For the first time in school history, the Fresno State men’s basketball team won three straight Mountain West games.
The 82-56 win was over in-state conference rival San Jose State (6-17, 0-11 Mountain West) on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center.
The Bulldogs started off hot as they sunk eight of their first 12 3-pointers and jumped out to an 18-6 lead early in the first half.
Fresno State played one of its best defensive games this season, limiting the Spartans to 30.4 percent shooting from the field and 56 points.
“We really wanted this to be one of our better defensive efforts of the year from start to finish,” said Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry. “I thought our guys came out and gave us a tremendous effort to start the ballgame especially on that end, and we were able to make a lot of shots early as well.”
Led by redshirt sophomore Cezar Guerrero’s 23 points, the ‘Dogs accumulated a 24-point lead in the first half. Guerrero also tied his career-high and was one of three Bulldogs in double figures.
“I’ve been constantly just working on my shot and putting time in the gym,” said Guerrero.
“Practice makes perfect and it just happened to be my game since I happened to shoot the ball really well.”
Other ‘Dogs in double digits were sophomore guard Marvelle Harris and senior guard Tyler Johnson.
Harris had 16 points and was perfect from 3-point range as he shot 4 for 4.
Johnson, who had scored 20 points or more in seven of the past nine games coming into this matchup, recorded his sixth double-double of the season by scoring 15 points and grabbing a team-high 10 boards.
“We understand that we have a lot more work to do,” said Johnson. “As easy as it was to win these three straight, we can drop three straight if we don’t come prepared and ready to play.”
There were 6,784 fans in attendance, the second largest crowd of the year.
San Jose State’s Rashad Muhammad and Jaleel Williams led the Spartans in scoring as they each had double figures.
First-year head coach Dave Wojcik’s squad has now lost 11 straight and remain in last place in the conference.
Up next for the ‘Dogs (11-13, 4-7 MW) is a trip to Reno on Wednesday to take on the fourth place Nevada Wolf Pack (12-12, 7-4 MW).
This will be the second meeting this season between the two. Fresno State lost the previous meeting in double overtime.
The game will be televised on the Mountain West Network and broadcasted through 940 AM ESPN Radio.Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
