Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Take on Defending WAC Champion Aggies
1/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2008
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - After opening the WAC season with a road game for the first time in five season, the Dogs, 61-44 winners at La Tech on Thursday, continue their WAC road swing at New Mexico State. The Aggies also opened WAC play with a road win, 78-68, at Idaho on Wednesday. The Dogs swept the Aggies last season, winning 60-58 in Las Cruces.
A long travel day awaited the Bulldogs Friday, who left Ruston, La., at 8:30 a.m. CT. They arrived in Las Cruces at 3:15 p.m. MT, flying through Dallas and El Paso, before an hour-long bus ride north into New Mexico. For the Dogs, it was their fourth state in three days.
"Travel in the WAC is always a challenge," said Steve Cleveland, who has coached the Dogs to five straight WAC road wins dating back to last season. "We will have our two most demanding travel trips finished within the first three weeks of the season. (The Dogs go to Hawaii in two weeks.) Getting a win last night was great. We we need to play well at the Pan Am Center tomorrow night."
Fresno State will hold a practice this evening at the newly renovated Pan American Center on the New Mexico State campus, the site of the 2008 WAC tournament.
The Bulldogs and Aggies will meet at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be televised live on the Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59 and Comcast Cable channel 5).
Scouting New Mexico State
The Aggies 7-9 overall, 1-0 in the WAC and have played some very tough teams in the pre-season. They played two ranked teams as they were at Duke for the second game of the year. They also played the Longhorns of Texas at a tournament in New Jersey. New Mexico State has also played consistent tournament teams in Ohio, Louisiville and West Virginia and defeated New Mexico 71-62. They beat Alcorn State on Monday (Dec. 31) then won at Idaho on Wednesday 78-68. The Aggies have very balanced scoring as Justin Hawkins (18.8), Johnathan Gibson (12.4), Fred Peete (11.5) and Hatila Passos (10.5) are all averaging double-digit points. Hawkins leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game. After winning the WAC tournament title on its home court, New Mexico State was picked by the WAC coaches as the preseason favorite to win the league again in 2008.
Call `em the 49ers
After allowing 44 points at La Tech on Thursday night, the Dogs are allowing an average of 49 points per game over the last four games. To hold a team to 44 points and just 26 percent shooting on their home floor is an unheard of accomplishment. Fresno State's defense also held Stanford to 55 points in Maples Pavilion.
Dogs Love the Three
The Bulldogs have been raining down three point field goals all season and are the only team in the WAC with more than 100 this season. Fresno State's 121 threes this season rank in the top 20 of all Division I programs this season. No only are the Dogs making a lot of threes, they do it with a high percentage. Fresno State ranks second in the WAC in three point field goal percentage at .358.
Miller Leads the WAC
Senior guard Eddie Miller continues to lead the Western Athletic Conference in three point goals made per game (3.43), just ahead of Utah State's sharp-shooting Jaycee Carroll. Miller has 50 treys this season and ranks third in the WAC in three-point field goal percentage (.481). Miller ranks 10th in the WAC in scoring, 13.4 points per game.
"Join the State - Fresno State! The Bulldogs return home January 8 to take on Saint Mary's College at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. For ticket information, click on the tickets icon at the top of this page. The Dogs continue their road trip Saturday at 6 p.m. when they take on New Mexico State. The game will be televised by the Bulldog Sports Network and can be heard live on radio on KMJ Radio AM 580 and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1600 AM.
