Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
23-9
UNLV
18-15
'Dogs beat UNLV 95-82 to reach MW Semifinals
3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score | Notes | Photo gallery courtesy of Steve Nowland/NCAA Photos 
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- Fresno State senior guard Julien Lewis scored 27 points to lead the second-seeded Bulldogs' men's basketball team to a wire-to-wire 95-82 victory over UNLV in the Mountain West Basketball Championships quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
With the win, Fresno State (23-9) has reached the semifinals of a conference tournament for the first time since 2005.
"We said going into this game that we knew it wasn't going to be easy," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. "You have to play with unbelievable determination and a lot of urgency. We knew we were going to be playing a very talented team."
In addition to his team-high 27 points, Lewis also had eight rebounds while playing a season-high 38 minutes.
"Over the course of the past month, Julien has really put more of an emphasis on game speed with his shooting," Terry said. "I think he's carried that over into the game at a very high level for us. Again, being an older player, Julien is understanding what this time of year is all about and the urgency you have to play with right now."
Fresno State took control of the game from the outset and led 40-35 at halftime. The 'Dogs scored the first of the second half to lead 46-35 and led by double-digits for much of the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs built as much as a 13-point lead when senior point guard Cezar Guerrero made two of his perfect 8-for-8 clip at the free throw to give Fresno State an 84-71 lead with 2:51 remaining.
Fresno State took a double-digit lead for good when Guerrero's layup made it 86-76 with 1:30 to go. The Bulldogs made 9 of 10 free throws from there and will face the Boise State-Colorado State winner on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. PT.
Defensively, Fresno State forced 14 UNLV turnovers, which the Bulldogs turned into 25 points, and also won the rebounding battle 40-31.
"We sat down and guarded at a high level and we got a couple of turnovers, and I think we played at a very, very high level today," Lewis said.
Guerrero finished with 17 points for Fresno State. Marvelle Harris scored 16, Terrell Carter II added 13 and Karachi Edo had 12.
Patrick McCaw had 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting for the Rebels (18-15). Jerome Seagears had 17 points and 11 assists. Stephen Zimmerman Jr. scored 13 and Ike Nwamu contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
"Be Bold." --- The flagship radio stations for Fresno State men's basketball are 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN Deportes.
