Bulldogs beat Bobcats in sixth straight home win

Sunday, November 26

Fresno, Calif.

12 p.m. PT

Fresno State

4-2

Montana State

4-3

Montana State

Fresno State

Photo by: Keith Kountz

Bulldogs beat Bobcats in sixth straight home win

11/26/2017 2:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State pulled away in the second half to improve to 43-7 (.860) in its last 50 home games. Junior Deshon Taylor scored season-high 31 points in the win.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the Montana State Bobcats 80-67 on Sunday afternoon at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (4-2) has now won seven straight non-conference home games and six consecutive home games overall as the Bulldogs finished the 2017 Cancun Challenge with a 3-1 record.

Montana State (4-3) had won the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge this past week at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Mexico and entered the game averaging 82 points per game.

How it happened: After leading 37-35 at halftime, Fresno State blitzed Montana State out of the break with a 17-3 run and never looked back in building a 19-point second half lead before closing out the win.

Fresno State junior guard Deshon Taylor scored a season-high 31 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 11-for-12 clip at the free throw line. Fresno State seniors Terrell Carter II and Ray Bowles, Jr., each scored 12 points.

As a team, Fresno State converted a season-high 82.1 percent (32-for-39) of its free throw attempts with a sizzling 90.6 conversation rate (29-for-32) in the second half.

Throughout the game, the 'Dogs owned the paint with a 42-26 advantage inside and took advantage of 14 Bobcat turnovers for 23 points.

Player Notes:
Deshon Taylor – 31 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist
The junior guard scored a season-high 31 points … scored more than 30 points for the first time this season and second time in his career … made a season-high 11 free throws and recorded a season-high 12 free throw attempts … made a season-high nine field goals and recorded a season-high 16 field goal attempts … tied his season-high with four rebounds … grabbed three defensive rebounds.

Terrell Carter II – 12 points, 7 rebounds
The senior center scored a season-high 12 points … scored in double-figures for the first time this season (11th time in his career) … grabbed a season-high seven rebounds … made a career-high six free throws … had a season-high eight free throw attempts … was 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the second half.

Ray Bowles, Jr. – 12 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
The senior guard scored in double-figures for the third time this season (second straight game) … made a season-high six free throws on a season-high six free throw attempts … was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line … has recorded at least one assist in all five games this season.

Team Notes:

Fresno State improved to 43-7 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season.
Fresno State also improved to 32-4 overall at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
Fresno State has now won seven consecutive non-conference home games.
Fresno State has now won six straight home games and 15 of its last 16 home games.
Fresno State improved to 9-5 all-time when playing Montana, including a perfect 6-0 home record (3-0 all-time at the Save Mart Center).
Fresno State has now scored 80 or more points three times this season.
Fresno State improved to 25-2 in its last 27 games when scoring 80 or more points.
Fresno State improved to 35-5 when scoring 80 or more points in the Terry Era (since the start of the 2011-12 season).
Fresno State improved to 46-9 when limiting an opponent to under 70 points since the start of the 2014-15 season.
Fresno state improved to 51-5 in its last 56 games when leading at halftime.
All nine of Fresno State's student-athletes who played grabbed at least two rebounds.
This was the first of a 10-game stretch of games played in the state of California for Fresno State. Seven of the remaining nine in the span will be played at the Save Mart Center.

Quotes:
Rodney Terry, Fresno State head coach
On playing Montana State
"When we were over in Mexico and they were over there, so we got a chance to see their two games and they got a chance to see our two games. Coach Fish does a great job, and he's done a great job building a program over there, much like ourselves. Hall is a guy who keeps cool with the best of them, he's a good scorer. Ray Bowles did a phenomenal job today in terms of trying to deny Hall's catches and not let him get off to a good start, that was really instrumental to our defensive presence there. Same thing with Fray. Fray is a good guard as well, so we had to do the job on the back court. These guys set a good tone for us defensively. We knew we were going to have to come in and try to out-compete this team, come in and knock this team out. This team plays hard, reminds me a lot of our early teams we've had here, in terms of how hard you have to play every night and compete, so we had a lot of respect for them coming into this game."

On going 29-of-32 from the FT line in the second half…
"Our teams have always typically started slow from the line, give or take throughout the course of this season. It hasn't been something that we're trying to harp on. We know we're going to be in a lot of close ball games all year long, and we came up a little short against Evansville particularly in that area. Our guys just roll their sleeves up, knowing that to fix something, you have to work at it. I give them a lot of credit in terms of getting in and putting the time in the last couple of days and working on their free throw shooting, it's just a lot of repetition and trying to get it at a high level. We were 90% in the second half, a little over 80% for the game, and anytime you can make more free-throws than the other team attempts is Bob Knight right there all the way."

On Sam Bittner finding a place in the starting lineup…
"We know we're going to get great pace with Sam, on offense and defense. We know that he's going to follow his scouting report to a tee. He's going to give us communication out there. He's a junior, has played in some pivotal games and has had opportunities to start forcing the pass for us as well. He is a guy that we know, in every position, he's going to go as hard as he can go. We have a lot of trust in him out on the floor and I think he helps a lot of our flow."

On areas of focus in the non-conference part of the season…
"It's a long season. We try to go month to month in terms of what we're trying to do, and how we're trying to develop as a team. This month has been a lot about activity, energy every night, and communication as three things we're trying to concentrate on in the month of November. We're trying to establish an identity knowing that every night, no matter what happens, we're going to have good energy, be active on the ball, talk and communicate with one another, get in and out of huddles, and try to have a staple of defense every night. We don't know how well we're going to shoot the ball every night, but we want to know that we're going to be the guard every night and get after it. When we move into December, it's going to be about the details from defensive and offensive standpoints. Each month is a different month with what you're trying to focus on, and develop as a team."

On Bryson Williams and Terrell Carter II foul count…
"Nate Grimes has been working really hard the past couple of days in practice, and is a guy we need to give some depth with that position as well. All I ask for those guys to do is to just go out and compete. If they pick up some fouls, hopefully they pick up more smart fouls than bad fouls, but just give us a presence on both ends of the floor and try to compete at a high level. Next man is up when a guy is in trouble, Nate was ready to go tonight and when the opportunity presented itself he did a nice job for us."

On facing Weber State on Thursday…
"It's going to be a really good game. They're a well coached team, a program that has won a lot in the past in terms of post-season play, so it will be a good challenge for us here. When signed up for that series, we knew that they would really challenge us and prepare us for conference play because they do a great job at a very high level. It will be a very good game for us this coming Thursday, competing against a well-coached team."

Ray Bowles, Jr., Fresno State senior guard
On how he physically feels after a heavy defensive game...
"I'm pretty beat up right now but that is every game. It is a long season so I gotta be able to do some recovery stuff and be able to get back on the court and charge up again."

On taking a lot of pride in defending the top shooter every night...
"Yeah I pretty much take lot of pride in defending. I'm not too worried about scoring the ball. I know that Hall is a good scorer and I knew that I had to focus on trying to eliminate his catches and that is pretty much all I focused on today."

Deshon Taylor, Fresno State junior guard
On following dribbles while on defense…
"I just watch their hesitation moves; are they going left 2 dribbles, 2 dribbles right? You have to learn stuff like that when you are guarding the team's best player."

On getting to the free line in the second half...
"Yeah, we were one-and-one with twelve minutes left in the first half and coach said to keep driving the ball, don't set up for outside jumpers and protect the paint as much as we can."

Up Next: Fresno State will host Weber State on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT in a non-conference game, which will the first of three games in a six-day span for the Bulldogs. All Fresno State staff and faculty get free admission to Thursday's game by showing their Fresno State ID at the Save Mart Center Box Office on gameday.

Fresno State will travel to play at Long Beach State on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT, and then return to the Save Mart Center for a Dec. 5 home game versus CSU Bakersfield

Tickets are on sale starting at just $10 through www.Ticketmaster.com and the Save Mart Center Box Office.

A limited number of single-game center section lower bowl tickets (Sections 109, 110, 122 and 123) are also available for $40.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.