Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Jose State
Bulldogs Roll Past San Jose State, 81-63
2/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. --- Fresno State junior guard Marvelle Harris scored 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had six assists to lead the Bulldogs' men's basketball team to an 81-63 win over the San Jose State Spartans on Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center.
The win completed the second-straight season sweep for Fresno State (11-12, 6-4 Mountain West) over the Spartans and the second over a conference opponent this season as the 'Dogs swept Nevada in January.
The Bulldogs also surged into a three-way tie for fourth-place in the conference race - just a half game back of third-place Boise State, who comes to the Save Mart Center on Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. PT, and within striking distance at two games behind MW leaders San Diego State and Wyoming.
"I told our guys that this is the time of year that teams can separate themselves," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. "We put a big emphasis all week on blocking out and creating the spacing to run our offense. I still don't think we have played our best basketball yet."
Junior point guard Cezar Guerrero had 14 points, 11 from the free throw line, and eight rebounds, in his first start of the season and sophomore Karachi Edo added 12 points for the Bulldogs. Junior guard Julien Lewis chipped in 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and had a career-high six steals, doubling his previous best. A total of five Bulldogs reached double figures for the first time this season.
Rashad Muhammad paced San Jose State (2-20, 0-10) with 16 points on just 3-of-12 shooting. Isaac Thornton added 14 for SJSU.
Fresno State led by six at halftime, 37-31, but built its advantage to as much as 22 in the second half.
Muhammad hit two free throws to cut the Spartans deficit to three points early in the second half, but the Bulldogs responded with a 14-3 run - with 3-pointers by Darnell Taylor and Emmanuel Owootoah - and never looked back.
Fresno State shot 50.9 percent from the field and scored over 80 points for the third time this season. The Bulldogs dominated in nearly every major statistical category, including dishing out 17 assists with just eight turnovers and recording 14 steals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Up Next
Fresno State will next play Tuesday at UNLV at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN3 inside the Thomas & Mack Center. After the trip over to Las Vegas, the Bulldogs will return to the Save Mart Center for a two-game homestand with home games vs. Boise State (Feb. 14) and Colorado State (Feb. 18).
"Be Bold!" --- Mini-plans for the 2014-15 Fresno State men's basketball season are available starting at $36 through the Bulldog Ticket Office at the Save Mart Center, over the phone at 559-278-DOGS and online at www.GoBulldogs.com.
