Fresno State star forward ‘hopeful to play’ in marquee matchup against Boise State

Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said star forward Orlando Robinson was “hopeful to play” on Friday in a critical Mountain West basketball matchup against Boise State, which is leading the conference and has won 13 games in a row.

He wouldn’t play the percentages game – is Robinson 90%, 80% … maybe 78.5%? But that is a moving target and the race they have been in, really, since the 7-foot junior went down with a right ankle injury early in the first half of the Bulldogs’ victory at New Mexico.

“Once you ice him down, he’s done,” assistant coach Keith Brown said.

Long hours of work by Robinson and associate director of sports medicine Bri Maher have him in position to play a rematch against Boise State and in front of a Save Mart Center crowd athletics department officials are expecting to be the largest to this point this season.

“He’s banged-up,” Hutson said. “He’s getting healthy. He’s working really hard doing that. We have a great strength and conditioning and athletic training staff and Orlando will show up and work hard.”

A glimpse into that timeline includes work on the ground and in the air, during and immediately after the game at New Mexico, and throughout Wednesday and leading up to practice on Thursday back in Fresno.

“Just doing everything in my power to be ready to play,” said Robinson, who had a game-high 22 points in a Dec. 28 loss at Boise State, a game the Bulldogs led with six minutes to go.

“I have an obligation to play on Friday. It’s the top of the conference. It’s going to be a very good game, so I want to make sure I do everything in my power to make sure that I’m ready.”

How Robinson returned at New Mexico

Robinson went down at New Mexico a little more than two minutes in and returned briefly, then stayed in the locker room with Maher through halftime to receive treatment on the ankle and returned to the bench at the under-12 minute timeout. He actually was on his way back to the court sooner, but had to wait between media timeouts with Maher on the long ramp at The Pit.

There was a stationary bike there, so he hopped on and pedaled.

Once back on the bench he was able to run along the baseline during the timeout, test the ankle.

He kept moving, stayed warm.

Robinson played the final 8:58 and contributed his usual outsized role, his game continuing to evolve and make him a legitimate player of the year candidate in the conference. In just 15 minutes on the floor, he hit 4 of 7 shots and 3 of 4 free throws in scoring 11 points, had four rebounds including one at the offensive end that led to a trip to the foul line, a team-high three assists and one steal that led to a Bulldogs basket.

He hit a big turnaround jumper in the paint with 4:22 to go, extending a Bulldogs lead that had been 17 points, then down to two, back to nine points at 58-49.

New Mexico cut its deficit to seven, then five. Robinson then had an offensive rebound and was fouled, hitting one of two free throws. The lead at three with 18 seconds to go, he pulled a big defensive rebound off a missed three by K.J. Jenkins, allowing guard Anthony Holland to ice the game for the Bulldogs at the foul line.

“He showed me what I know about ‘O’ already,” Hutson said, after the game. “If I didn’t think he had that, he wouldn’t have went back in the game, right?”

“He looked like ‘O,’” Holland said.

“Once he came out, we weren’t sure he was ever going to go back in,” Brown said. “But I think the halftime protocol and the protocol throughout the first half was really important to put him in a position to at least have that option, and then there’s the will and desire that he showed, the toughness and the team emphasis. To step on the floor and create a little balance and stabilization for us when we needed it was really a true sign of a champion.”

After the game, Robinson and the ankle were re-evaluated. Maher iced the ankle, put compression on it, kept movement to a minimum.

Treatment started on charter flight home

The Bulldogs had a charter flight out of Albuquerque, an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence that obviously helped. On the way to New Mexico, their flight from San Francisco had been canceled, so after flying to the Bay Area to catch a connecting flight the Bulldogs were stuck for more than eight hours and with the time change didn’t arrive at the team hotel in Albuquerque until after 11 p.m.

But on the way back there were no delays and Robinson was not folded into a coach seat on two flights in airplanes that were not designed for anyone of that length.

“Plane flights are rough,” Robinson said

He also was able to continue to receive treatment, which put the Bulldogs ahead of the game.

“We had the room to do it, which was nice,” Maher said. “Swelling is the biggest factor, because you lose range of motion with swelling and then that’s where pain kind of sets in, as well. During the game we taped him a specific way to kind of push it up and out and then as soon as the game was over we used compression, elevation, threw everything at him and then he came in first thing in the morning.

“We’ve been spending all day together – quality time with ‘O.’ But he’s a pleasure to be in the training room with. He’s one we actually have to fight to keep off the court. He’ll listen, but he likes to push boundaries if he can. He works hard and he knows what he needs to do to play, and he understands the seriousness of it.”

Robinson did not practice with the Bulldogs on Wednesday, but had three treatment sessions with Maher throughout the day and then two more Thursday before practice.

He was there in the morning, then took a break. He went to class, then back to treatment again, and again. The goal, Maher said, was to keep range of motion, keep the swelling down and strengthen the ankle back up.

“I’ve just been getting a good feel on where my body is at, trying to stay solid,” Robinson said. “I’m doing everything I could rehab-wise, working with Bri, doing some ankle exercises, making sure I’m able to do what I need to do and move the same way so I can compete.

“It has been a grind, just like everything else in life.”

Up next: Fresno State vs. Boise State

When: Friday, 8 p.m.

Where: Save Mart Center

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 (14-5, 4-2 in the MW), Boise State (16-4, 7-0).

The coaches: Justin Hutson (60-45, fourth season); Leon Rice (233-141, 12th season)

The Broncos: Boise State won its 13th game in a row Tuesday, taking down Wyoming 65-60 and at 7-0 is the only remaining unbeaten team in Mountain West play. Abu Kigab led the Broncos with 18 points and had five assists in the victory over the Cowboys, who were 4-0 in conference play going into that game. Boise State beat the Bulldogs at ExtraMile Arena on Dec. 28, though Fresno State was in with a chance late. The Bulldogs, playing without Holland, took a 50-48 lead on a jump shot by Robinson with 6:12 to go, but were outscored 17-5 the rest of the way and the Bulldogs’ 7-foot junior got only one more shot.