Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Irvine
'Dogs End Skid, Beat Irvine 72-63
12/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2014
By: Andrew Rich
arich1221@mail.fresnostate.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno State rode big nights from Paul Watson, Marvelle Harris and Karachi Edo to snap a five-game losing streak with a 72-63 win over UC Irvine (3-3) on Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center.
"This is a NCAA Tournament caliber team that we played tonight," Bulldogs head coach Rodney Terry said. "I'm proud that our guys were able to force them to make 17 turnovers tonight. We knew that it was going to be a grind, and our guys just kept grinding and stayed together."
Watson poured in 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting. He was joined in double figures by Edo (21 points) and Harris (14). At halftime, the trio had combined for 34 of Fresno State's 36 points.
The 21 points for Edo was a career-high. The sophomore from Richardson, Texas finished 6-of-10 from the field and was 9-for-14 from the free throw line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to tie a career-high and record the second double-double of his career.
"We need Karachi to defend, rebound and give us points," Terry said. "He did all three of those things for us tonight."
Fresno State (2-6) used a 12-2 run to close the first half and build a 36-27 lead going into the break. They would push it to 13 with a quick 4-0 run to start the second half and the lead never got under six points the rest of the way as the `Dogs led for the final 26:21 of the game.
A solid night from the Bulldog defense proved to be key as well. The Anteaters came into the game averaging 71.6 points a game and shooting over 49 percent from the field, but were limited to just 35.4% on this night. UC Irvine's Luke Nelson, who came in averaging a team-best 12.2 points a game, was limited to just 10. All of his points came in the second half after he played just three minutes in the opening half due to foul trouble.
UC Irvine entered the season as the Big West Conference favorites and had gone toe-to-toe with No. 2 Arizona two weeks ago in Tucson. The Anteaters were also ranked No. 17 in the first RPI poll that was released earlier this afternoon.
"This is a good starting point for us tonight," Terry said. "We need to continue to build as a team and continue to be good teammates."
Fresno State is now 10-3 against schools from the Big West Conference during Terry's four seasons in Fresno.
Up Next
The `Dogs open a two-game road trip on Saturday with a trip down Highway 99 to take on Bakersfield. The trip continues next Wednesday with a visit to Big 12 country to take on Texas Tech. Fresno State returns to the Save Mart Center on Saturday, December 13 to take on Cal Poly, a 2014 NCAA Tournament team.
"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.
