Fresno State defense cracks in second half at USF. ‘We have to learn how to execute’
USF had a point guard in Jamaree Bouyea, and he’s averaging 19.2 points a game, second-best in the West Coast Conference. He’s in his fifth season, with a lot of college basketball games under him, quick and athletic. He’s knocking down threes at a career-high clip, 46.7%, getting to the rim, and has been the big piece in leading the Dons to a perfect start through their first nine games.
The Fresno State Bulldogs had a plan, and for 20 minutes Wednesday night it worked very well. Double-team Bouyea. Every pick and roll, jump him. Make him give up the basketball. Make someone else, anyone else, beat them.
But the Bulldogs started to crack and down the stretch Bouyea and the Dons got away from them, coming from 10 down to take down Fresno State 71-63 at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco.
“We had doubled him all night long, on every pick and roll,” coach Justin Hutson said. “We didn’t change it. We were going to put two guys on him, make him give it up, zone it up behind, and all of a sudden it didn’t look like that the last four minutes of the game. We were calling switches. We weren’t communicating. We were doing stuff we didn’t do all night long.”
The result? Bouyea in the first half: 1 of 6 and 0 of 3 from the 3-point line, a total of two points with one assist. Bouyea in the second half: 10 of 12 and 4 of 5 from three, 25 points with two assists.
Add those two halves of basketball and it was a bad result for the Bulldogs (7-2), who return home on Saturday to play UC Irvine at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State ran a number of guards at Bouyea through the game, but in that second half he was able to create space, knocking down long threes. He hit five of his first six shots, and had those two assists. The Bulldogs’ lead, seven at the break and 45-35 with 13:13 to go, didn’t last long once he got going.
“We had big (guards) on him, too,” Hutson said. “We had Junior (Ballard) on him. We had Jordan (Campbell) on him. You don’t get much more athletic than Jordan and Junior. I thought it was more of a mentality. When you put two guys on the ball, he should have to give it up.”
It didn’t help that when Bouyea and the Dons got away, the Bulldogs’ offense went away. Fresno State took advantage of USF (10-0) at the offensive end for the better part of 30 minutes, beating the Dons off the dribble and getting to the rim. They scored 40 of their 63 points in the paint, with 17 baskets either a layup or a dunk.
But they tightened and turned the ball over down the stretch. From 60-60 with 4:31 to go, the Bulldogs missed their final seven shots and turned the ball over three times, two of those turnovers by point guard Isaiah Hill.
“We have to learn how to execute, to play against tough crowds,” said forward Anthony Holland, who hit 7 of 11 shots and led the Bulldogs with 19 points, adding nine rebounds and one assist.
“This is our first real crowd of the year so we always have to learn. It’s a tough crowd, we have to execute. We played against a real tough crowd in a home environment and it’s just going to help us in the long run.”
Minutes for Baker and Ballard
Bulldogs guards Jemarl Baker and Junior Ballard, who have been limited working back from injuries, played 23 and 19 minutes. Baker, who had not played since a Nov. 15 victory over Idaho, hit 2 of 7 shots and was 0 of 3 from the 3-point line in scoring four points with four rebounds. Ballard, who had played just four and two minutes in the past two games, was 1 of 3 in scoring four points. …
USF was 10 of 29 in the first half, 34.5%. USF was 18 of 29 in the second half, 62.1%. …
Fresno State was back to turning over the basketball with 14, seven in each half. The Bulldogs had 15 turnovers combined in their past two games, eight in a victory over San Diego and seven in a win over Cal State Northridge. The Dons turned those turnovers into 14 points. …