Men's Basketball Takes on Pair of WCC Foes

Dec. 2, 2002

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This Week

Wednesday vs. Santa Clara
7 p.m., Selland Arena
TV: None
Radio: KMJ AM 580 (Bill Woodward, Dave Severns)
Live audio also available on gobulldogs.com

Saturday at San Francisco
7 p.m., War Memorial Gymnasium
TV: KRON -- available in Bay Area only (Greg Papa, Dan Belluomini)
Radio: KMJ AM 580 (Bill Woodward, Dave Severns)
Live audio also available on gobulldogs.com

What's Coming Up
Fresno State finishes up its three-game homestand then hits the road for the first time in 2002-03 this week against a pair of West Coast Conference teams. The Bulldogs host Santa Clara (3-1) on Wednesday before traveling to play at San Francisco (0-3) on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

What Just Happened
The Bulldogs opened the 2002-03 campaign and the Ray Lopes Era with their seventh consecutive McCaffrey Classic title. Fresno State opened the season with a hard-fought 65-53 win over Idaho State, then rode Damon Jackson's heroics to a 67-65 victory over Saint Mary's in the championship game. With the score tied 65-65, Jackson hit an 18-foot jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining that lifted the Bulldogs to victory. The win extended Fresno State's win streak in the McCaffrey Classic to 14, the longest in the history of the tournament.

The 2-0 Start Isn't Rare...
Fresno State winning its first two games of the season is nothing new. In five of the past seven years, the Bulldogs have begun the year 2-0, including a 5-0 opening in 1996-97. Last year, Fresno State commenced the season with back-to-back wins before falling to Wake Forest in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.

...But a 3-0 Start Is
Should the Bulldogs defeat Santa Clara on Wednesday, they would begin a year 3-0 for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Ironically, the 97-98 campaign was the last time prior to this year that Fresno State opened with a three-game homestand. Although they are several wins away, it is worthwhile to note the best start in program history is 8-0, which came in the 1929-30 season. In the past nine years, the Bulldogs have only won their first three games twice - once in 1996-97 and the other in the aforementioned 1997-98 year.

Scouting Santa Clara
The Broncos return eight lettermen and two starters from last year's 13-15 (8-6 WCC) team and have been picked to finish fifth in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches' poll. SCU has had no problems scoring this year, piling up a 77.2 average through four games, the second-best number in the WCC. The Broncos are led by junior guard Kyle Bailey's 16.7 scoring average while junior center Jim Howell chips in 12.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Santa Clara has started the 2002-03 season 3-1 with its most recent contest being a 71-69 loss to San Jose State on Saturday. SCU is coached by Dick Davey, who is 176-118 in his 10-plus years at the helm.

Fresno State All-Time vs. Santa Clara
Santa Clara leads the all-time series with Fresno State 18-9, although the Bulldogs have won the last three in a row. The two teams last met Dec. 13, 2000, a game won by Fresno State 64-51 at the Leavey Center. Chris Jefferies led the Bulldogs with 20 points, 13 of which came in the second half, and Melvin Ely added 17 as Fresno State held SCU to just 29 percent shooting and 23 turnovers.

Santa Clara's Recent Action
The Broncos enter Wednesday's contest with Fresno State sporting a 3-1 record. Their most recent game was a 71-69 home loss to San Jose State, in which SJSU's Brandon Hawkins hit a short jumper from the foul line with 3.9 seconds left to clinch victory for the Spartans. SCU was led by Brandon Rohe's 18 points, highlighted by 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. As a team, Santa Clara went 12-of-21 from three-point territory to improve to 45 percent on the year from long distance.

Scouting San Francisco
The Dons, picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches' poll, return seven lettermen and three starters from last year's 12-18 (5-9 WCC) team. They have started the season 0-3 with losses at Seton Hall and UC Santa Barbara and a home loss to Nevada. USF is led by junior forward Darrell Tucker, who is averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, both team highs. He piled up 17 double-doubles last year and was named All-WCC for the second time in three years. Tucker's 1,429 points ranks him 10th on the school's all-time scoring list. The Dons play Southern and Sacramento State this week before taking on the Bulldogs. San Francisco is coached by Philip Mathews, who has a 94-83 record and is in his seventh year on the Hilltop.

Fresno State All-Time vs. San Francisco
The Dons hold a 12-3 lead in the all-time series, although the teams have split the last four meetings. Fresno State began its series with USF in 1953 and lost the first seven meetings. In the most recent matchup, the Bulldogs defeated the Dons 75-65 last year behind Melvin Ely's 22 points. Fresno State's last trip to War Memorial Gymnasium ended up in one of the more memorable games of the series, a 90-89 double overtime victory by USF. The Bulldogs are 0-8 all-time at San Francisco.

San Francisco's Recent Action
USF has started the season 0-3, its most recent defeat coming by a 70-47 score at the hands of UC Santa Barbara. The Dons were led by Darrell Tucker's 14 points but couldn't overcome 29 percent shooting from the floor, including 3-of-26 from beyond the arc. San Francisco has only averaged 56 points per game thus far in 2002-03.

Starting in Style
Ray Lopes got his Fresno State head coaching career off to a good start Friday with a 65-53 win over Idaho State. A Bulldog head coach winning his opener is nothing new, however. Of the six Fresno State coaches since 1965, five won their opener, the exception being Jerry Tarkanian, whose Bulldogs lost to Weber State in 1995.

Better Late Than Never
Few teams in the nation started their season on a later date than the Bulldogs. In fact, the only other team who played its first game after Fresno State was Ohio University, which opened Saturday night. The Nov. 29 opening date is Fresno State's latest start since the 1992-93 season, which began Dec. 1.

Bulldogs Win McCaffrey Classic; Jackson Named MVP
Fresno State picked up its 14th McCaffrey Classic title, and seventh consecutive, with its 67-65 victory over Saint Mary's on Saturday. The Bulldogs have won 14 in a row in their tournament, the longest streak in Classic history. The Gaels took second, Sam Houston State third and Idaho State fourth. The all-tournament team consisted of Donald Cole of Sam Houston State; Scott Henry of Idaho State; Tyler Herr and Chase Poole of Saint Mary's; and Jonathan Woods. Damon Jackson, who hit the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds left to beat SMC, was the tournament's most valuable player.

Another First for Lopes
With Fresno State claiming the McCaffrey Classic crown, head coach Ray Lopes accomplished another first. He became the only coach in program history to win the Classic in his first year at the helm. Ron Adams (1986), Gary Colson (1990) and Jerry Tarkanian (1995) were Lopes' predecessors who couldn't pull off the feat.

All Broken Up
Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes constantly calls for his players to play hard and be tough. Lopes displayed during practice Nov. 27 that he acts as he preaches when he broke his left middle finger during a drill but kept coaching, not missing a beat. Lopes will wear a cast on the hand for a few weeks but will not miss any games.

DeManby Cleared For Launch
Travis DeManby tied his career high with 15 points on five three-pointers Friday night, helping lead the Bulldogs to a 65-53 victory over Idaho State. Through two exhibition games and two regular season games, DeManby has proven quite fond of shots from beyond the arc. The senior has 28 field goal attempts in the three games, 26 of which have been threes. DeManby has made 13 of those attempts and appears to have reclaimed the shooting touch that saw him nail 41 percent of his three-point attempts his sophomore year. The Medford, Ore., native ranks ninth on Fresno State career three-pointer list with 122.

Quite a Rebound
It's one thing for a player to say they have a shooter's mentality, but it's another to actually exhibit it. During the two games in the McCaffrey Classic, Damon Jackson proved he is a shooter to the core. In the season opener against Idaho State, the senior suffered through one of the worst nights of his career, hitting just three of 14 attempts - including 1-of-10 from three-point territory. One day later, Jackson kept firing, and because of it, the Bulldogs defeated Saint Mary's. He scored 20 points against the Gaels, including a game-winning 18-footer with 0.5 seconds left. Jackson was named McCaffrey Classic MVP for his heroics.

Moose Sighting
The 2002-03 season started on a low note for center Mustafa Al-Sayyad, who did not play in Fresno State's victory over Idaho State. But one night later, he became a vital cog in the Bulldogs' McCaffrey Classic clinching victory when he saw significant time after posts Noel Felix and Hiram Fuller got into early foul trouble. The junior, nicknamed "Moose" by his teammates, played 17 minutes and scored seven points, including two free throws with 52 seconds left that put Fresno State ahead by two. Al-Sayyad also grabbed four rebounds on the night.

Curtain Falls on Selland Arena
With the Save Mart Center opening next year, the Bulldogs are in their 36th and final year playing in Selland Arena, the team's home since 1968. Fresno State has gone 394-135 (.745) at the venerable facility in downtown Fresno, including a 104-20 (.839) record over the past seven-plus years. Selland Arena has hosted numerous NIT games and nationally ranked teams, but perhaps the greatest moment came in 2000, when the Bulldogs hosted and won the WAC Tournament, defeating 14th-ranked Tulsa in the championship game, causing fans to storm the court in delirium at the final buzzer. Damon Jackson wrote another page in the Arena's storybook Saturday when he hit a game-winning shot to give the Bulldogs a win in the final McCaffrey Classic ever in the building. Fresno State will bring the Selland Arena Era to a close with its home finale March 1 against Nevada.

Television Schedule
A total of 11 games are scheduled to be broadcast on KFRE WB 59 (cable 5) this year. The package opened Saturday with Fresno State's victory against Saint Mary's. One other home game, Jan. 1 against Tulsa, is on the docket. A non-conference road game against Oklahoma State on Dec. 15 is scheduled to be televised, as are WAC road games at Hawai'i, SMU, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, Boise State, San Jose State, Tulsa and Rice. Fresno State's WAC Tournament contests will also be featured on KFRE.

The 2002-03 Schedule
A schedule Ray Lopes says "should challenge us for WAC and potential postseason play," has been pieced together by the new coaching staff. Highlighting this year's ledger are non-conference road games at Washington State and Oklahoma State and home games against in-state rivals Santa Clara and Pacific. The Bulldogs will also be participating in Bracket Buster Saturday on Feb. 22. Fresno State's opponent will be announced Feb. 3. The idea of the game is to match top mid-major conference teams together just three weeks before Selection Sunday.

First-Year Coaches
Ray Lopes is the 16th head coach in the history of Fresno State men's basketball, currently entering its 80th year as a varsity sport. Three of the last five first-year coaches have come out of the blocks strong, with three - Ed Gregory, Boyd Grant and Jerry Tarkanian - all winning 20 games in their inaugural year. Eight of the 15 coaches began their first year with a winning record, including five of the last six. Following is a list of the Bulldogs' coaches and how they fared in their first season:

Coach             First Year      First Year Record    Overall Record (Yrs)Jerry Tarkanian     1995-96            22-11               153-80 (7)Gary Colson         1990-91            14-16                76-73 (5)Ron Adams           1986-87             9-20                43-62 (4)Boyd Grant          1977-78             21-6               194-74 (9)Ed Gregory          1965-66             21-8              172-142 (12)Harry Miller        1960-61            14-12                93-39 (5)Bill Vanderburgh    1954-55            11-13                89-63 (6)Clark Van Galder    1953-54            13-16                13-16 (1)Dutch Warmerdam     1948-49            14-16               55-107 (6)Pix Pierson         1942-43            6-6-1                6-6-1 (1)Hal Beatty          1939-40             8-11                49-57 (5)Stan Borleske       1934-35             12-8                43-61 (5)Leo A. Harris       1932-33              7-7                 7-7 (1)J. Flint Hanner     1929-30             11-5                27-26 (4)Arthur W. Jones     1921-22*             6-5                70-53 (8)* First year program was in existence

Bulldogs on TV in the Bay Area
Fresno State's game against San Francisco on Saturday won't be televised locally, but it will be available to Bulldog fans in the Bay Area on KRON. If available, satellite coordinates will be posted on www.gobulldogs.com.

Bowl Games and Basketball
This season, for only the second time in program history, Fresno State will play a game on New Year's Day. The January games against Tulsa and Rice were originally scheduled to be played on the road, but a Selland Arena scheduling conflict for the March return contests necessitated a flip-flop. Since Tulsa will be returning home to face Nevada on Jan. 4, an extra travel day is needed, meaning the Bulldogs will ring in 2003 at Selland Arena.

Who's Back?
Fresno State may have lost two players - Melvin Ely and Chris Jefferies - who went in the first round of the NBA Draft, but the cupboard isn't exactly bare. Six Bulldogs who were key components in last year's NIT squad return this year, including starters Damon Jackson, Travis DeManby and Noel Felix. Jackson is Fresno State's leading returning scorer at 11.9 per game, including a 16.2 average the last 10 games when he was forced to pick up the scoring slack in the absence of the injured Jefferies. DeManby, the only Bulldog to start all 34 games last year, will provide experience and leadership to the team as potentially the starting point guard. Felix, Hiram Fuller, Mustafa Al-Sayyad and Phil Rasmussen all made contributions in 2001-02 and will be counted on to do the same this season.

The Newcomers
Six new faces will be wearing Bulldog uniforms this year. Of those six, five come from the junior college ranks. Here is a quick look at each of the new Fresno State players:

Rolando Todd: A junior transfer from Garden City (Kan.) Community College, Todd originally submitted his name for entry into the NBA Draft but later reconsidered and withdrew. He is capable of playing either the one or two. Todd averaged 21 points per game last year for Garden City.
Renaldo Major: A junior transfer from South Plains (Levelland, Texas) College, Major averaged 13 points and eight rebounds last year after being selected all-conference his freshman season.
Jonathan Woods: A junior transfer from South Plains College, Woods was an all-conference honoree last year who averaged 16 points and five rebounds per contest. Known for having good basketball instincts, he creates matchup problems due to his good inside-outside game.
Terry Pettis: The only freshman on this year's team, Pettis led his Patrick Henry High School team to three consecutive state championships. The guard was also runner-up in the voting for Minnesota's Mr. Basketball. Pettis should help provide depth to the point guard position.
Shantay Legans: A senior transfer from California, Legans established himself as one of the top point guards in the Pac-10 in his Golden Bear career. He will sit out the 2002-03 season in compliance with NCAA transfer guidelines, but should step in next year and make an immediate impact.
Ashley Knowlton: A junior transfer from West Valley (Saratoga, Calif.), Knowlton injured his knee during preseason practice and will miss the entire 2002-03 season. He was expected to provide depth at the point guard position.

Bulldogs Picked to Finish Fifth in WAC Preseason Polls
Western Athletic Conference coaches and media have selected Fresno State to finish fifth in their respective preseason polls. Tulsa was chosen as the favorite to win the WAC by both with Hawai'i coming in second. No Bulldogs were picked among first or second team preseason All-WAC players.

PRESEASON COACHES POLL 1. Tulsa (7)___________ 79 2. Hawai`i (2)_________ 71 3. Louisiana Tech______ 63 4. Nevada______________ 56 5. Fresno State________ 42    SMU_________________ 42 7. Rice________________ 38 8. UTEP________________ 22 9. San Jose State______ 2110. Boise State_________ 16first place votes in parentheses
PRESEASON MEDIA POLL 1. Tulsa (19)__________ 211 2. Hawai`I (4)_________ 189 3. Louisiana Tech (1)__ 161 4. Nevada______________ 135 5. Fresno State________ 120 6. SMU_________________ 106 7. Rice________________  67 8. San Jose State______  44 9. Boise State_________  3910. UTEP________________  32first place votes in parentheses

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Men's Basketball Takes on Pair of WCC Foes

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