The Fresno State men’s basketball team may have been eliminated from the Mountain West Tournament, but it demonstrated its ability to keep its pace through adversity.
With a pro-New Mexico crowd stomping its feet, chanting and making noise at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, the Bulldogs did what they could to bring their own type of electricity: keep up with the No. 2-seed team in the conference.
After all, the Bulldogs have experience playing in front of hostile crowds, right?
“We’ve had wins on the road in those kinds of environment,” said senior guard Allen Huddleston. Then he mentioned Feb. 22’s 79-76 victory at Utah State. “We’re used to that. I don’t think that had any effect on the game at all.”
In this case, the game was different than a typical regular-season match in a number of ways:
1. Round No. 2
It was the first time that the Bulldogs played in the quarterfinal round of a conference tourney since March 12, 2009, when they faced Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. They lost that game by 1 more point than Thursday’s: 85-68.”¨”¨In addition, the Lobos were playing after a 5-day rest. Fresno State, on the other hand, came off a come-from-behind victory the previous night over Air Force. That showed during the game, as the Lobos blocked six of the Bulldogs’ shot attempts and shot nearly 57 percent from the field — not to mention 42 points in the paint.
2. Big men in New Mexico
Three of the Lobos’ five starters — Cameron Bairstow, Alex Kirk and Deshawn Delaney —are 6-feet-5-inches tall or higher. That became critical in the paint, as the New Mexico outrebounded Fresno State 40-25 and blocked six shots.
“We were outmanned both times we played those guys,” said Fresno State coach
Rodney Terry. “We knew going in we were giving up a lot of girth and a lot of size to those guys.
“The two big older veteran players know how to dive. We didn’t really want to leave one of those guys diving to the basket and having to match up with them.”
Defensively, the goal of New Mexico coach Craig Neal when it came to his big men was simple: block the basketball and avoid fouls.”¨”¨Obij Aget, the 7-foot-1-inch freshman center, only played 4 minutes in the contest and had three personal fouls — all from failed shot-block attempts. That didn’t sit well with Neal.
With seven seconds to go in the first half, Aget fouled Cezar Guerrero as he went toward the basket. That prompted Neal to give his team some instruction during the timeout after Guerrero made his free throws:
“Just block the shot!”
3. A cylinder was missing
Fresno State senior guard Tyler Johnson, who leads his team in scoring (16.5 points per game), only had 2 points in the game and was 1 for 7 from the field.
The Bulldogs did pick up the extra work, however. Huddleston led the team with 18 points (4 for 7 from the field, 7 for 11 in free-throw shooting), and Alex Davis, Paul Watson and Marvelle Harris scored in double-figures as well.
New Mexico saw Johnson’s performance in Wednesday’s game against Air Force and planned accordingly. It saw that as a weakness: attack the Bulldogs’ biggest threat, and the team will fall flat on its back. However, Fresno State was able to adjust to that by showing balance and ball-movement.
Now, the Bulldogs have a chance to go to either the College Basketball Invitational or the CollegeInsider.com Tournaments. That means the Bulldogs season may not be over yet, and this New Mexico match is just another learning experience.
And Terry is “absolutely” OK with that.
“Playing in a hostile environment against one of the best teams in the country,” he said, “we can’t do anything but grow in those types of situations.”
