Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
8-4
Evansville
10-2
Bulldogs Fall 85-77 to CIT Champ Evansville
12/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team fought hard, but struggled to contain the power, ball movement and sharp shooting of defending CIT champion Evansville in a 85-77 loss to the Purple Aces on Sunday afternoon at the Save Mart Center.
"We just couldn't get key stops when we needed to get key stops," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. "When we did get stops we didn't capitalize on the other end, in terms of free throws or finishing a play offensively. Even with not starting the second half the way we needed to start the second half it was still a one or two possession game all the way down the stretch. At some point you have to get a stop and they got a couple key stops against us."
The Bulldogs, who saw their nine-game home winning streak snapped with the loss, stayed closed and were within five when Evansville's D.J. Balentine hit back-to-back jumpers to start a 9-1 surge that made it 70-57 with 6:46 to play.
Fresno State (8-4) got 24 points from Marvelle Harris, including a season-high 18 first-half points, never got closer than six after that.
Egidijus Mockevicius scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Evansville in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.
Balentine had 17 of his 23 points in the first half for the Aces (10-2), which ended with a tie at 40 on a late pull-up 3-pointer by Harris.
Mislav Brzoja, who had 13 of his 16 points after the break, hit two 3-pointers and Mockevicius had four points as Evansville scored the first 10 points of the second half.
Up Next
Fresno State will close its four-game homestand and non-conference play next Sunday at 1 p.m. PT when the Bulldogs host the Pacific Union College Pioneers.
The Bulldogs open Mountain West play on Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. PT at UNLV on ESPNU and host New Mexico on Jan. 2 at 6:30 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"Be Bold. --- Mini-plans are available for the 2015-16 Fresno State men's basketball season by calling 559-278-DOGS or visiting www.GoBulldogs.com.
