Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Oregon
Bulldogs Edged in Eugene, 74-70
12/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. --- Fresno State came into Duck Country and ruffled Oregon's feathers all night long, but the exacerbated Ducks held on to clip the Bulldogs 74-70 in an exciting Saturday night non-conference game on the hardwood of Matthew Knight Arena.
"Our effort was terrific, but we talk about basketball being a game of inches and we have to want those inches," first-year Bulldogs head coach Rodney Terry said. "We are right there. However, we never are going to be satisfied with being right there. Our goal is to win games and this one ended up in the loss column."
And the 'Dogs were right there for the duration as the game featured 10 lead changes, 10 ties and an up-tempo, aggressive attack on both ends of the floor by both squads.
Oregon (5-2) took an early 20-11 lead midway through the first half that Fresno State (4-6) erased in a four-minute 13-4 run to even the game at 24-24.
Bulldogs senior Jonathan Wills extended the run to 17-4 when he converted an old-fashioned three-point play for a four-point lead, Fresno State's largest advantage of the contest.
The Ducks regrouped and escaped with a 34-32 edge at halftime.
An entertaining battle ensued in the second half while the teams played it tight until Oregon's Devoe Joseph drained back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner to jolt the Ducks in front 61-54 with 7:34 left.
Fresno State kept grinding and working the game, which frustrated an Oregon team that simply couldn't pull away. Tyler Johnson knocked down a straightaway 3-pointer to close the deficit to four at 63-59 with 4:44 remaining and Larry McGaughey filled in nicely on the wing to cut it 67-64 on a triple of his own at the 3:24 mark.
Yet, the Bulldogs, who were without leading scorer Kevin Olekaibe for most of the second half due to an ankle injury suffered in the first half, couldn't muster the firepower down the stretch to pull off the upset.
On the night, Wills scored a game-high 20 points, including a 7-for-7 clip at the free throw line to improve his team-leading charity stripe efficiency to 93.9 percent (43-for-46) through the first 10 games. It also marked his third 20-point outing this year.
"Jonathan has really bought in," Terry said of the senior. "We understands that this is his last chance to experience a lot of things and wants to win. He's been real solid."
Both redshirt sophomore Jerry Brown recorded a career-high 13 points, T. Johnson also had 13, and Kevin Foster added 11 of his own for four Bulldogs in double figures through the net.
Olekaibe entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading sophomore scorer at 21.6 points per game, but played only 18 minutes and chipped in four points to snap his 11-game double-digit scoring streak.
Joseph led Oregon with 18 points and Garrett Sim added 17.
Fresno State returns home for Finals Week to wrap up the fall semester and hosts its last home game of 2011 on Saturday against Cal Poly at 7 p.m.
"We Are Your Team!" - Fresno State returns to the San Joaquin Valley for a Dec. 17 home game against Cal Poly. To secure single-game tickets, you can visit Ticketmaster online, through ticketmaster.com, call 1-800-745-3000 or visit the Save Mart Center Box Office between 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday) or two hours prior to tip off on gamedays. Make sure to also like Fresno State Athletics on Facebook and follow @FSAthletics on Twitter for the latest updates from the 'Dogs.
