If that was Orlando Robinson’s final home game, Fresno State star went out at his best
Fresno State didn’t have the most mismatches on the floor on Monday, but it had the biggest in the 7-foot Orlando Robinson. New Mexico had two bigs to run at him, one not strong enough and the other not athletic enough to have much success against him. But for a long time, almost too long as it turned out, the Bulldogs misplayed what was a winning hand while a second-half lead went away.
They got down five, going through a stretch of more than six minutes where Robinson got one shot while the Bulldogs were going 1 of 7 with five turnovers.
But in a timeout with 7:03 remaining, coach Justin Hutson didn’t mince words. His message was clear. He wanted the Bulldogs to get back to playing through Robinson and the Mountain West Conference player of the year candidate and NBA prospect was at his best right there, leading Fresno State through those final minutes and hitting a game-winning three in a 71-68 victory in what could be his final game played at the Save Mart Center.
“It’s beautiful,” Robinson said, addressing that prospect, the shot and the win. “I love the Red Wave. I love the fans. I love everything about that. If this is my last game then I’m glad we went out like this.”
Robinson in that final stretch displayed every aspect of a rapidly-improving game that has captured the attention of NBA scouts, and knocked down the winning three with 54 seconds to go.
Before that shot and after the timeout, just about everything ran through the junior forward.
“It’s like, we’re trying to move the ball, but let’s understand that we have a mismatch in there,” Hutson said. “We want to move the basketball and be aggressive, but the ball had to start going inside quicker. Absolutely …”
Robinson scored 12 of the Bulldogs’ final 17 points, had an assist on a three by point guard Isaiah Hill and initiated the other score hitting Hill at the 3-point line with a pass out of the post.
The Bulldogs’ guard dribbled past a defender on a close out and got to the rim for a layup.
“He took us home, no doubt,” Hutson said. “He showed all the stuff he can do.”
Robinson dominates down the stretch for Bulldogs
Robinson, one of the top NBA prospects in the Mountain West, finished with his eighth double-double of the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds, adding four assists.
He also had a big stop at the defensive end down the stretch, stopping New Mexico guard Jaelen House on a drive to the basket, which is not something that happened often in that second half.
Fresno State (18-10, 8-7 in the MW) struggled to defend the quicker New Mexico guards, House and Jamal Mashburn Jr. Mashburn, who started the game 0 of 8, finished 9 of 22 in scoring 27 points including 20 in the second half. House was 7 of 17 in scoring 18 points with four assists.
It was a jumper by Mashburn that tied the score at 68 with 1:54 to go.
But Robinson and the Bulldogs answered with that three off an assist by Hill, and kept alive the Bulldogs’ chances to get back to fifth place in the conference and secure a first-round bye at the Mountain West Tournament.
Fresno State has a tough road to end the regular season, at San Diego State and at Wyoming, and is a half-game behind UNLV (17-12, 9-7). The Rebels play Wyoming on Wednesday and finish at New Mexico.
“I have fun playing with Isaiah at the top,” Robinson said. “We play very well together and we just made that right read and I took the shot with confidence.”
Bulldogs notes
In the past two games, the Bulldogs have faced two of the worst teams in the nation defending inside the 3-point line. New Mexico started the week allowing opponents to hit 52.3% of their 2-point shots, 306th in the nation. Air Force had allowed 54%, 331st. Fresno State on Thursday has a much more difficult task at San Diego State. The Aztecs have allowed opponents to hit only 43.1%, eighth in the nation. …
Hill had five assists. Over the past four games he is averaging 14.3 points and 3.8 assists. …
Mashburn (8 of 9) and House (3 of 3) were a combined 11 of 12 at the free throw line and New Mexico was 12 of 14 as a team, making twice as many foul shots as the Bulldogs even attempted while playing on their home floor. Fresno State was just 3 of 6 at the line. …
Up next: Fresno State at San Diego State
When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Where: Viejas Arena, San Diego
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 (18-10, 8-7 in the MW), San Diego State (19-7, 11-4)
The Aztecs: San Diego State won at Wyoming 73-66 on Monday, getting 30 points and four assists from guard Matt Bradley. It was the Aztecs’ seventh win in eight games, the only loss in there a 58-57 setback at conference-leading Boise State in which they had a one-point lead with seven seconds remaining and Bradley missed two foul shots. San Diego State won the first matchup in this series, beating the Bulldogs 61-44 on Feb. 19. Fresno State hit just 34.1% of its shots in that game in putting up a season-low point total, and its fewest in a game since a 50-43 loss to Colorado on Dec. 12, 2012. The Aztecs started the week leading the Mountain West in points allowed (56.9), opponent’s field goal percentage (38%) and opponent’s 3-point field goal percentage (29.5%).