Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
Furious Finish Falls Short at Utah State
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2015
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
LOGAN, Utah --- Even after losing 85-79 at Utah State on Saturday night, the Fresno State men's basketball team remains in control of its own destiny in search of a first-round bye in the 2015 Mountain West Tournament.
"As I told our guys in the locker room, we have four games remaining (in the regular season)," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. "I can't fault our effort or how hard we tried to play. I thought we played at a high level, but we couldn't get meaningful stops. We had to get those. Our 1-on-1 defense wasn't where it needed to be. Our ball screen defense let us down. We can clean those two areas up. We feel we can beat anyone on any night - home or away - when we do what we are capable of on both offense and defense."
Fresno State (12-15, 7-7 Mountain West) will next play at Wyoming on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. PT before returning to the San Joaquin Valley for its final homestand of the season. The Bulldogs host defending MW tournament champion New Mexico next Saturday and Air Force on Wednesday, March 4 at the Save Mart Center with both games tipping off at 7 p.m. PT.
On Saturday night, an efficient Utah State squad built a seven-point first-half lead, which extended to as many as 12 in the second half. A late Bulldog rally cut the deficit to just three points on a contested 3-pointer by Marvelle Harris on the left wing in front of the Fresno State bench as Utah State led 78-75 with 1:20 play.
The Aggies were able to fend off the Bulldogs' comeback with a game-sealing 3-pointer in the corner off the hot hands of Darius Perkins, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, with 48 seconds remaining. USU executed its offense in trademark style under longtime head coach Stew Morrill, who won his 400th game while coaching at Utah State on Saturday and has announced his decision to retire after the season.
Julion Pearre scored a career-high 19 points and led four players in double figures for Utah State. Perkins had 19 points, David Collette added 16 points and Jalen Moore contributed 11 points with eight rebounds for Utah State (16-10, 9-5 MW)
Fresno State junior Julien Lewis scored 15 of his 21 game-best points in the second half to lead Fresno State. Harris totaled 17 points for his 23rd consecutive double-digit scoring output. Cezar Guerrero added 14 and Paul Watson had 12 points for the Bulldogs.
Up Next
Fresno State wraps up a two-game road trip at Wyoming on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network. Both games can also be heard live on 940 AM ESPN Radio and online at www.GoBulldogs.com.
The Bulldogs will return home on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. PT when Fresno State hosts defending MW tournament champion New Mexico for a BLACKOUT. The team will debut its black jerseys at home for the first time and all fans are asked to WEAR BLACK.
Tickets for the game versus New Mexico on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. PT start at $15 for adults and $10 for youth and seniors, and can be purchased at the Save Mart Center Box Office and online at www.Ticketmaster.com. All Fresno State students get free admission and can also bring one student guest for free.
"Be Bold!" --- 2014-15 Fresno State men's basketball single-game tickets are available starting at $10 through the Save Mart Center Box Office and online through Ticketmaster.com.
