Fresno State Athletics
Men's Basketball Faces Georgia in NIT on ESPN2
3/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 13, 2007
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Up Next For The Bulldogs: Fresno State returns to the postseason for the first time since the 2001-02 season when it participates in the 2007 MasterCard NIT, on March 14 against Georgia at 7 p.m. (EST). The Bulldogs earned the No. 5 seed and face No. 4 Georgia, who will host at the 10, 523 seat Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. The game between the two Bulldogs will be shown live on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. (EST) with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes calling the game action.
The New NIT Bracket: The 70th Annual NIT was trimmed down to 32 teams this year and teams were placed in a bracket, similar to the NCAA Tournament. The new format and the amount of teams have placed more significance on reaching the NIT. The tournament features 25 teams with 20 or more wins. The field also includes eight automatic qualifiers who were regular season conference champions that did not receive bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Not a First Facing Georgia: Fresno State will be facing Georgia for the second time in school history in the NIT. The two teams met in the 1998 NIT in New York. Georgia beat Fresno State 95-79 in the third-fourth place game at Madison Square Garden in the final game of the season. Fresno State also faced the Bulldogs of Georgia the following season in 1998 and also again in 2000 at Selland Arena.
All-WAC Teams Announced: Fresno State had two players earn All-WAC honors announced by the conference on Sunday. Senior forward Quinton Hosley and junior forward Dominic McGuire, each earned Second Team All-Conference honors. Hosley earned Second Team honors for the second straight year. McGuire was also named to the All-Defensive Team and to the All-Newcomer Team.
Another Time Zone For Fresno: Fresno State will play in the Eastern Time Zone for the first time this season on Wednesday night. Wednesday's game will be the fifth time zone the Bulldogs will have played in this year. Fresno has played in the Hawaiian Time Zone, Pacific Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone, Central and now Eastern.
Who's Hot: Fresno State junior forward Dominic McGuire posted his 15th double-double of the season against Boise State in the WAC Tournament. McGuire had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. McGuire shot 8 of 13 from the floor and added three blocks and four assists in 37 minutes of action.
20-Win Mark: Fresno State hit the 20-win mark on Saturday, February 24 with a victory over New Mexico State. The 20 wins marks the 16th time in the program's 85-year history a team has won at least 20 games. Reaching 20 wins this season marks the fifth time in head coach Steve Cleveland's 10 seasons as a Division I coach he has reached that number. It is the first 20-win season at Fresno State since the 2002-03 campaign.
22 for the Bulldogs: Fresno State reached 22 wins on Saturday, March 3 with a 71-66 road victory over Utah State. The win marked the first time since the 1995-96 season that the Bulldogs have recorded 22 wins in a season.
Double-Double Animal Style: Fresno State senior forward Quinton Hosley and junior forward Dominic McGuire have led the Bulldogs in double-doubles this season. McGuire leads the team with 15 double-doubles on the year and has added one triple-double. Hosley is right behind McGuire with 11 double-doubles, with Hosley's most recent coming against Boise State. McGuire has posted three straight double-doubles against Boise State, Utah State and again against Boise State.
Career Night For KB: Fresno State junior point guard Kevin Bell not only had a career-night against Utah State on Saturday, but he had a career-week. Bell set a career-high with 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting against Utah State and added seven assists. He topped his career-high of 17 points, which he set on Thursday against Boise State. Against the Broncos Bell hit the game-winning shot with 0.6 seconds left. He also added 11 assists in the game.
Road Sweet Road: After beginning the WAC road season 0-4, Fresno State has now won four straight WAC road games to improve its WAC road record to 4-4. The Bulldogs went 1-7 during WAC road play last season. Overall Fresno State is 7-5 on the road this year, more than doubling its road win total from a season ago. In Steve Cleveland's first season, the Bulldogs went 3-10 on the road.
Dis-and-Data:
• Dominic McGuire recorded his 15th double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds against Boise State on March 8.
• Kevin Bell followed his career-high 25 points with a 20-point effort on March 8 against Boise State in the WAC Tournament. Bell went 7 for 17 in 39 minutes of action.
• Fresno State has won seven out of its last nine games, including four straight road wins.
• Hector Hernandez posted his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Boise State in the WAC Tournament in 38 minutes of action.
About the Bulldogs: Georgia comes into the NIT with an 18-13 overall record after losing in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to Florida 74-57. The Bulldogs finished conference play 8-8, fifth place in the SEC East. Georgia went 13-4 home this season and averaged 7,648 fans per home game at the Stegeman Coliseum on the Georgia campus in Athens, Ga. The NIT appearance is the Bulldogs' first postseason berth since 2003-04 season when they also went to the NIT. The Bulldogs are led by a strong post presence in Takais Brown, who is averaging 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. After Brown, Georgia has a trio of guards that can put up big numbers. Levi Stukes is averaging 12.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in close to 30 minutes per game. Sundiata Gains is averaging 10.6 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game as a 6-1 guard. As a team the Bulldogs are scoring 75.4 points per game and are allowing 68.3 points.
