Matt Weir / The Collegian
O’Neil returns to starting lineup for senior night, ’Dogs drop their last game at Save Mart Center
In a game with missed opportunities, there was one thing Fresno State was missing on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center: their shooting touch.
The Bulldogs shot 9-of-33 from the three-point line, and shot 11-of-24 from the free throw line, in the 71-68 loss to the Idaho Vandals.
The loss now drops their Western Athletic Conference (WAC) record to 3-11 on the year. There are two WAC games left in the season before the conference tournament begins on March 10 in Reno, Nev.
Free throwing misses the mark
“Well, the first thing that kind of jumps the page is two things here,” coach Steve Cleveland said. “Even though we were open, we settled for threes the last 10 minutes. Most importantly, we were 11-of-24 from the free throw line.”
Free throw shooting has been a strength for the Bulldogs all season long, but it wasn’t around for the final home game of the year.
“When you’re at home, and we’re a free throw-shooting team that’s been shooting around 70 percent, you would expect to at least shoot that well if not better,” Cleveland said. “I was really disappointed in our free throw shooting and how we settled for threes late in the second half when we had opportunities.”
Cleveland spoke of those opportunities that came late in the game but ended up not being met.
“We had some great inside-outs where we got the ball, very unselfishly passed it out probably three times in the last 10 minutes and we didn’t make any of them,” Cleveland said.
Matt Weir / The Collegian
“You knock those shots down, you probably win the game. When we really executed our best zone offense and had our best shots, we didn’t make them. You have to knock shots down.”
Some of those shots that needed to be knocked down were the ones at the free throw line, which frustrated Cleveland.
“At the end of the day, we can talk about a lot of things, but 11-of-24 at the free throw line is a bad number,” Cleveland said.
A notable loss
A bad number for one Bulldog in the previous game against Nevada was zero points for Paul George.
The freshman, however, became a bright spot with 19 points against Idaho.
“I just had to knock those shots down,” George said. “Coming off the Nevada night, I definitely needed to bring it the next game. It definitely gave me confidence when I made the first shot.”
But like his coach, George also expressed his frustration with the shooting during the game.
“I thought I shot good shots, but it wasn’t going in,” George said. “I felt that I missed too many shots that I should have made.”
One player who was making his baskets early was senior Dwight O’Neil. He began his final game at the Save Mart Center shooting 3-for-6 in the first half with nine points.
O’Neil, however, didn’t score again in the game as he missed his final five attempts.
He did leave the Save Mart Center with a positive outlook despite the loss, especially when he was honored before the game on senior night.
“The crowd was loud, and I’m not going to forget it,” O’Neil said. “I almost lost it for a second, I almost got a little soft, but I tightened back up and got through without any tears or emotions.”
Even though he was presented with a commemorative plaque and was honored with his family, O’Neil still wants to finish out the rest of the season with his team, despite the conference loss and poor shooting night.
“You don’t want to dwell on this, especially because we lost,” O’Neil said. “We still got two more games to go get and then move on to the WAC tournament. So we’ve got more stuff to do, and I won’t get sympathetic.”