Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Presbyterian
Fresno State Rolls By Presbyterian, 65-39
12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Eddie Miller scored 17 points and Kevin Bell added 13 points and seven assists as Fresno State hammered Presbyterian 65-39 on Thursday night,
Hector Hernandez had 12 points for Fresno State (6-5), and Tyson Parker added 11 points and six rebounds, as the Bulldogs held the Blue Hose to its lowest point total of the season.
Pierre Miller had 11 points for Presbyterian (1-13), which committed 22 turnovers in dropping its fifth straight road game.
Fresno State shot 49.0 percent from the field compared to 32.6 percent for the Blue Hose.
Eddie Miller finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range for the Bulldogs and collected five of his team's 15 steals.
Fresno State led the entire game except for a couple possessions early in the first half.
Presbyterian trimmed the deficit to 36-26 on Al'lonzo Coleman's layup with 16:56 remaining, but the Bulldogs answered with a 14-3 spurt to put the game away.
Coleman and Travis Sligh had nine points apiece for the Blue Hose.
Hernandez's 3-pointer with less than a second remaining sent Fresno State into the locker room with a 32-20 lead.
The Bulldogs closed the half on a 13-2 run that included consecutive Miller 3-pointers. Miller had 12 points in the first half, all coming from beyond the arc.
Fresno State led 9-2 early before going more than 7 minutes without a field goal, allowing Presbyterian to hang around.
The Blue Hose were playing the fifth game of an 11-game road trip, including three in California.
Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"This was a good game for us. We had some guys really step up and gain some confidence and we are going to need that with a very good Pacific team coming to town on Saturday night."
"We took 22 threes tonight and that's a good number for us. Taking 35 is way too many. We had about seven more turnovers than I would have liked."
"We are at a point and making progress that by February we are going to be a very tough team to beat. We are getting better. We have some guys doing things they've never been asked to do before and they are learning, working and getting better. Teams are really going to have a hard time with us on another month."
"Pacific is a big challenge. They are 8-3 and beat Nevada and won at Santa Clara. They are well coached and a good ball club. We will need all of our fans out in force to support this team. I urge all of the season ticket holders who can't come to the game to give their tickets to someone who can...friends, neighbors, co-workers. We need the Red Wave support in full force on Saturday night at the Save Mart Center."
Notes
- The 39 points scored by Presbyterian were the fewest allowed by Fresno State since Jan. 31, 1985, a 56-39 win over Pacific. That the under former Bulldog legend coach Boyd Grant and the Dogs went 23-9 that season, losing to UCLA in the first round of the NIT.
- Eddie Miller had a career-high five steals against Presbyterian College while Tyson Parker had career-high three steals. The Dogs created 15 steals in the game, a season high. The previous high was 11 against Sam Houston State.
- Kevin Bell had seven more assists in the game, bringing his career total to 481 and moving him to No. 17 on the all-time WAC list. He still trails former Dog Dominick Young on the Bulldog list but is in track to take that record.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State men's basketball team continues play at the Save Mart this Saturday, December 22 against Pacific at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (559)485-TIXS, or in person at the Save Mart Center box office.
