Men's Basketball Preview

Fresno State (11-9, 4-5) vs. Idaho (3-16, 0-8)

Point Guard

Ajay Riding should once again have a good chance of getting lots of playing time against Idaho. The Bulldogs came out with the largest margin of victory this season against the Vandals, beating them 89–54 at the Save Mart Center.

But for that to happen, Kevin Bell needs to engineer his team early, in which he has a good chance of doing so when he goes up against a smaller point guard in Keoni Watson.

Watson had six points and two assists against Bell, who finished with seven points and nine assists to go along with seven rebounds.

Bell is going into the game leading the Western Athletic Conference in assist with 6.1 per game. His turnover to assist ratio has been outstanding in recent games, as the Bulldogs have been getting open looks consistently from behind the arc.

Wing

The big question going into the Idaho game is if Ja’Vance Coleman will be able to play after spraining his ankle in the first of half against Boise State on Saturday.

It looks like a sprain ankle won’t stop Coleman from suiting up. He is expected to be in the starting lineup, even though his status is day-to-day.

If Coleman doesn’t start, Dwight O’Neil will. The sophomore guard O’Neil dismissed any signs of rust after missing two games in January for academic reasons. In his four games back, he has averaged 11 points a game. He’s been doing this off the bench.

His replacement, Donovan Morris, has done more than just step up by keeping the starting position and averaging almost eight points a game.

On the other hand, the Bulldogs need another big-time performance from Quinton Hosley, who scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Vandals.

Center

Hector Hernandez shouldn’t have a problem with his opponents in tonights game.

In the last matchup against the Vandals, the sophomore forward had four rebounds, two blocks and four steals to go along with his nine points. Also, he helped keep the Vandal forwards from scoring in double figures.

That doesn’t mean Hernandez can do it all alone. He will need the big-body presence of his teammates Renato Cesar and James Tchana. The duo combined for 12 points and seven rebounds against Idaho.

At the Save Mart Center, forward Desmond Nwoke had four points and eight rebounds while his teammate, David Dubois, recorded nine points and didn’t have a single rebound.

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