Three takeaways from Fresno State loss to Wyoming as ‘Dogs now 0-3 in Mountain West

Fresno State was up one with 43 seconds to play, taking a lead on Wyoming with a big series of plays starting with a block by Anthony Holland, a rebound, an outlet and an awkward, driving layup by Isaiah Hill.

But that was the last of it for the Bulldogs, who were just that close to surviving a long stretch without leading scorer Orlando Robinson, who was down and then out after picking up a fifth foul.

Fresno State fell to 2-3 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain West Conference with a 78-74 loss to Wyoming on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

The Cowboys (7-1, 1-0) answered the Bulldogs’ score with a pair of free throws from Kwane Marble II with 37 seconds to go.

Fresno State didn’t need a three, but with Robinson on the bench and coach Justin Hutson playing a small lineup, that is what it got. Devin Gage missed it, Marble got the rebound and two more foul shots.

Both went down, and the Bulldogs were in a bad spot needing a three – they are the worst 3-point shooting team in the conference, hitting just 23 of 89 (25.8%) coming in.

Junior Ballard got an open look from the left corner, but his shot actually caromed off the side of the backboard. The Bulldogs pulled the offensive rebound and the ball went back to Ballard in the left corner.

That one was short, and Wyoming had possession and the game.

Here are three takeaways from the game …

Progress, at offensive end

Fresno State went through a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the second half where Robinson got only one shot, and one trip to the foul line.

But the Bulldogs, who came in struggling mightily at the offensive end and lacking a consistent secondary scoring option, managed to stay in it with guards Deon Stroud, Isaiah Hill and Devin Gage.

Stroud scored a career-high 19 points, topping the 16 that he had scored in the Bulldogs’ second loss at Colorado State. Hill scored 17 points with three assists and Gage had 12 points with three assists.

They moved the basketball and kept the offense moving with Robinson, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, on the bench.

“We definitely played better and shared the ball,” Hutson said. “We figured out we flowed a little bit more on offense this time. We had a couple days of practice to get back and watch some film.

“Our offense really killed us in Colorado State. In Fort Collins, we didn’t give our defense a chance to get back and get set with our turnovers and some of our shot selection. I do like that we got better at that, but we were looking for that ‘W.’ We have to finish it out strong and make some plays at the end at both ends and finish with a ‘W.’”

The Bulldogs scored at a solid though not spectacular 1.014 points per possession against the Cowboys, but that is a huge step up from there they had been.

In their first loss at Colorado State, it was 0.779 points per possession. In their second loss to the Rams, it was 0.819.

“Definitely coming off the two 20-point losses to Colorado State we just wanted to get better as a team, play more together and that’s what we did,” Hill said. “But we have to keep being consistent and tonight they played a better game so they won, but we’re going to be back on Monday.”

Shooting out of slump

Ballard has missed his last 17 shots from the 3-point line and is 2 of 20 there this season. He was out after the game working on his shot, but his postgame work didn’t get off to the best start, either.

His first shot was short, and as the basketball was coming back to him off the rim the next ball coming out of the shooting gun he had set up hit the first ball and both went bouncing away in different directions.

“Oh,” he said, “that’s how we’re going to start?”

Ballard, the Cal Poly transfer, is a much better shooter than he has shown the past three games.

In his sophomore season, he hit 35.7% of his shots from the 3-point line (46 of 129), third highest among the six Mustangs that attempted 50 or more threes during the season.

Bulldogs go big, and small

Hutson had Robinson and 7-foot-1 freshman Braxton Meah on the floor together for extended stretches for the first time, and ended the game matching the Cowboys’ small lineup. But five games in and with limited practice time due to three COVID-19 related pauses, the Bulldogs still are trying to figure out how all of their pieces fit together.

“There are some adjustments, but really, with where we’re at in our fifth game of the year, we’re figuring out who is playing hard and who is playing together,” Hutson said.

“If that’s five guards, if that’s two bigs … there were some times where he had to get one of those bigs out because they went small so we did that. Foul trouble attributed to some of our stuff. But the exact case is, we’re just trying to play the guys that play the best in practice, and let’s see how they play in the game.”

Layup lines

• Wyoming scored 27 points off 16 Fresno State turnovers. In the past three games, all losses, the Bulldogs have seen opponents score 29.5% of their points off turnovers (69 of 234).
• Fresno State had 11 assists and the 16 turnovers and has had more turnovers than assists in four of its five games. The Bulldogs started play Saturday ranked 311th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• The Bulldogs made just 2 of 11 shots over the final 4:23.
• Robinson had a double-double streak snapped at four games, scoring 15 points with five rebounds before fouling out with 2:15 to go on a made 3-pointer by Hunter Thompson.
• Fresno State was 27 of 55 (49.1%), making five more shots than the Cowboys. But Wyoming, the best 3-point shooting team in the conference, hit 12 of 30 shots from three.

Up next

WYOMING AT FRESNO STATE

Where and when: Save Mart Center; Monday, 6 p.m.

Streaming/Radio: Mountain West Network/ESPN940AM

Records: Bulldogs 2-3, 0-3 in the MW; Wyoming 7-1, 1-0

Series: Bulldogs lead 20-12

Coaches: Justin Hutson (36-31, in third season); Jeff Linder (7-1 in first season, 87-51 overall)

Bulldogs women fall at Wyoming

The Fresno State women’s basketball team lost 65-63 Saturday at Wyoming. The Cowgirls’ Jaye Johnson scored at the buzzer off a rebound of a missed 3-pointer.

The Bulldogs, 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West, have equaled the losses suffered last season in winning the conference regular-season championship. Wyoming is 4-2 and 2-1.

Haley Cavinder led Fresno State with 28 points. Mountain West preseason player of the year Maddi Utti had 11 rebounds but was limited to two points in 25 minutes.

The rematch is Monday at 5:30 p.m.

This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 6:59 PM.