Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Texas Tech
Fresno State Falls at Texas Tech, 73-56
12/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2014
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
LUBBOCK, Texas --- Since Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry's arrival in 2011, the Bulldogs have been known for playing with a relentless tenacity and fervent energy and effort.
For long stretches of Wednesday night's 73-56 loss at Texas Tech, Terry didn't like what he saw from his team on the floor.
"The energy and the effort - we didn't match that in the second half. They won that battle," Terry said. "And that's hard to say for a coach because I like to take a lot of pride in how hard we play and the effort we give on the floor and we didn't give that in the second half to win this game."
Fresno State (3-7) dug itself out of multiple early holes and went into halftime trailing the Red Raiders just 34-31 by going on a first-half closing 13-7 run over the final four minutes.
The Bulldogs' junior team captain and guard Marvelle Harris, who led all scorers with a game-high 17 points, hit a jumper with 17:20 left in the second half. That basket pulled Fresno State within a single point at 34-33, but Texas Tech held the 'Dogs without a field goal for almost the next 10 minutes in building what became an insurmountable 55-36 lead. The Red Raiders controlled the clock for the rest of the game to remain undefeated at home.
In the second half, Fresno State made just 36 percent of its shots but started 1-for-16 and finished the game at just a 40.4 percent clip from the field. Statistically, the game belonged to Texas Tech except for a career-high four blocks by Bulldogs' sophomore guard/forward Paul Watson - all coming in the first half.
"When you miss a shot, you have to come back down and guard and play harder on the other end," Terry said. "You have to just play and not worry about missing shots. We didn't play with the energy, effort and intensity that we need to have for 40 minutes. You especially can't do that on the road. We got great looks in the second half and had an opportunity to be up. When you don't make those, you have to guard, rebound, defend and play hard. We didn't do that."
Devaugntah Williams scored 17 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to lead Texas Tech (6-1), who also featured Justin Gray and Toddrick Gotcher in double figures - scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Up Next
Fresno State will host Cal Poly - a 2014 NCAA Tournament team - on Saturday night at 7 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center. Saturday game is the Bulldogs' Holiday Bash, which will include a Teddy Bear Toss (for Toys for Tots), a snowflake drop and fans can take their holiday photo with TimeOut and the Fresno State Spirit Squad.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"Be Bold!" -- Mini-plans for the 2014-15 Fresno State men's basketball season are available starting at $84 through the Bulldog Ticket Office at the Save Mart Center, over the phone at 559-278-DOGS and online at www.GoBulldogs.com.
