The Fresno State men’s basketball team bounced back in a dominant way, picking up an 83-64 win against the visiting Lamar Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.

In their previous game, the Bulldogs struggled to play good defense and play physical on both ends of the court, but that was not the case against Lamar.

“I was really pleased with our effort and energy today,” head coach Rodney Terry said. “That was the one thing I felt in our last contest, we didn’t have great energy and activity, especially defensively. I thought today our guys came out with great intensity defensively — they were engaged; they were talking; communicating; and we had much better effort in that regard.”

Guard Jaron Hopkins led the Bulldogs with 23 points and provided great defense, racking up a game-high five steals. Hopkins was locked in all game and had a flashy end-to-end dunk that got the crowd going.

Senior forward Paul Watson scored 17 points and also had some highlight-reel plays. Watson was again a critical player as he had been in the previous two games. He had an amazing put back dunk, and followed it up shortly with an emphatic slam over a Lamar player.

“Once I saw the lane, I just thought, ‘Take off,’” Watson said.

Guard Jahmel Taylor and center Terrell Carter II had great games on both ends of the court. Taylor had 16 points and made 4-of-6 3-point attempts. Carter had 15 points and six rebounds, and he played an integral role in Fresno State’s physicality in the paint.

Overall, the Bulldogs had an excellent shooting performance, making 56.6 percent of their shots. Their defense stifled Lamar, holding the Cardinals to only 40.4 percent shooting.

Once Fresno State took a 14-12 lead with 10:34 left in the first half, it never trailed again. Although the Bulldogs led for the rest of the game, Lamar pulled within four points with 7:41 left.

That was as close as Lamar would get. Fresno State reeled off a 13-0 run to pull away and seal the win.

Fresno State forward Sam Bittner did not show up much in the box score, but he was as important as any player on the court Saturday. Bittner came off the bench to provide excellent defense, and he made great offensive plays with his ball movement.