The Bulldogs will have an opportunity to snap San Diego State’s 11-game win streak Wednesday when they host the Aztecs.
At 18-6 overall and 11-0 in Mountain West Conference play, the Aztecs are led by a pair of underclassmen guards in Jeremy Hemsley and Trey Kell alongside senior forward Winston Shepard, all who average double scoring figures per game.
“They’ve got a really good team,” said Fresno State fifth-year head coach Rodney Terry. “They’ve showed a lot of grit throughout the course of conference play, they’ve had a couple close games that could’ve went either way and they’ve found a way to win games. They’re well-coached and they’re one of the better defensive teams in the country.”
In their first meeting this season on Jan. 20 in San Diego, senior guard Cezar Guerrero hit a 3-pointer as time expired to send the game into overtime. But the Aztecs took over the overtime period, outscoring the ‘Dogs 16-10 in the period to pick up the 73-67 win.
“For one, they did a really nice job rebounding the basketball up there,” Terry said. “Our ball-screen defense needs to be than it was up there, and we’ve worked on that. They got a lot of second-chance stuff against us up there. We gave up a lot of points up there on the baseline. So there were quite a few things that we walked away with saying ‘we have to do better this time around.”
Among those looking to play a role this time around in the Bulldog lineup is sophomore center Terrell Carter, who has been receiving more playing time lately. Carter’s opportunities look to increase with the absence of big men Torren Jones and Karachi Edo, who Terry said are both out for Wednesday’s game.
“I’m always just ready for my opportunity,” Carter said. “Coach always tells us to stay ready because you never know when the opportunity will present itself. When one guy falls down, another guy has to step up and in this case it’s two, so I have to play for my brothers and take the opportunity as it’s given.”
Carter coming off of a 14-point, eight rebound game in which he played 21 minutes. The sophomore’s 6-foot-10, 285-pound frame provides a more solid presence for the Bulldogs inside the post.
As the team embraces the “next man up” approach and without the two other big men in Jones and Edo available, Carter said he had to play smart by not getting into foul trouble and letting his emotions get the best of him.
“[The UNLV game] gave me a lot of confidence,” Carter said. “It was the best game of my career since being here and I’ve had fan support, coaches’ support and family support, so it was just a confidence booster for me.”
The ‘Dogs are coming off double-overtime win over UNLV in which nearly 8,000 fans were present. Terry and the ‘Dogs hope for that same turnout this time around as he notices that his team feeds off the crowd buzz.
“It’s a great opportunity as is every conference game this time of year,” Terry said. “Hopefully we’ll have our crowd come out — it was huge for us the other night. It gave our guys a tremendous amount of energy when they needed it and hopefully again we’ll have that same type of atmosphere come Wednesday night.”
