Fresno State was up five late. Here’s the mind-numbing way it ended vs. Colorado State

Fresno State had what for it qualifies as a magical run, building a double-digit lead early in the second half by making a season-high seven shots in a row on Colorado State.

But that was followed by a mind-boggling and mind-numbing finish in a 60-57 loss to the Rams on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, the Bulldogs blowing a five-point lead in the final 39 seconds.

The two best foul shooters on a team that was on track to set a school record for free throw percentage both missed the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities, first point guard Isaiah Hill with the Bulldogs up by three and 24 seconds to go and then guard Jemarl Baker when up one with 14 seconds remaining.

Hill went into the game at 80% from the line, Baker 73.9%.

And, that was not the end of it.

Colorado State rebounded the Baker miss, and 6-foot-11 center Eduardo Andre committed a foul far from the basket with 7 seconds to play. The Rams called a timeout, and Fresno State almost came up with a steal coming out of it. But with a second shot at it, the Rams got the ball in play and with the Bulldogs out of fouls to give forward Anthony Holland fouled John Tonje with 4.9 seconds remaining.

Tonje, 80.6% from the free throw line, knocked down the first, then the second to give the Rams a lead for the first time since the 18:28 mark in the second half.

Fresno State (9-17, 5-10 Mountain West) had its final pass up the floor stolen by Taviontae Jackson, who got the ball to Jalen Lake. There was a foul, two more foul shots and a long postgame for coach Justin Hutson with his team.

“You know, I told them I didn’t know what to say at first and usually when I don’t know what to say I don’t say much at all,” Hutson said. “That’s wisdom. I’m not the most wise guy, but I have some wisdom.

“But as we talked, I mean, we’ve experienced some pain and we have to look at some of the common denominators. Sometimes, just made shots or missed shots, it covers up a lot of stuff. But we have to look at some of the common denominators. We have four core values and No. 4 is to be best when your best is needed and it’s we. It’s not just them, it’s me. It’s everybody. Are we best when our best is needed? So we talked a lot about that and then we talked about hurt, the hurt, the pain.”

There has been plenty of that, with the Bulldogs sliding down the Mountain West. Of their 10 losses, three have come against the only two teams below it in the standings, two to the Rams and one to last-place Wyoming.

But Fresno State can’t seem to get out of its own way at the offensive end, again settling for threes and hitting a very low percentage. They were 5 of 23, 21.7%. They went into Saturday ranked 340th of 352 in the nation in 3-point shooting, and of the 20 teams hitting less than 30% only five had more attempts than the Bulldogs.

It got a career-high 19 points from Leo Colimerio, who was more aggressive at the offensive end and hit 8 of 11 shots. But it’s difficult to ignore the struggles scoring, or that Hutson has one year remaining on his contract and will finish with a losing record in conference play for a fourth season in a row.

If not retained, Hutson under terms of his contract would receive 80% of his total base salary or $33,333.33 a month through the end of the deal in April 2024.

Bulldogs notes

Hill and Baker are the Bulldogs’ leading scorers, and both are hitting less than 40% of their shots on the season. Hill was 5 of 21 in scoring 10 points against the Rams and is now 95 of 253 on the season, 37.5%. Baker was 2 of 10 in scoring five points, and is now 94 of 259, 36.3%.

Fresno State has hit less than 30% of its threes in 12 of its 26 games.

The Bulldogs had made six shots in a row five times this season, but never seven. In that run early in the second half, they hit two threes (Colimerio and Anthony Holland), three layups (Andre, Hill and Colimerio) and two jump shots (Hill, Colimerio). Fresno State followed up that 7 of 7 with an 0 of 7 run and made only 6 of its final 21 shots and four of those final six baskets came at the rim on layups or dunks.

This story was originally published February 18, 2023 at 7:26 PM.