Mike Howells/The Collegian
Thursday will mark the sixth time the women’s and men’s basketball teams share the same court this season, with the men hosting Boise State and the women hosting Idaho.
With both teams playing on the same night at home, fans get to watch the both games right after each other. It allows supporters of both teams to see them play.
Fresno State men’s basketball coach Steve Cleveland sees how the double header affects the university.
“We’ve had a number of doubleheaders and they’re always great,” Cleveland said. “It’s great to be able to play on the same night, have fans from both groups. It’s a positive thing for the school. It helps attendance. It’s always good.”
Like coach Cleveland, Fresno State women’s basketball coach Adrian Wiggins acknowledged the significance of the doubleheaders, but also gave another reason why Thursday will be a big night.
“It’s senior night,” Wiggins said in a phone interview. “It’s a big night for us; We have five seniors and they’ve all done a lot for this program. They’re all going to graduate. One of them is already in graduate school so they’ve just been a huge part of the university for the last four years and it will be sad to see them go.”
The doubleheader will feature Wiggins’ team playing against Idaho, a team it beat earlier in the season 84-67. The ‘Dogs are riding a four-game winning streak and will face a tough challenge with a capable Vandals squad.
“They’re a tough team,” Wiggins said. “They’re quick. They run a matchup zone. It’s unique to deal with so expect them to be very aggressive toward us. They’ve traditionally come out and played us very hard. So we’re going to have to match that intensity level. They usually have four or five people on the court that can all score and that means that we have to play hard on the defensive end.”
The men’s team is fresh off a game against UC Riverside where it won 68-49 on ESPN’s BracketBuster Saturday. Like the women’s team, the men also face a familiar foe with Boise State coming to the Save Mart Center. Two weeks ago, the ‘Dogs played against Boise State with the Broncos coming out on top 75-61, so coach Cleveland knows this game will be challenging.
“They’re a very good basketball team,” Cleveland said. “We played them already and they have outstanding guards. They’re a great three-point shooting team. They’ve won their last couple league games and beat a good Idaho team at home. They went down to Santa Barbara and beat an outstanding Santa Barbara team that was in the NCAA Tournament last year, in overtime. So we have our hands full.”
With the WAC Tournament beginning in a couple weeks, Cleveland knows the significance of each remaining game.
“Every game is big right now,” Cleveland said. “We take them one at a time, but I mean these are all big games in terms of preparing for the tournament but also for solidifying seeds. We can finish anywhere from 4th to 8th still so how we perform the next three league games will dictate what our seed is.”