.

“He has a good floor presence about him,” Hutson said. “He directs behavior, that’s what Coach (Keith) Brown says, and he’s able to direct behavior out there and all the while he knows where to be. He sees the game pretty easy. He knows where to be.

“He has been on a bum ankle for a while so I got him in and out. We have to get him healthy, but I do think he’s a keeper.”

Layups

• Fresno State had 10 offensive rebounds. William Jessup had 13.
• The Bulldogs had 16 turnovers including 12 by guards and many were unforced, which obviously is a concern coming against an NAIA opponent.
• Harding, the transfer from Hancock College, filled up the stat line in his Fresno State debut. He had nine points, seven rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and a team-high three steals in just 19 minutes.
• Hoops, during COVID-19: Robinson at one point entered the game still wearing a mask. “It was funny that Orlando ran in there with a mask,” Hutson said. “He’s been practicing with a mask on for a while so it’s just habit.”
• William Jessup forward Jaylen Johnson, a Clovis East High grad, had three points, four rebounds and one assist before fouling out.
• The Bulldogs had 52 points in the paint, but could have had more. They missed 11 layups, going 23 of 34 at the rim.

Next for Fresno State

Friday: at Pacific, 7 p.m.

Monday: vs. UC Riverside

Fresno State women’s basketball: Friday vs. West Virginia and Saturday vs. Lamar, both 1 p.m. in Las Vegas

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 5:13 PM.