'Dogs surge past Spartans for Terry’s 100th win

Wednesday, February 15

Fresno, Calif.

7 p.m. PT

Fresno State

15-11, 7-7MW

San Jose State

13-11, 6-7MW

San Jose State

Fresno State

Photo by: Cary Edmondson

'Dogs surge past Spartans for Terry’s 100th win

2/15/2017 9:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State will host the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. Tickets for the game start at $15, while there is free admission for all Fresno State students, plus one student guest. The first 1,500 students to the game will get a free taco and one student will win a $2,500 scholarship from Office Depot.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the San Jose State Spartans 77-59 on Wednesday evening inside the Save Mart Center.

How it happened: Fresno State (15-11, 7-7 Mountain West) delivered a strong second-half effort, which included a 24-3 run, as the Bulldogs snapped the Spartans' four-game winning streak. The win was the 100th victory for Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry, who is in his sixth season leading the Bulldogs.

Fresno state redshirt sophomore guard Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 22 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 clip at the free throw line, and three assists. Bulldogs' redshirt junior guard Jaron Hopkins added 19 points with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

After trailing 35-30 at halftime, Fresno State shot a blistering 64 percent (16-for-25) in the second half, and the Bulldogs finished the game outscoring SJSU 24-6 in points off turnovers and 36-20 in the paint for the full 40 minutes.

Fresno State had opened the second half on an 8-1 run before SJSU answered with five straight points to retake the lead at 41-38.

But that's when the Bulldogs took off for their 24-3 surge and never looked back.

San Jose State (13-11, 6-7 MW) shot the ball well in the first half while making 60.9 percent of its field goal attempts. However, the Fresno State defense made key adjustments at halftime and largely contained the Spartans in the second half as SJSU made just 33.3 percent after the break.

The 18-point win tied for the fifth-largest margin of victory for Fresno State in a conference game since joining the MW in 2012.

What it means: Fresno State climbed into sole possession of sixth place in the Mountain West standings, and currently sit just a half game back of fifth-place San Diego State, who edged Utah State 66-62 on Wednesday night as the Aztecs are 7-6 in conference play.

The top five teams in conference play at the end of the regular season earn a first-round bye for the 2017 MW Championships, which will be held March 8-11 in Las Vegas.

Quoteable:
Head Coach Rodney Terry on 100 career wins and seeing team come out in second half…
"I give all the guys that come out of this program the credit for the wins. That first team we had here was a team that played with unbelievable effort. They did everything we asked of them. I can remember the first game I got to coach here against a really good Illinois State team and we came out and competed at a very high level and we were able to come out with the win. That team laid the foundation for how hard this team has to come out every night. We had good execution especially from a defensive standpoint in the second half."

Paul Watson on the support of the Fresno State Student Section ("Dog Pound")…
"It was great to see our student body out there supporting us. They mean a lot to us and they can really change a game. I don't know if they realize that, but being out there and having them be loud and making noise brings energy to us, and it also deflates the opposing team. It is definitely big to have them out there and we would love to have them out there as much as possible."

Head Coach Rodney Terry on the second half tonight…
"We talked about marching forward. We had a tough week last week and we needed to bounce back. We knew that coming back home wasn't going to be enough and we were going to have to compete at a very high level against a team that has been playing extremely well who was coming off of a four-game win streak. We knew we were going to be coming in here with a lot of energy and activity, especially on the defensive end of the floor. I thought our guys did a really good job at executing the game plan in terms of our defense."

Head Coach Rodney Terry on Cullen Russo returning to action…
"He has had a chance to be away from basketball a little bit and concentrate on his academic work. He has gotten things back in order in terms of re-focusing on how he really wants to finish out his year. He has done all the things that we have asked him to do off the court and I think that he is probably more focused at this point than he has been at any other point in the season. His attitude has been terrific during the last couple of practices and he carried it over to today's game. He is definitely a difference-maker in terms being able to do a lot of different things for our team. His attitude over the last couple of days has been tremendous and hopefully he can be consistent with that for the rest of the way and have a great finish to the season."

Head Coach Rodney Terry on the milestone win and 1st win after trailing at halftime…
"The fact that we were down and had the chance to come back was huge. I know that when we are up at halftime, we are pretty good. When you are going in to the locker room and you are down, you have to come back up and take it to a whole other level. I thought our guys really responded and executed the game plan well, especially from a defensive standpoint. That allowed us to play to our strength in transition and we were able to open the game up because of that. That is probably the thing that I am most satisfied with tonight. They were challenged at halftime on the defensive side of the floor and how hard we needed to play. We knew we had a team coming in with a lot of confidence, but we needed to come out and set the tone. We can always find ways in our games to come out and score, but it is a matter of making stops on the other end of the floor, too."

Paul Watson on what changed in the second half…
"I would say our intensity is what picked up. In the first half, we weren't getting the key stops that we needed and that is something Coach Terry harped on at halftime in the locker room."

Paul Watson on getting aggressive near the basket…
"Coach Terry is always telling me when I get to the rim to try to dunk it every single time. So when I got to the basket I just tried to finish as strong as I could."

Paul Watson on having his fellow senior, Cullen Russo, back on the floor…
"It's great. Having Cullen back out there brings another element to the team. He can do so many different things from passing the ball to scoring the ball to being a defensive presence. It had definitely been a piece that we were missing. It is great to have him back out there."

Jaron Hopkins on Head Coach Rodney Terry's 100th win…
"It means a lot. He has put so much into this program. He eats, sleeps, and lives basketball so we want to go out there and play as hard as we can for him."

Jaron Hopkins on playing New Mexico on Saturday…
"We know they are a very good team. We need to go out execute and stick to the scouting report. We are going to have to play with minimal fouls and still remain aggressive. It will be a good test for us."

Player Notes:
Deshon Taylor – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
The redshirt sophomore scored more than 20 points for the fourth time in his career and in double-digits for the 11th time in his career … led all scorers with 22 points … now leads the team in total points and points per game during Mountain West games this season … went a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line … has scored at least 18 points in each of the last nine games … has grabbed at least three rebounds in five of the last six games.

Jaron Hopkins – 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
The redshirt junior scored in double-digits for the 20th time (ninth straight game) in his career … tied for a team-high seven rebounds … logged a team-high three steals … has had multiple steals in four of the last five games.

Team Notes:

The win marked the 100th for Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry, who is 100-95 in his sixth season with the Bulldogs. Fresno State won the 2016 MW Championship and earned a bid into the 2016 NCAA Tournament – the program's first NCAA appearance since 2001.
Fresno State has won 15 of its last 19 games in its next game after a loss.
Fresno State improved to 11-2 overall at home this season (6-1 vs. MW opponents).
Fresno State has now won 14 of its last 15 home games when playing a Mountain West opponent.
Fresno State has now won 10 of its last 11 home games.
Fresno State has now won 12 straight home games played on a Wednesday.
Fresno State improved to 27-4 overall at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
Fresno State improved to 38-7 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season.
This was Fresno State's first win this season when trailing at halftime (10th attempt).
Fresno State has now won six of its last eight games when playing San Jose State, including seven consecutive games played in Fresno at the Save Mart Center.

Next Up: Fresno State hosts New Mexico (16-10, 9-5 MW) on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT inside the Save Mart Center.

During the Feb. 18 game, one Fresno State student will win a $2,500 scholarship, courtesy of Office Depot.

Another student will win a free Apple Watch and the first 1,500 students will receive free tacos in one of the nation's largest taco giveaways ever. 1,000 students will also receive a free Pepsi voucher, courtesy of Pepsi.

Thousands of official #FSStudentNight t-shirts, which feature the motto "Our Students. Our Team. Our Valley." will be given away all game. Other great student giveaways will go on throughout the contest, which also includes tons of free shirts and more.

Single-game tickets are available at the Save Mart Center Box Office and www.ticketmaster.com, starting at $15 for either the Feb. 18 game vs. New Mexico or March 4 game vs. UNLV.

"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.