Fresno State falters in third close road loss. What the Bulldogs were missing at Utah
Fresno State was without Jemarl Baker at Utah, a big piece to take out of a lineup for a team that can at times struggle to score. The past two games, playing through a nagging knee injury, the Arizona transfer had hit 50% of his shots in averaging 15.0 points per game with 2.0 assists.
Down the stretch of a one- and two-possession game against a Pac-12 team on the road, that’s a valuable piece.
But Baker or not, the Bulldogs didn’t exactly help themselves in the final four minutes of a 55-50 loss to the Utes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, their third in three true road games following losses at Cal and San Francisco. All of them were there to be taken with the Bulldogs down six, the score tied, and down four, and none of them won.
Fresno State (9-3) hit just 2 of its final 13 shots against the Utes, including three right at the rim. Down four with 3:01 to go, Orlando Robinson missed a layup. Down four with 1:25 remaining, Anthony Holland missed at the rim. Down six with 54 seconds to play, Isaiah Hill drove to the rim and missed a layup.
Hill also missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with nine seconds to go and the Bulldogs trailing 54-50.
In those three road losses, the Bulldogs have hit just 7 of 26 shots in the final four minutes (26.9%) including 3 of 15 at the 3-point line.
Fresno State will get a chance to get past that on Thursday at Weber State, closing out its non-conference schedule. But the loss to the Utes will be difficult to absorb, coming after a 65-57 loss at Cal and a 71-63 loss at USF.
Utah came in hitting 43.1% of its shots, but was just 20 of 51 (39.2%). The Utes were averaging 74.6 points per game, and scored just 55. The Bulldogs were plus-5 rebounding the basketball, plus-4 at the offensive end.
But they could not score down the stretch. The Utes pushed Robinson away from the basket, doubling whenever he got the ball near the block, and didn’t allow the Bulldogs to get much in the paint off the dribble.
Fresno State jacked up 31 shots from the 3-point line, one off a season-high, and that has not been a strength. Robinson scored nine of his 17 points on threes with two more coming at the foul line, but the Bulldogs were just 7 of 31 at the 3-point line (22.6%) including 4 of 19 in the second half.
Bulldogs notes …
Baker, who has been able to play in only five of the first 12 games, is not expected to play at Weber State and could be out for an extended period. The Bulldogs open Mountain West Conference play Dec. 28 at Boise State. …
Guard Deon Stroud was 3 of 11 and 0 of 5 from the 3-point line, but also led the Bulldogs with 10 rebounds and four assists and also had one blocked shot, one steal and did not have a turnover in 27 minutes. Junior Ballard and Stroud were the only Bulldogs on the plus side of plus/minus at plus-5 and plus-2. …
Fresno State season shooting at the 3-point line: Ballard (10 of 22, 45.5%), Anthony Holland (13 of 31, 41.9%), Destin Whitaker (7 of 21, 33.3%), Robinson (11 of 34, 32.4%), Hill (14 of 47, 29.8%), Donavan Yap (2 of 7, 28.6%), Jordan Campbell (6 of 22, 27.3%), Baker (5 of 23, 21.7%), Stroud (3 of 24, 12.5%), Leo Colimerio (0 of 9), Kyle Harding (0 of 1). More than 55% of the Bulldogs’ attempts have been taken by players hitting less than 30% of their 3-point attempts. …