Fresno State men’s basketball lost its fourth straight game Saturday night at the Save Mart Center.
The Aztecs dominated the Bulldogs 61-44 — the lowest amount of points scored by Fresno State this season.
The Bulldogs went 14-41 with shots on the floor, 6-20 beyond the arc and 10-17 for free throws, similar to what was seen in Wednesday’s game against UNLV.
“Sometimes this is make or miss,” said Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson.
The Aztecs’ 14 points from turnovers mirrored the Bulldogs’ offense in Saturday night’s game. Hutson noted that these turnovers happened when Fresno State got a turnover or a steal and instead of shooting the ball, San Diego State turned that turnover into some points.
“The disappointing part was some of our turnovers when we were on a fast break to get a basket. They forced a couple in the first half [but] we had enough self inflicted turnovers and we got a steal and we’re supposed to get excited and get a basket and we lose it and then it goes back to them. And then that was a little demoralizing, ” said Hutson.
Despite taking an early 13-6 lead against the Aztecs, the ‘Dogs fell short after Aztec Chad Baker-Mazara scored a 3-point shot, taking the lead 15-13 with seven minutes on the clock. The Aztecs succeed on offense for the rest of the game, making the shots that the Bulldogs couldn’t make.
“We know [Baker-Mazarra] can score,” said Hutson.
He noted that Baker-Mazara could score, but he wasn’t consistent. The Aztec guard scored a career-high of 20 points against the Bulldogs.
The Aztecs scored most of their points from the paint or from turnovers from the ‘Dogs. The Aztecs shot 20 points in the paint.
He highlighted the Bulldogs’ defense of the game for the 8 points they had from turnovers off San Diego State.
“That’s how good a defense we played, you know you’re turning the ball over, you’re still holding to 60 points. And it could have been less than that, which got played better offensively, we got to make some shots,” Hutson said.
Fresno State guard Isaiah Hill stepped up in the second half, taking shots for the Bulldogs beyond the arc. He was the lead scorer for Fresno State with 15 points.
In the second half with 9:29 left on the clock, Hill scored a 3-pointer taking up the score for the Bulldogs to 45-33, still trailing the Aztecs. A minute later at 8:13 left on the clock, with an assist from Fresno State’s Deon Stroud, Hill shot another 3-pointer, taking up the score to 47-36.
Hutson noted Stroud’s attendance at practices for the result in his minutes for the past couple games after being a double digit scorer last season.
“We did anticipate Deon to help us score and we didn’t anticipate Jemarl to help us score, but we got guys that are capable of taking a few hits here or there. There’s no question about that. That’s very astute. But, you know, I like the guys that we have on the floor and I’m confident in them and they’ll keep working with it,” Hutson said.
He highlighted the athletes that have stepped up this conference season with many recurring names in point leaders, rebounds and assists.
Fresno State forward Anthony Holland played 33 minutes of the game against the Aztecs.
“[We were] just trying to compete with them, trying to fight to finish out the game strong,” Holland said.
The Bulldogs travel to Colorado next for the conference game against Air Force Tuesday, Feb. 22, with tipoff set for 6 p.m.
The ‘Dogs last home game of the season will be on Monday, Feb. 28 when they host New Mexico with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.
