Head coach Rodney Terry hopes to lead Fresno State to
its third-straight win at San Jose State on Thursday.
James Ramirez / The Collegian
As much as head coach Rodney Terry would like to carry on the momentum from the past two wins, he knows it’s much harder than it sounds.
“Well, I’d like to think it gives you a bit of confidence and momentum, but again once you finish one of those contests, you only have it for one night and it’s on to the next one,” Terry said.”
The men’s basketball team is riding a two-game win streak as it heads north to San Jose State on Thursday and Hawaii on Saturday in the final Western Athletic Conference road trip of the season.
“There are no two games that are similar,” Terry said. “Come Thursday night we’re going to have our hands full with San Jose.”
Leading the Spartans is junior guard James Kinney who is averaging 16.3 points per game. San Jose State is 7-16 on the season and winless in the WAC at 0-8.
But despite San Jose State’s winless record in conference, the team knows it has to treat this game like every other one.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us for 40 minutes,” Terry said. “Our guys know how hard they have to work to compete in this league. They know that it’s just not going to happen in games. They have to come in and practice and get their work done in practice, in terms of working hard and having it carrying over into the games.”
Practice has paid off for the ‘Dogs, who sit seventh in the WAC and are 3-6, and 11-14 overall.
Offensively, sophomore Kevin Olekaibe has led the way for the ‘Dogs. The 6-foot-2 guard is second in the WAC in scoring, averaging 18 points per game and ranks sixth in the nation among sophomore scorers.
But it isn’t on offense where the ‘Dogs have won their games. Their tight defensive play is the reason they have been able to knock off opponents.
“I think it’s very important, not only to keep it going, but to keep improving on our that,” said sophomore Garrett Johnson of the team’s tough defense. “Anytime you can stop a team from doing what they want to do, it always gives you a chance to give you a win in the end.”
Johnson and his teammates have also done a good job preparing mentally as the season has progressed, Terry said.
“It’s that time of year where teams have to be mentally tough when they go on the road and it’s something we talk about on a regular basis,” Terry said. “You maximize your effort in practice and it helps you with your mental toughness on the road.”
Fresno State will use that mentality to stick to its yearlong game plan of defense first, score second as it heads into the final weeks of the season.
“You win basketball games, especially in the month of February, with your defense,” Terry said. “Just like we’ve said all year, we take it one day at a time and try to improve as a program each and every opportunity on the floor.”