Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Arizona
Fresno State Hangs Tough Against No. 21 Arizona
12/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2007
Final Stats | AP Photo Gallery 
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill had a warning for the Wildcats before they met underdog Fresno State.
"I told our team before the game, we're a growing team, and when you're a growing team you don't want to have any setbacks," O'Neill said.
The 21st-ranked Wildcats responded with a 69-50 victory Sunday for their fourth straight victory.
Jerryd Bayless scored 21 points, Chase Budinger added 16 points, and Jordan Hill finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (7-2).
Arizona played for the second time since coach Lute Olson announced he would extend his personal leave of absence through the end of the season. In the first game, Arizona spotted Illinois a 12-0 lead in Chicago before rallying for a 78-72 overtime victory.
Sunday's game tipped off at 1 p.m., and with most students gone for the holidays, the typically raucous McKale Center had a sleepy feel. On a greaseboard in Arizona's locker room, coaches wrote: "Don't ease into the game. Be ready and into it from the start."
The Wildcats ignored the advice and trailed 17-15 midway through the first half.
"We are an ease-in group," O'Neill said.
But Arizona responded with a 20-2 run to take a 35-19 halftime lead and end any thoughts the Bulldogs had of pulling off an upset.
"We came out in the first half and were doing what we needed to," said Fresno State guard Kevin Bell, who led the Bulldogs with 12 points. "But then we stopped."
The Bulldogs stopped, but Bayless was only getting started. During the 20-2 run, he made three 3-pointers and jammed off an alley-oop pass from Nic Wise.
"I started making some shots," Bayless said. "I made my first one, and my teammates kept getting the ball to me."
Early in the second half, Bayless brought the crowd to its feet with a between-the-legs pass to Jamelle Horn, who dunked. Bayless said he wasn't afraid of incurring O'Neill's wrath with the showboat move.
"K.O. gets mad if you don't complete the play," Bayless said. "If you do something fancy and the ball gets turned over, you're dead."
O'Neill said he thought it was "a great play.
"I tell our guys this all the time: 'If you complete it, I'm for it,"' O'Neill said. "If you throw a hook shot from halfcourt and it banks in, I'll cheer my little behind right off. Don't bobble it, though."
Bayless, a freshman from Phoenix, is averaging a team-high 20 points and has led the Wildcats in scoring five times in his first nine college games.
On the defensive end, Arizona limited Fresno State to 29.2 percent shooting in the first half. The Bulldogs had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (seven) and scored only two baskets in the final 11:39 of the first half.
"Our defense is getting better, and we're starting to get the system down and trust one another on the defensive end," Bayless said.
The Bulldogs (5-5) dropped their second straight and fell to 1-4 on the road, but coach Steve Cleveland said he thought his team had taken a step forward.
"We showed patience, we showed resolve, and we improved," he said. "We got the same open shots that they did. We just didn't hit as many as we needed."
Arizona visits UNLV on Wednesday night. Fresno State plays host to Presbyterian on Thursday night. "We got better as a basketball team today," said head coach Steve Cleveland. "Make no mistake, we got beat by a very good team ... a better basketball team. But we never quit and we looked like a good offensive team. We ran our offense well in the first half and created opens shots. We came of screens crisp and looked sharp. I'm not displeased with the effort or the way we played. I'm certainly disappointed we lost the game."
Notes
- Kevin Bell handed out seven assists, bringing his career total to 474, which ranks second-best in Bulldog history and 18th in WAC history. He needs four more to catch Ramon Sessions of Nevada (1997-2000) for 17th place and 21 for a total of 495 for 16th place held by Wyoming's Sean Dent (1983-88).
- The game changes late in the first half when the Dogs trailed 22-19, but then went cold going scoreless for a stretch of 7 minutes and 10 seconds, including the final 5:55 of the half. During that time, the Wildcats jumped to a 37-19 lead.
- Freshman Brandon Webster logged his most minutes as a Bulldog with five against the Wildcats.
- Arizona is one of two Pac-10 schools with the Dogs will play in the next four games. Fresno State travels to Stanford on Dec. 29.
- After a two-game road trip, the Dogs played two home games this week, hosting Presbyterian College on Thursday (Dec. 20) and age-old rival on Saturday Pacific (Dec. 22). Tickets for both games are available.
