The Fresno State men’s basketball team’s season ended on Wednesday at the hands of the No. 7 seed Nevada Wolf Pack. The 86-71 loss marked the end of Head Coach Vance Walberg’s first season leading the team.

To say that Walberg’s first season was a disappointment would be an understatement.

The Bulldogs ended the season with a 6-26 record and a 2-12 conference record. This was a historically bad season that set the record for most conference and overall losses. Fresno State went on five, six and eleven-game losing streaks this season.

But somehow, their record was good enough to just beat out Air Force for the No. 10 seed, out of 11, in the Mountain West Tournament.

Their performance in their first-round matchup of the Mountain West Tournament perfectly sums up how the season went.

The Bulldogs started both halves off slow, causing them to play from behind for the majority of the game. They only had a lead for one minute and 23 seconds, which was at the very start of the game.

Through almost the first 10 minutes of action, the ‘Dogs shot just 2-of-10 from the field. In that time, only forward Elijah Price and guard Zaon Collins had scored for the Bulldogs.

“Obviously you don’t want to get behind like we got behind,” Walberg said.

After finally settling into the game, the ‘Dogs found themselves down 12 heading into halftime. Nevada Head Coach Steve Alford even had to call a timeout just before halftime to slow down Fresno State’s offensive run.

But another slow start put the ‘Dogs even further behind. Fresno State opened up the second half shooting just 1-for-7.

The Bulldogs were able to get into a groove, much like in the first half, but it was too little too late.

Then there’s the rebounding struggles which Bulldog fans are no strangers to seeing. Today was no different than before.

The Wolf Pack outrebounded the ‘Dogs 42-33. While freshman Elijah Price led the team with 11 rebounds, the team wasn’t big enough to compete in this tournament.

Walberg opted to rotate between his tallest players in centers Mor Seck and Pierre Geneste Jr. to start the game. After 15 minutes of the first half, Walberg decided to keep them both on the bench for the majority of the rest of the game.

Seck totaled just nine minutes and came up with one rebound while Geneste Jr. played 15 minutes totaling 2 rebounds.

While the Bulldogs really have only two centers left on the team, Walberg opted to play neither of them and go to a zone defense to try and limit the ball from getting inside.

“When you have a five [foot] nine [inches] two [shooting guard] and a six foot one [guard], in this league, they’re going to post you up all the time,” Walberg said. “So we had to go to a zone and make some changes.”

While the thought may have been there, the execution was not. The decision to play small ball didn’t work in favor of the ‘Dogs who couldn’t defend the post against Nevada’s big men.

The ‘Dogs ultimately lost by 15 but there were some good points from this final game and historically bad season.

With the lack of depth, some young players were thrust into a large role. Price was no stranger to this.

He finished as the team’s leading scorer with 17 points and added 11 rebounds.

“Playing this year, [I] got a lot of experience,” Price said. “[I] was in a lot of close games, so I saw how we lost those games down the stretch and how we should win those next year.”

Freshman guard Brian Amuneke is in a similar situation. After being thrust into a bigger offensive role due to lack of depth, Amuneke made the most of it. He was the team’s leader in 3-point percentage, shooting 40% from beyond the arc.

Amuneke started Wednesday’s game hot, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers. He would go on a cold stretch but did end with 16 points.

These two freshmen were able to make the most of their playing time. Amuneke was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week following his 17-point game against Boise State on March 1. Price was named to the honor three different times this season.

But the two freshmen weren’t the only players to make the most of their playing time. Junior guard Jasir Tremble was able to shoot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc against Nevada, finishing with 14 points in 23 minutes off the bench.

“That’s basically what my season has come down to,” Tremble said. “[I] didn’t play a lot on the front end of the season, but I’m playing a lot now on the back end, just being ready when my number is called and never shying away from the moment.”

While this season has been nothing short of ugly, certain players were able to take advantage of their elevated roles.

Walberg will still be under contract next year. Some fans find this exciting, as he will have time to build a team. Others, however, want a full rebuild, including the coaching staff.

What is certain, is that it will take some strong offseason adds through the portal and further development of these young players to turn this program around. But at minimum, Walberg needs to find a way to keep a team together through a whole season.