Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UTSA
Bulldog Rally Falls Just Short, Again
11/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2011
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Jonathan Wills scored a career-high 26 points, including 20 in the second half, but it was not enough to bring Fresno State back from a 17-point halftime deficit in a 83-79 loss to UT-San Antonio Tuesday night at Moby Arena in the Dicks's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off.
After coming back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game the night before against Manhattan before falling in the final seconds, another frantic Bulldog comeback came up just short again.
The Bulldogs closed to within two points Tuesday following a Jerry Brown layup with four seconds remaining, but UTSA's Melvin Johnson III hit a pair of free-throws to seal the four-point win for the Roadrunners.
"I thought we had tremendous effort tonight, much better than last night, but it's still a work in progress towards playing for 40 minutes," head coach Rodney Terry said.
After UTSA (3-2) shot 53.5 percent in the first half, Fresno State (2-3) employed a full-court press in the second half that allowed them to get back in the game. The Roadrunners had nine second-half turnovers, but managed to hold off another major comeback by the Bulldogs.
"I think our guys the last two nights have done a good job with our pressure defense," Terry said. "We are getting the traps that we want, we are getting the pressure that we want, we just can't foul them to take them off the hook and put them on the free-throw line. I like what our guys have done to this point in terms of our pressure defense and trying to execute that part of our game."
Wills more than doubled his previous career-high of 12 points that he set against Nevada last season. He hit 6-of-9 field goals and went a perfect 13-of-13 at the free-throw line. His seven rebounds matched his previous personal best and led the team Tuesday night.
"Coach put in a new package for the zone [defense] and I was just filling the gaps and my teammates found me," Wills said. "We got to go back home and tighten up our rebounding, boxing out and talking on defense as a team. We are still getting better as a team."
The Roadrunners got 38 points from their bench and forced the Bulldogs into 12 first-half turnovers to jump out to the big lead. Fresno State only turned the ball over three times in the second half.
Bulldog sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe finished with 18 points, grinding out a tough shooting night where he was 6-for-23 from the field and 4-of-16 from the beyond the arch. His teammates picked him up though on Tuesday.
Asides from Wills, forward Jerry Brown contributed with 10 points and guard Tyler Johnson scored a career-high 11 points.
Senior guard Steven Shepp was the catalyst for the Bulldog offense that when they took care of the ball, scored pretty much at will against the Roadrunner zone defense.
"We have a lot of positives right now and got two good days playing against the zone," Terry said.
Shepp tied his career-high with 10 assists and also pulled down four rebounds, had three of Fresno State's nine steals in the game and scored six points.
Johnson III and Kannon Burrage led the Roadrunners with 14 points apiece, but eight different UTSA players scored seven or more points in the game.
"We Are Your Team" - Fresno State continues on with its road swing, as the Bulldogs head to North Dakota State for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 26. The game will be the `Dogs fifth and final game away from home before returning to the Save Mart Center on Nov. 30 to host the Academy of the Art University.
