Fresno State freezes up at offensive end, takes bad fall in standings with loss to UNLV
Fresno State got half of what it needed on Wednesday in a basketball game full of meaning, with a chance to break its first losing streak of the season and a first-round bye next month at the Mountain West Conference Tournament on the line in a matchup against UNLV.
But while Jordan Campbell was making the going miserable for the Rebels’ Bryce Hamilton, the leading scorer in the conference, the Bulldogs pretty much gave both away in a 60-57 loss at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State (16-9, 6-6 in the MW), in the game the whole way even while Orlando Robinson was struggling at the offensive end and in foul trouble, hit just 33.9% of it shots including 7 of 25, 28%, in the second half.
But it was more than the percentages, it was the shots. Threes and jumpers. The Bulldogs were one foul away from shooting free throws with 15:10 remaining in the second half, but didn’t attack, didn’t try to get to the rim and on the rare occasion that they did, they often missed point blank.
They had 21 shots from that 15:10 mark to the end of the game, 16 of them jumpers or threes. The layups – make, miss, make, miss, miss. They were 2 of 5 at the rim in that long final stretch, and just 7 of 15 in the game.
“Even when we got to the basket tonight, they didn’t go in,” coach Justin Hutson said. “We got about seven or eight shots right at the basket that just didn’t go in, but give them some credit with their length. Their length and athleticism had a lot to do with that.
“We were saying, ‘Get to the basket,’ especially when ‘O’ was out. We got in there and we got a couple of real good looks, but they didn’t fall.”
The Bulldogs did, absorbing a third conference loss in a row and falling into sixth place in the Mountain West behind the Rebels (15-11, 7-6) with Utah State (15-12, 6-8) and Nevada (11-13, 5-8) not far behind.
The top five get a first-round bye at the conference tournament in Las Vegas, while the sixth seed has to win three games in three days to get to the title game.
As Hutson pointed out, there still is a lot of basketball to be played and Fresno State on Saturday at the Save Mart Center gets one of the hottest teams in the conference in San Diego State, which has won four in a row.
Bulldogs get a stellar defensive effort, but it’s not enough
It’s possible to get out of that first-round game, and there are pluses to push the Bulldogs forward.
Campbell could be one. The junior guard has had an inconsistent season, playing as many as 31 minutes and as few as seven minutes in conference play, but he gave the Bulldogs what they needed at the defensive end.
Hamilton had scored 30 or more points five times in the Rebels’ past eight games, and came in averaging 21.5 points per game. With Campbell running at him for most of his 27 minutes on the floor, the UNLV guard was just 6 of 20 including 3 of 11 at the 3-point line in scoring 17 points and had three turnovers.
“Those little victories that we’ve talked about with him, he has shown some real consistency in some games and we talked about how he has to find his niche where he’s consistent every game,” Hutson said. “He missed some shots, but his fight was there all game.”
That was the trap for Hutson and the Bulldogs down the stretch. As poorly as they were shooting the basketball they had the score tied at 54 with four minutes to go and a choice had to be made: go with Campbell and his defense on Hamilton, or Junior Ballard and his offensive efficiency?
Hutson went with Ballard. Hamilton missed a three with 3:16 to go, and the Bulldogs breathed a sigh of relief. But he knocked down a three exactly one minute later, the Rebels had the lead and never gave it up.
Or, the Bulldogs never were able to take it away from them.
Their only points down the stretch came with one second remaining, when the Rebels’ Donovan Williams inexplicably fouled Ballard shooting a meaningless three.
Bulldogs notes
Robinson hit just 3 of 14 shots including an 0 of 3 from the 3-point line in scoring seven points with four rebounds and two assists before fouling out. It was the fewest points he had scored since he had seven in a Dec. 11 victory over UC Irvine. Since that game, he had averaged 19.4 points over 14 games. …
Fresno State had a 21-4 advantage in points off turnovers. …
The Bulldogs are one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the nation, ranked fourth in games against Division I opponents. But UNLV had nine offensive rebounds, tied for the third-most Fresno State has allowed this season. It had been 3-0 when allowing nine or more offensive rebounds in a game, but lost their last two. …
Up next: Fresno State vs. San Diego State
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Save Mart Center
TV: CBS Sports Network
- Find it fast: AT&T Uverse (643, 1643), Comcast (418, 732), DirecTV (221), Dish Network (158).
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 (16-9, 6-6 in the MW), San Diego State (16-6, 8-3)
The coaches: Justin Hutson (62-49 fourth season); Brian Dutcher (112-37 fifth season)
The Aztecs: San Diego State beat Utah State 75-56 on Tuesday for its fourth win in a row, one victory short of matching its longest streak of the season. The Aztecs have won 13 games in a row and 67 of the past 69 when hitting a higher percentage of shots than their opponent. San Diego State is ranked only 10th in the Mountain West in field goal percentage, but is first in opponent’s field goal percentage. Opponents have hit just 38.2% of their shots, 11th in the nation. Matt Bradley is leading the Aztecs in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game.