Now that season-opening win streak is over, Fresno State looks ahead to reinforcements
Fresno State had worked its way back after weathering some rough stretches of basketball, including an awkward, passive start. It was down by one, under eight to go, and it had made winning plays down the stretch when needed in a perfect five-game start to the season. But Sunday at Cal it was a mini-meltdown; mini only because it took less than two minutes for the Bulldogs to play their way out of a 65-57 loss at Haas Pavilion.
It obviously had a major impact on the outcome, as did playing without Jordan Campbell, who got poked in the eye early in the second half, as well as Jemarl Baker and Junior Ballard, who are nearing a return from injuries and will instantly add some experience to the Bulldogs backcourt.
“We made some very immature plays in opportune times,” coach Justin Hutson said. “When it’s a basketball game breaking out and people are making good plays and fighting on defense, you can’t just have a mental lapse like we had, on both ends of the floor. You just can’t do that and come in and expect to beat a team on the road.”
The run by Cal (3-4) started with a score coming out of the timeout, then Bulldogs guard Deon Stroud turned over the ball and the Golden Bears turned it into another score.
Fresno State came down the floor and Stroud took a quick three, off the mark. Cal turned that into a three of its own, Joel Brown knocking one down.
After a miss and a miss, Fresno State (5-1) lost the ball again when Stroud got trapped under the basket and missed a shot. Cal missed at its end, and Hutson was able to get a timeout after forward Anthony Holland was able to secure the rebound. But the Golden Bears’ extended their run.
“We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to take care of the ball and take good shots,” said Holland, who hit 3 of 5 shots in scoring eight points. “That’s what keeps us in the games. That’s what gets us leads. We can’t go away from that. When we do, that’s how they get that lead that fast.”
The Bulldogs just could not recover from that 7-0 Golden Bears run coming out of the under-eight timeout. Cal extended that lead to 14 points, 59-45, with 1:48 to go and that was it, Fresno State falling short of a 6-0 start for the first time since 2006 when opening 7-0.
The guard play – point guard Isaiah Hill also struggled for a second consecutive game, hitting just 4 of 13 shots with five turnovers and no assists – could improve quickly.
Campbell’s status will be evaluated, with the Bulldogs to play San Diego on Wednesday at the Save Mart Center. Baker and Ballard, Hutson said, are closing in on returns.
“Maybe Wednesday, maybe not, but soon,” he said. “They’ll be in the rotation. I’ll give them a chance. They’ll be rusty, They’ll do some silly things. But we’ll give them a chance to get into the rotation.”
The return of Baker and Ballard will make the Bulldogs backcourt older. “Instantly,” Hutson said.
Baker played 28 games at Kentucky in 2018-19, then 32 and 12 at Arizona the past two seasons. Ballard, who started his career at Cal Poly, played 25.3 minutes per game for the Bulldogs last season, ending the year on a solid five-game run averaging 11.0 points with four assists and just two turnovers.
Bulldogs notes
Orlando Robinson just missed a double-double, scoring 29 points with nine rebounds. He also had four blocked shots, one steal and four assists, part of more than half of the Bulldogs’ 22 field goals. …
Kyle Harding played a season-high 12 minutes. Hutson was hoping to use his quickness getting to the basket, and he did twice. One ended with a score, another with a turnover. Harding had one assist and two rebounds and played to a plus/minus of minus-1. The Bulldogs only had one player with a plus, Leo Colimerio at plus-6. …
Former Fresno State guard Jarred Hyder, who transferred to Cal after his freshman season, played 12 minutes, scoring two points with one assist and one steal. Hyder had played in the Golden Bears’ first six games, but averaged just 8.3 minutes He had hit 1 of 6 shots including an 0 of 2 at the 3-point line with four assists and five turnovers. …