Fresno State holds No. 21 San Diego State to 45 points, but still finds a way to lose

Fresno State did a lot right on Wednesday against No. 21 San Diego State. Most of all, it competed. It went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the Mountain West Conference in a meat grinder of a basketball game at the Save Mart Center, a physical and at times maddening 40 minutes with neither team hitting even 33% of its shots.

Nothing came easy, not even at the rim, and when the Bulldogs look back at a 45-43 loss, that may be what they dwell upon. After scoring 16 points in the paint in the first half, they barely got there in the second half and struggled to score when they did.

They instead and once again deferred to the 3-point line, which is a well-established trouble spot for the Bulldogs (9-16, 5-9 in the MW), who hit a season-low 2 of 26 threes. That’s 7.7%, and a troubling fallback position at the offensive end for a team that struggles to make jump shots. Of their final 12 shots through the last seven minutes, eight were threes, one a long two and another a longer two.

“There was a span where we weren’t as aggressive getting to the basket,” coach Justin Hutson said. “But they’re tough to get into the paint on, and we have to stay consistent getting it in there. They made a few adjustments on the roll. They did a little better on the roll and you have to give them credit for that, and we have to learn from it.”

It didn’t help that the Bulldogs lost center Eduardo Andre to a fifth foul with 2:07 to go; he hit 5 of 10 shots in scoring 10 points with nine rebounds and three assists. But the Bulldogs’ inability to get to the rim in the second half, and score when they did, only increased the degree of difficulty against a team that came in second in the Mountain West defending the 3-point line and third in scoring defense.

San Diego State (21-5, 12-2) made just one basket and scored five points in the final eight minutes, and gave the Bulldogs opportunity after opportunity by missing five foul shots in the final three minutes and change.

The Aztecs were up one with 3:03 to go and Jaedon Ledee hit one of two free throws. The score was tied with 2:07 remaining when Ledee again hit just one of two.

San Diego State was up one with 24 seconds to play when Nathan Mensah missed two foul shots, and it was up by one with six seconds left when Mensah made one of two to account for the final margin.

The Bulldogs held San Diego State 30 points under its season scoring average of 74.6 points, but just couldn’t find scores. They missed their final six shots, the last one when putting the ball in play from under their basket with 3.3 seconds to play out of a timeout. Point guard Isaiah Hill, who led Fresno State with 16 points and also had six rebounds and three assists, missed a three pushing the ball up the floor.

Not a stunner, really.

This, however, might be. Fresno State had won 44 games in a row when holding an opponent to 50 points or fewer, its most recent loss way back in 1987. It also was its first loss when allowing 45 point or fewer since 1982.

“It was a beautiful win,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “We’ve won in the 90s. We’ve won in the 80s. We’ve won in the 70s. We’ve won in the 60s. Now we’ve won in the 40s. We find a way to win. That’s it. End of story.”

Perspective, like points, mattered.

“It’s not coming as a surprise right now, but this was a different level of team,” Hutson said. “They were going to bring a different challenge. Really happy for our guys’ collective toughness. Now for our collective execution (that) let something to be desired. … That aggressiveness should be there every night, maybe it was a little extra, but we had to be. I think they thought it had to be or it wasn’t going to work. Hats off to us for that.”

BULLDOGS NOTES

Forward Isaih Moore missed a second game in a row due to personal/health reasons. Moore could miss the remainder of the season.

Guard Jordan Campbell played 14 minutes, hitting 2 of 5 shots in scoring four points. He was 0 of 3 from the 3-point line. Campbell had played a total of 13 minutes in the Bulldogs’ past two games, getting four in a win at San Jose State and nine in a loss at Nevada.

San Diego State hit just 32.7% of its shots, going 16 of 49. Fresno State this season has lost twice when allowing an opponent to hit 33% of its shots, or less. Air Force beat the Bulldogs 51-48 on Jan. 14 when hitting 31.5% of its shots.

Fresno State had its best crowd of the season, 7,012.

NEXT FOR FRESNO STATE

Saturday vs. Colorado State, 2 p.m. at the Save Mart Center (CW59)