‘Crazy things happened.’ How Fresno State overcame star’s foul trouble to stay unbeaten
Fresno State was not exactly cruising, but had some control in a matchup late Monday against Pepperdine at the Southern California Challenge, playing through forward Orlando Robinson.
The 6-foot-11 junior was off to a good start, even if the pieces revolving around him were not. He had 14 points and three assists at halftime, getting to the foul line 10 times, just one off his career high. But the game flipped in the second half, and suddenly the fouls Robinson was getting in the first half were getting called on him in the second. He went to the bench with a third foul, then a fourth.
Fresno State, struggling to make shots, went down by five twice. But the Bulldogs were able to find some answers while Robinson was on the bench, working their back to a 70-63 victory over the Waves at JSerra High in San Juan Capistrano to run their record to 4-0, Fresno State’s best start since the NCAA Tournament team in 2015-16 opened 5-0.
“I was proud of my guys fighting through some adversity,” coach Justin Hutson said. “We showed some toughness.”
It was point guard Isaiah Hill, who scored a team-high 19 points going 11 of 16 at the foul line with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. It was guard Jordan Campbell, who shrugged off a sluggish start and scored three baskets in a row, all of them going to the rim, then added two free throws.
It was forward Anthony Holland, who got them enough with a quick catch-and-shoot three off an inbounds pass with 53 seconds to go as the shot clock was expiring.
“I know I have to shoot my shot with confidence – that’s what I was thinking,” he said. “I got it, shot it with confidence. It went in.”
There also was a more consistent effort from the Bulldogs at the defensive end. Pepperdine forward Jan Zidek had 20 points with 10:29 to go, and did not score again. He was 6 of 9, and finished 6 of 12.
“He made some tough ones on us,” Hutson said. “It showed some intelligence and some toughness and some grit to come back and guard him when he was going so well, and it was nice.
“The preseason is about that sometimes. Crazy things are going to happen and some crazy things happened. We had to play without Orlando for a while and the guys were up for the challenge.”
Robinson returned to the game with 3:42 to go, up by four, only to be called for a fifth foul just 22 seconds later at the defensive end. He played just seven minutes in the second half, finishing with 16 points. But he also had six rebounds and four assists, both team highs.
Bulldogs get tougher matchup next
Fresno State (4-0) will play Santa Clara (5-0) in its second game at the Southern California Challenge on Wednesday, again tipping at 10 p.m. The Broncos have beaten Cal State Fullerton, Stanford, Nevada and Cal Poly and opened the tournament with an 85-66 victory over Texas Christian. Santa Clara hit 30 of 49 shots (61.2%) against the Horned Frogs including 11 of 16 from 3-point range (68.8%). …
The Bulldogs had a huge advantage at the foul line, making 25 of 36 free throws (69.4%) compared to 6 of 9 for the Waves. Hill missed five in a row inside 1:37 to play, but rallied to knock down his last five foul shots in the final 29 seconds to secure the victory. “That was tough. I was a little flustered,” he said. …
With Robinson down much of the second half, Braxton Meah played a career-high 18 minutes. He hit 2 of 4 shots and 3 of 5 free throws in scoring seven points with four rebounds and one blocked shot.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 5:51 AM.