Fresno State Men’s Basketball: ’Dogs soar for 4th straight home win

Wednesday, December 14

Fresno, Calif.

7 p.m. PT

Fresno State

7-3

Holy Names University

1-9

Holy Names

Fresno State

Photo by: Kiel Maddox

Fresno State Men’s Basketball: ’Dogs soar for 4th straight home win

12/14/2016 8:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The next chance to see the Bulldogs at the Save Mart Center is New Year’s Eve when Fresno State hosts Nevada for a 4 p.m. PT showdown between the two longtime conference rivals. Tickets for the Fresno State-Nevada game on Dec. 31 are available starting at $15.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the Holy Names University Hawks 88-54 on Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center.

How it happened: Fresno State (7-3) jumped out to a 20-4 lead over Holy Names University when Bulldogs' junior guard Jahmel Taylor made his second 3-pointer of the game and 11th in a row over the course of the last three games.

Fresno State redshirt sophomore Deshon Taylor scored a career-high 16 points for the Bulldogs.

Jahmel Taylor, who finished with 10 points, missed his next 3-pointer to end his consecutive 3-pointers made streak at 11 – four shy of tying the national record of 15 consecutive 3-pointers made by Northwestern's Todd Leslie in 1990.

Fresno State maintained control for the rest of the game. The Bulldogs led the Hawks 36-26 at halftime and Fresno State led by as many as 37 in the second half.

Next Up: Fresno State visits Pacific on Saturday night at 7 p.m. PT inside the Alex G. Spanos Center on campus. The game will be broadcast live on the TheW.tv and 940 AM ESPN Radio. The game is the first of a three-game road trip, which also includes games at No. 22 Oregon on Tuesday at 8 p.m. PT and at New Mexico to open Mountain West play on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. PT.

Fresno State's next home game is New Year's Eve when the Nevada Wolf Pack enter the Save Mart Center for the Bulldogs' Mountain West home opener. The showdown between the 'Dogs and Wolf Pack starts at 4 p.m. PT and tickets are available starting at $15. A new 5-game flex plan is also on sale for as low as $60.

Quoteable:

Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry on playing some younger players late in tonight's game…
"Those guys do a good job everyday in practice. At the last ball game, we thought that the Red Team's (scout team) offense really prepared us for Cal Poly. In fact, their offense was probably harder than Cal Poly's. Those guys do that everyday against the main line guys, and they really help our starting guys that are in the rotation to get better everyday. Sam Bittner was on that team a year ago, and he has made his way in to playing. So there is always opportunity if you excel. You are going to be given an opportunity in a game at some point, you just have to stay focused and stay positive. Those guys do that everyday in practice so I really wasn't surprised. Darryl (McDowell-White) is one of those guys who can make those kinds of plays and also create plays for other guys. He just hasn't had enough experience on the floor doing things yet. At this point, I like that we were able to get those young guys an opportunity to be on the floor. They need in game experience, every minute on the floor is valuable for those guys."

Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry on playing at Pacific on Saturday...
"It has been a difficult place for us to play. We have lost the last two times over there. We will have to play very sound and stick to our fundamentals. We will have to take care of the basketball, sit back and guard hard, and just go up there and play at a very high level. When you go on the road, it is very hard to play at another level. I hope our guys will be excited about that and keep the focus of really wanting to execute and continue to get better over the month of December."

Player Notes

Deshon Taylor – 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Taylor scored a career-high 16 points … scored in double-figures for the second time in his career … tied his career-high four assists and four rebounds … shot a career-high 70 percent from the field (7-for-10).

Jaron Hopkins – 15 points, 4 assist, 3 steals, 1 rebound
Hopkins scored in double-figures for the third time in his career … he has recorded at least one steal in nine games this season … went 6-for-9 from the field and had a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

Bryson Williams – 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Williams scored in double-figures for the fourth time in his career … tied his career-high with 12 points … the freshman has grabbed at least five rebounds in three games this season … has recorded at least one block in four games this season.

Team Notes:

With the win, Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry has moved into a tie with Steve Cleveland (2005-11) for fifth all-time on the Bulldogs' all-time head coaching wins list. In his sixth season at Fresno State, Terry now has 92 career wins and he is one win away from tying Harry Miller (1960-65) for fourth all-time. This was also the 60th home win for Terry in his six seasons at Fresno State.
The Bulldogs' 7-3 record matches the program's best start since opening 9-1 to start the 2006-07 season. Fresno State also started 7-3 last season and went on to win the 2016 Mountain West Championship for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001.
Fresno State has now won five of its last six games (four straight home wins).
Fresno State is now 33-6 (84.6 percent) at home since the start of the 2014-15 season.
Fresno State has now won 13 of its last 14 and 22 of its last 25 home games.
Fresno State has now won 36 of its last 38 games when leading at halftime.
Fresno State has now won 31 consecutive games when leading with five minutes remaining in the second half.
Fresno State is now 12-0 versus non-Division I opponents in Terry's tenure.
Fresno State has now won 26 straight games against non-Division I opponents.
Fresno State has now scored at least 80 points in eight of its last 15 games, including four times this season.
Fresno State has now won 20 of its last 21 games when scoring 80 or more points.
Fresno State improved to 30-3 when scoring 80 or more points since Terry's arrival in 2011 and 24-2 in those games since the start of the 2013-14 season.