Fresno State, off to 7-1 start, gets an 18-point win and a glimmer from Deon Stroud

Fresno State got out to a big lead with a big start, a missing element in its lone loss this season. Five minutes in, Cal State Northridge clearly was not going to be a big problem for the Bulldogs. But there was a lull in the second half when the Matadors threw some zone at them, and the one player coach Justin Hutson can put on the floor who is anything but tentative got them restarted in what became a 61-43 victory at the Save Mart Center.

That would be Deon Stroud, who has had a rough go over the past four games.

But with a lead that was 25 points at its largest down to 10, it was Stroud who hit a jumper for the Bulldogs (7-1) in the middle of that zone, then a 3-point play and another jumper around some foul shots by Orlando Robinson, who had a game-high 22 points and made his way into the Bulldogs’ Top 50 scorers list.

“I’m really excited about Deon,” Hutson said, afterward. “I think he has a chance to be really good.”

Inconsistency is one reason he is not there yet – over the past four games he had made some plays, but rushed some shots and forced some others in going 4 of 17 including 2 of 8 at the 3-point line. His minutes, inconsistent as well, going from 20 to 13 to 23 to 16. And, there will be more competition at those guard spots when Jemarl Baker is back from a nagging knee injury and with Junior Ballard working his way back from an injury.

Ballard played two minutes against the Matadors, after playing four in his first game of the season in the Bulldogs’ victory over San Diego. But Stroud was what the Bulldogs needed on Saturday afternoon.

“When you miss a couple of open shots and then you get a little rushed and you haven’t seen it much, that’s what the zone does for you,” Hutson said. “It’s a change-up defense. We had guys wide open. It’s not like guys weren’t wide open, but we rushed ourselves a little bit.

“We haven’t seen a zone much at all, all year, and we have to come back and be better against the zone, and we will be. But thank goodness we had Deon getting to the high post. (Robinson) made some plays and then Deon got into the high post and made some great plays.”

Stroud, not shy at all shooting the ball. “No, he is not,” Hutson said. “That’s what I love about him …

“He’s always aggressive and we needed that aggressiveness. Once we missed a few shots we got a little passive again and we wanted to make sure that we got Deon some touches.”

Stroud finished 6 of 14 in scoring 14 points and had no turnovers in 23 minutes, another plus. “Honestly, I was just playing the game as it comes,” he said. “Really, just taking advantage of what the defense gives me.”

Cal State Northridge (3-4), once the Bulldogs righted themselves, had no counter.

The Matadors had started the game hitting just three of their first 12 shots, but ended it 0 of 6 and 1 of 13, the one made basket in there a 3-pointer by Brendan Harrick that cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 51-41.

Orlando Robinson into Bulldogs’ Top 50

Robinson, who battled in the post much of the game against former teammate Christian Gray, has scored 20 points or more four times this season and 15 or more in nine consecutive games, dating to last season.

He has scored 875 points in his Fresno State career, passing Damon Jackson (870) in moving into the Top 50. Next up on the list are Dwight O’Neil (876) and Chris Jefferies (877).

“That’s nice – I didn’t even know that,” he said. “It feels good to know that I’m a part of something great like that and there’s a long way to go. There’s a lot of season left so I can climb up that ladder, now that I know it exists.” …

The Bulldogs started the game on a 25-6 run. The Matadors had 14 turnovers and 17 points in the first half, hitting only 7 of 24 shots, 29.4%. Robinson matched that point total, hitting 6 of 10 shots in scoring 17 first-half points. …

Is Fresno State shooting itself into trouble? The Bulldogs hit only 5 of 20 shots from the 3-point line and are just 19 of 69 over their past four games, going 5 of 17 (2.9.4%) in a victory over Santa Clara at the Southern California Challenge, 7 of 33 (31.8%) in a loss at Cal and 2 of 10 (.20%) in a victory over San Diego. The Bulldogs have taken 38,7% of their shots from the 3-point line in those games.

Next for Fresno State

The Bulldogs play at San Francisco on Wednesday night. USF (9-0) beat UNLV 83-62 on Saturday and also owns a 73-70 win over Nevada.

This story was originally published December 4, 2021 at 8:37 PM.