The Fresno State men’s basketball team (5-13) came away with its first conference win, defeating Air Force 74-65 on Friday, Jan. 17 at the Save Mart Center, improving the Bulldogs to 1-6 in conference play.
Prior to the win, the Bulldogs were on a six-game losing streak. Their last victory came on Dec. 14 against the University of San Diego, a game they won 73-65.
Sophomore guard Zaon Collins led the charge, scoring a team-high 23 points on an efficient 7-for-11 (64%) from the field, 2-for-4 (50%) from the 3-point line and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Collins also got some help from junior forward Alex Crawford, who pitched in 21 points on 8-for-13 (61.54%) shooting. Senior guard Jalen Weaver recorded a near double-double with 15 points and seven rebounds.
There were flashes of Collins and Crawford’s two-man game throughout the matchup, as both players combined for 44 of the team’s 74 total points.
With the team’s lack of size, Head Coach Vance Walberg pivoted to a zone defense despite only working on it for a brief amount of time in practice.
“We’ve probably spent about seven hours on the zone,” Walberg said. “It’s something one of my assistants, Jaren Harris, did in junior college. I thought it was something we can go to because of our lack of size and to stay out of foul trouble. For the short amount of time we’ve worked on it, I think they did a pretty good job.”
The win was spearheaded by the Bulldogs’ strong zone defense, which only allowed 14 points in the paint as they stuck with it throughout the game.
What happened?
The Bulldogs opened the game with a zone defense right out of the gate, stunning the Falcons by forcing a shot clock violation, and setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The Bulldogs continued to force turnovers, sparking an early 21-7 lead halfway through the first half.
The Falcons answered with a small run themselves as they moved to a full-court press and transitioned into their own zone defense. As a result, this slowed down the Bulldogs’ momentum and ignited Air Force’s offense, bringing the score to 34-22 with the ‘Dogs still in the lead.
However, the Bulldogs weren’t fazed as they continued to rely on their defense and aggressive drives to the paint. This helped the Bulldogs’ lead grow to 41-24 heading into halftime.
Through one half, the Falcons were limited to just six points in the paint out of their total 24 points. In contrast, the Bulldogs scored 16 of their 41 first half points in the paint and went 13-of-14 from the line.

Despite not being a point of emphasis, Collins said driving to the paint aligns with the way the team plays.
“[Driving to the paint] is really our playstyle and getting to the rim,” Collins said. “‘Like threes, love layups’ is what coach says.”
Along with driving to the rim, Collins said Walberg wanted the team to be aggressive at grabbing rebounds and continue to communicate heading into the second half.
“He wanted us to keep rebounding, cracking down and hitting somebody,” Collins said. “He also wanted us to go out there and keep the energy going and keep talking to each other.”
To open the second half, the Bulldogs came out slow on both ends of the court and the Falcons capitalized as they drained their shots from beyond the arc.
But as the second half played out, the Bulldogs were able to keep the Falcons at bay with their defense and continued success at driving to the paint.
Adunk off a loose ball from Crawford that ignited the crowd, as the Bulldogs pulled away with the 74-65 win.
What’s next?
With a 1-6 record in conference play, the Bulldogs are back on the road, aiming to build on their momentum as they take on the University of New Mexico (15-4), the No. 1 team in the Mountain West, on Monday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m.