The Fresno State men’s basketball team will be in Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday night, looking for its first road win over a Top 25 team since 2000.

When the Bulldogs won that game on Feb. 24, 2000, they were up against 12th-ranked Tulsa.

This time, the Arizona Wildcats will look to spoil the ‘Dogs’ hope of winning another road game against a nationally ranked team.

The Wildcats (7-1) are ranked No. 13 and No. 12 in the latest Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, respectively.

While the Wildcats won their last match Saturday against Gonzaga, the ‘Dogs are coming off a 77-65 road loss against Cal Poly.

In the loss, the ‘Dogs were held to 35 percent shooting from the field and 5-of-22 from long range

“For whatever reason, we started slow and weren’t making shots,” Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. “We’ve got to spend more time in the gym working on our shooting. We knew Cal Poly had some really good players who could shoot the ball and they did that tonight.”
But the ‘Dogs have quickly climbed to the top of the conference despite being picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West by a preseason poll.

With a win against Arizona, the ‘Dogs can improve their record to 7-2, which would make it their best start since 2006.

The all-time series between Arizona and Fresno State is tied 3-3 with the Bulldogs having won two of the last three meetings.

But the ‘Dogs’ last victory against the Wildcats came exactly 35 years ago, on Dec. 9, 1980. Wednesday’s game will be the first meeting between the schools since Arizona beat Fresno State 69-60 in Tucson on Dec. 16, 2007.

For the ‘Dogs, senior guard Marvelle Harris has led the way in the early part of the season.
Harris, who received player of the week honors in November, is averaging 19 points and 4.4 assists per game this season.

Arizona is led by senior forward Ryan Anderson, who averages 15.6 points per game, along with 9.6 rebounds.

Wednesday’s game will tip-off from the desert at 6 p.m.