For Fresno State there was more to finding offensive efficiency than Orlando Robinson

Fresno State forward Orlando Robinson was a dominant factor in the Bulldogs’ efficiency at the offensive end of the floor in a 79-59 victory over San Jose State when they were coming out of a two-week break due to COVID-19.

The 7-foot junior took a career-high 24 shots in scoring 31 points, had four assists, and his usage rate was a massive 63.6%; before that win his high this season was 35.6%, and had been in the 30s six times.

But Robinson was not the only factor in a game in which the Bulldogs hit 52.5% of their shots while turning over the ball just five times, a season-low.

Fresno State (11-4, 1-1 in the Mountain West), which plays at UNLV on Friday, also initiated offense much earlier and more consistently than it had in its first 14 games, something that had been a focus in the limited time it had to prepare for the Spartans.

“We don’t want to be wild, but we definitely don’t want to just run false motion,” coach Justin Hutson said. “We made some quicker decisions. I liked that part.”

The results became evident through a first half when the Bulldogs made 15 of 29 shots, including 6 of 15 at the 3-point line.

When finding a shot within the first 20 seconds of the shot clock, the Bulldogs were 14 of 22 (63.3%). When there were fewer than 10 seconds remaining they were just 1 of 7 (14.3%), the misses mostly rushed threes.

They were even more efficient in the second half, with fewer rushed shots or wayward drives into traffic late in the shot clock. The Bulldogs moved the ball through Robinson, creating open looks. They had nine assists in the first half and 15 in the game, coming off a 65-55 loss at Boise State in their Mountain West opener with just seven assists.

Bulldogs’ more aggressive approach pays off

“Early on, we threw it to him and they were doubling (Robinson) and he did a really good job of getting it out of there and getting people open shots, and we were making them,” associate head coach Tarvish Felton said. “Then they kind of said, ‘They’re making them so we can’t continue to do that, because now you’re going to give up a lot of threes and that always leads to something else.’

“They tried to do a variety of things, switch it up, go zone, change the tempo, then they played him one-on-one down there and tried to be a little more physical with him and he was able to get loose a little bit. We got to see his versatility offensively, and our ability to make some plays for others out of that.”

That could be a turning point for the Bulldogs, who are leading the conference in allowing 55.9 points per game, but are ranked only eighth in hitting 44.4% of their shots and ninth in averaging 66.6 points per game.

Through 15 games the field goal percentage for several Bulldogs in the rotation is down, particularly at the 3-point line, and when and where they are getting those shots could be a factor.

Point guard Isaiah Hill has hit only 32.3% of his shots including 31.7% from three, and last season he was 40.7% and 39.8%. Guard Deon Stroud is at 33.8% and 17.9%, down from 48.2% and 35.7%. Jordan Campbell has hit 45% of his shots, but just 23.1% at the 3-point line. Junior Ballard in nine games has shot the ball well at the Save Mart Center, but struggled on the road, going 10 of 21 (47.6%) at home and 6 of 21 (28.6%) away.

Robinson has played through that, as has Anthony Holland, who scored a career-high 20 points in the victory over San Jose State with a season-high 11 rebounds and five assists. Against the Spartans, Holland stepped into shots in rhythm and knocked them down, going 8 of 11 and 4 of 7 at the 3-point line.

Robinson, a stronger presence around the basket, has hit 56.8% of his 2-point shots, an area targeted for improvement after the 7-foot forward made just 46.6% there last season when averaging 14.6 points per game.

“We’re working on it,” Hutson said. “We want to be more aggressive earlier in the clock.”

Fresno State at UNLV

When: Friday, 8 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

TV: FS1

• Find it fast: AT&T Uverse (652, 1652), Comcast (35, 408, 731, 1208), DirecTV (219), Dish Network (150).

Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Marc Q. Jones)

• Find it fast: Fresno (AM1340), Bakersfield (AM970), Visalia (AM1130), Modesto (FM92.9), Stockton (AM1280), Bulldogs app, iHeartMedia app

The records: Fresno State (11-4, 1-1 in the MW), UNLV (9-6, 1-1).

The Rebels: UNLV relies heavily on guard Bryce Hamilton, who has taken 243 shots in 15 games, tied for ninth-most in the nation. He is averaging 18.3 points per game, seventh in the Mountain West. Hamilton has struggled in two games sandwiched around two games that were postponed due to COVID-19, hitting just 11 of 36 shots (30.6%) in a loss to San Diego State (6 of 19) and a victory on Tuesday over New Mexico (5 of 17). Forward Donovan Williams had a game-high 29 in the victory over the Lobos, scoring in double figures for a fifth game in a row. He has hit 37 of 60 shots in that stretch (61.7%), averaging 21.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.