Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
New Mexico State
Fresno State Can't Find Range Against Aggies
1/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2008
LAS CRUSES, N.M. (AP) -- The Aggies got hot and the Bulldogs were not. New Mexico State beat Fresno State 77-67 Saturday night in a WAC game.
The Aggies (8-9, 2-0 WAC), who beat Fresno State (8-7, 1-1) for the first time in the last four meetings, shot 48 percent from three point range, while the Dogs, one of the WAC's best three point shooting squads, hit just 21 percent.
Justin Hawkins had 26 points and 13 rebounds while sophomore Jonathan Gibson added 17 points to lead the Aggies Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference game.
Fred Peete finished with 10 points for the Aggies (8-9, 2-0 WAC), who beat Fresno State (8-7, 1-1) for the first time in the last four meetings.
Kevin Bell had 19 points and Eddie Miller added 11 for the Bulldogs while Bryan Harvey pulled down 11 rebounds.
New Mexico State, which lost twice to Fresno State last season, built a 38-28 halftime lead and held on from there.
Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"This was a game that was there for the taking. I never imagined we'd shoot so poorly. They made some big shots down the stretch and we didn't. We played so poorly in the first half. I was pleased with our effort, especially in the second half. We battled and came back cut the lead to two. After that we had three shots to tie or take the lead and didn't make them."
"We can't dwell on this one very long. With Saint Mary's coming to town, they are probably the best team left on our regular season schedule. They lost a tough game at Texas today, but they are a good basketball team. We have to get back home and get ourselves ready for that. We will need a lot of energy from the crowd. This is a great opportunity for the young men to play at home against a top 25 program."
Notes
- In what's as close to a homecoming for Mexico native Hector Hernandez, dozens of family members, friends and media members came the nearly four-hour drive to see him play.
- Up next for the Dogs is a non-conference game against Saint Mary's on Tuesday. The Gaels come to Fresno with a 12-2 record and wins over No. 11 Oregon, San Diego State, and coming off a loss at No. 14 Texas Saturday night.
- The Gaels are the third nationally ranked opponent for the Dogs in a seven-game stretch. The Dogs played No. 18 Arizona and No. 22 Stanford in late December.
- Kevin Bell came up one assist shy of a significant milestone, 500 career assist. He finished the night with three assists and has 499 for his career.
- With 19 points tonight, Bell moved up to 45th place on the Bulldog list for career points (840). He passed Al Brown (1958-60) who had 825 points. Next on the list at No. 44 is Larry Hendrickson (1969-71) with 843 points and sharpshooter Bobby Davis (1979-82) 847.
- The Dogs are 13-16 all-time against the Aggies but are 4-1 under Steve Cleveland.
- Fresno State is playing four of its first five WAC games on the road this season. The lone home contest in that stretch is January 12 against Idaho.
- After leading La Tech wire to wire, the Dogs never gave up the lead to the Aggies until the 7:53 mark of the first half. When Aggie Justin Hawkins made a free throw to give NMSU a 20-19 lead.
- Freshman Ned Golubovic has back-tp-back games of eight points, both career highs, on the road swing. He added a career-best seven rebounds against New Mexico State.
- Bryan Harvey's 11 rebounds were a career-high.
"Join the State - Fresno State! The Bulldogs return home Tuesday, January 8, to take on No. 24 Saint Mary's College at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. The Dogs will host Idaho on Saturday for a WAC game. For ticket information, click on the tickets icon at the top of this page.
