Fresno State takes down last unbeaten in the nation. How the Bulldogs beat No. 21 New Mexico
Fresno State had not beaten a team ranked in the Associated Press’ Top 25 since 2002, which is a lot of years and a lot of games ago. Also, a lot of lost opportunities; 29 in a row. But in taking out No. 21 New Mexico 71-67 on Tuesday at the Save Mart Center, the Bulldogs did a few things that they hadn’t in a while, flipping perceived mismatches in their favor and making the right decisions to get them to pay off.
“Happy for the guys,” coach Justin Hutson said after the Bulldogs reversed a season-long trend, with six of their eight losses coming by eight points or less. “This group has been working really hard and they stick with it and that’s what it’s about, continuing to stick with it through good times and bad times.
“We’ve had some defeats that we didn’t like. We fought up at Utah State. We were valiant up there. We just didn’t make a few good decisions down the stretch. We made better decisions here and made some plays and kept sticking with it. I’m happy that we get success, but as a coach you’re happy that they get success.”
It was the Bulldogs’ first win over an AP Top 25 team since taking out No. 14 Oklahoma State 58-52 on Feb. 10, 2002 at the downtown Selland Arena. The Bulldogs’ game plan against the last unbeaten team in the nation was spot-on, and they got big minutes up and down the lineup making it work.
Attacking New Mexico’s House and Mashburn
Hutson had his bigger guards Jemarl Baker and Jordan Campbell work on the Lobos’ dynamic backcourt of Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn Jr. when the Bulldogs had the basketball, backing them down in the post, wearing them down, and that may have been a factor down the stretch.
Mashburn, second in the Mountain West in scoring at 17.14 points per game, scored 22 against the Bulldogs. But he did not score in the final 5:40, missing the front end of a 1-and-1 and the only two shots he got. House, third in the conference in scoring at 17.07 points per game, had 16. But he hit just one of his last six shots, with one turnover.
New Mexico (14-1, 2-1 and tied for third in the MW) finished 0 of 6, 1 of 8 and did not score a basket in the final 4:30.
“They were playing those little quick guards, so we wanted to make sure that we could get JC or Jemarl in the post on them,” Hutson said.
But the biggest minutes for the Bulldogs (6-8, 2-1 in the MW) arguably came from bigs Eduardo Andre and Isaih Moore, who turned the game when it started to get away.
How the Bulldogs’ bigs shared time
Moore went to the bench early, after getting bounced around in the paint by New Mexico forward Morris Udeze, who has 30 pounds on him and hit 8 of 12 shots in scoring 18 points. Andre, a bigger body, came in and in 11 first-half minutes scored eight points with seven rebounds, one blocked shot and three steals, two leading to Bulldogs baskets as they built a 36-32 lead at the break.
Moore started the second half, and went back to the bench. But when Andre picked up a fourth foul with 9:56 remaining and the Bulldogs working their way back from a 7-point deficit, Hutson had to go back to Moore.
It was a pressure point in a tight game. But Moore was able to keep the Bulldogs’ momentum going. He scored eight of his 16 points and had six of his eight rebounds in that stretch including an offensive board with 1:30 to go that led to his layup and gave Fresno State a 68-67 lead.
“In that stretch, Moore fought,” Hutson said. “You wanted to see it, but I also think he knew. It was one more push out of the way dunk and it was going to be Eduardo’s turn.”
The New Mexico guards dominated usage in the second half, but Morris scored his 18th point on a jumper to tie the score at 59 with 7:25 remaining and working against Moore most of the time did not get another shot.
He got one rebound, after Fresno State point guard Isaiah Hill had made it a two-possession game with the first of two foul shots with 4 seconds and only a desperation and irrelevant missed three by the Lobos to go.
Andre was on the floor at the end, blocking a layup by Mashburn and securing the rebound with 20 seconds remaining to preserve the Bulldogs’ 70-67 lead. He finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots in 16 minutes where he seemingly always was in the right place to make a play.
“Coach, the whole coaching staff, they did a really good job with scouting everything,” Andre said. “Before the game, two or three days before the game, I know everybody’s kind of habits of who we’re playing against.
“I know how he wants me to guard certain plays and stuff. I pretty much know the other team like the back of my hand, so it’s just about me making good reads on the defensive end. I enjoy getting stops and running.”
BULLDOGS NOTES
Fresno State won at San Diego State 59-57 on Jan. 3, 2015 when the Aztecs were ranked No. 25 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll, but were not ranked in the AP Top 25.
New Mexico went into the game averaging 84.1 points per game, ranking first in the Mountain West and 10th in the nation. The 67 points matched a season-low; they beat San Francisco 67-64 on Dec. 12. Fresno State in its past two games has held the top two scoring teams in the conference to 67 points. Utah State, which is averaging 83.8 points per game, beat the Bulldogs in Logan 67-54.
The Bulldogs had six offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points. The Lobos had seven offensive rebounds, but only six second-chance points.
Fresno State has had some long stretches this season without a field goal, with 0 of 13 and 0 of 9 streaks against Wyoming and an 0 for 7 at Utah State. The Bulldogs’ longest streak against New Mexico was an 0 for 3, three of them, each one ending with a basket in the paint, two by Moore and one by Baker.
New Mexico hit 10 of its first 13 shots in the second half, but only 4 of its last 15.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 5:48 AM.