The Fresno State men’s basketball team unveiled two banners Monday night but was unable to pick up its second win of the season, this time against the Prairie View A&M Panthers, losing 84-78.

The main problem was the defense. The team failed to play cohesively and struggled to make the required defensive switches on the fly that must be made on the collegiate level.

Failing to perform defensive switches is usually a high school-level problem, but in Fresno State’s case it could be attributed to the team not getting its new players on the same page.

Head coach Rodney Terry after the game was disappointed in his team’s effort but acknowledged that the season is young and the team is still coming together.

“I’ve got one guy right now that’s playing the way I want to play and the way we played here in the past,” Terry said.

That player is guard Deshon Taylor. Terry lauded Taylor for his effort, which stood above the rest of the team.

Taylor did not show up much in the stat sheet, but he played a strong role through his relentless effort and leadership. He suffered a leg injury in the previous game, and it was a game-time decision if he would play Monday.

Once he got on the court, he never looked back, saying that he felt good once he ran up and down the court.

“My team was there for me through the whole process. They were praying for me to make sure I didn’t tear anything, and I didn’t want to let them down by just sitting out,” Taylor said. “If I was able to run and walk, then I was going to play.”

The game went back and forth and was close for most of the night until Prairie View led by 12 with 43 seconds left. There were 11 lead changes, and the score was tied seven times. Fresno State’s largest lead was seven with just under a minute left in the first half.

Although the Bulldogs went into halftime with a five-point lead, they came out weak to start the second half, which ultimately cost them as they were outscored by 11 points in the second half.­

Fresno State struggled with fouls. Cullen Russo and Terrell Carter II fouled out, and Paul Watson and Jaron Hopkins each had four fouls. Besides fouls, the Bulldogs had a series of officiating calls go against them with about five minutes left in the game.

The crowd vehemently voiced its displeasure with the referees as a loud chorus of boos rained down on the officials.

One of the referees was Bill Vinovich, who more noticeably serves as an NFL referee on Sundays. With 5:33 left in the game, Terry received a technical foul from the officials after reacting to a call against the Bulldogs.

Although Terry felt that specific call could have gone a different way, he said that Vinovich is a good official and that he has nothing negative to say about any calls, just that he is emotionally driven and that he needs the team to take initiative.

The team’s lack of toughness may be due to the absence of senior power forward Karachi Edo who is out because of academic issues and will most likely make his season debut Dec. 20.

“We’re not a tough team right now,” Terry said. “We’re going to have to build some toughness and some grit. We don’t have enough of that right now.”

Watson led the Bulldogs with 21 points and 10 rebounds but also committed six of the team’s 18 costly turnovers. Hopkins was second on the team in scoring with 19 points. Russo put together a solid game — 11 points and nine rebounds.

Another issue was free-throw shooting: Fresno State was 13 of 22 from the charity line.

Freshman forward and Fresno native Bryson Williams started his first game but scored only three points and grabbed two rebounds.

The Bulldogs host Lamar on Saturday at 11 a.m.