Taylor scores 18 in Bulldogs’ 70-67 loss to Aztecs

Saturday, February 4

Fresno, Calif.

4 p.m. PT

Fresno State

14-9, 6-5MW

San Diego State

13-9, 5-5MW

San Diego State

Fresno State

Photo by: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Taylor scores 18 in Bulldogs’ 70-67 loss to Aztecs

2/4/2017 8:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State redshirt sophomore guard Deshon Taylor scored 16 of his team-best 18 points in the second half of Saturday’s 70-67 loss to San Diego State.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team lost 70-67 to the San Diego State Aztecs on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

How it happened: Fresno State (14-9, 6-5 Mountain West) gave up 22 points to San Diego State junior guard Trey Kell, which all came in the second half, as the Aztecs built an 11-point lead and held on to defeat the Bulldogs by a single possession.

Fresno State redshirt sophomore Deshon Taylor scored a team-high 18 points, which included a perfect 8-for-8 clip at the free throw line. Since being inserted into the Bulldogs' starting line-up on Jan. 14, Taylor has scored at least 18 points in all six games to average 20 points per game as a starter.

Before an announced season-best 8,882 fans, Fresno State jumped in front 26-22 late in the first half, but allowed SDSU to score the final five points before halftime, which gave the Aztecs a 27-26 lead at the break.

San Diego State used a 9-2 run midway through the second half, capped by a Kell jumper in the paint for the 50-39 advantage.

Fresno State fought back with a 12-1 run to pull within one when Bulldogs' redshirt junior guard Jaron Hopkins hit a soft floater in the lane to make it 52-51.

Shortly after, Kell hit a clutch 27-foot 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to shoot the Aztecs ahead 60-55 with 3:12 remaining.

The game stayed tight to the end as Kell missed a chance to lock up the win with a failed free throw with two seconds left. Hopkins grabbed the rebound for Fresno State and was able to get up 75-foot desperation 3-point attempt that landed just left of the basket at the final buzzer.

San Diego State improved to 13-9 on the season and 5-5 in Mountain West play.

The loss dropped Fresno State into sole possession of fifth place in the Mountain West standings. The top five teams in MW play earn a first-round bye for the 2017 MW Championships.

Quoteable:

Head Coach Rodney Terry on the crowd…
"We had a really good crowd here, a good home crowd. I hope they continue to come out and watch us play and watch us compete. I feel like we put a pretty good product on the floor for a better part of the year in terms of the way we play and the personnel that we have. Hopefully, they will continue to come out and support us."

Head Coach Rodney Terry on Karachi Edo coming off the bench…
"He played like a senior tonight. You expect your older players to play at that level for you. They play in big ball games and they play a significant amount of minutes here. I thought he really stepped up to the challenge in terms of really trying to guard and rebound for us. We will need that down the stretch. There is still a lot of basketball to be played. Obviously you have to protect your home court in this league and in College Basketball as a whole. Any time you have a home game, you have to do whatever it takes to try and win, and then you have to go on the road and compete at another level."

Head Coach Rodney Terry on SDSU's defense…
"These guys always do a great job defensively, they are one of the better teams in this league and in this country. I think that they are just now being themselves in terms of having all of their players. They have seven guys who played in the Championship game last year, so they have a lot of experience. Defensively, they don't give you a lot of good looks. They have a lot of length, they are athletic, they close out really quick, and they make you have to make plays. I would like to think that we are that same kind of team as well. They just did a better job of that than we did."

Deshon Taylor on where this game was lost…
"I think it was from the beginning of the second half, they went on a 10-0 run. We tried to fight back from that but it was hard for us because they are a great defensive team. We didn't come out ready to play and they came out ready. Our coaches had to get on us to pick it up. It was hard for us to get back in it."

Deshon Taylor asked how he bounces back from this…
"We've got to get after it at practice tomorrow on what we need to work on defensively."

Player Notes
Deshon Taylor – 18 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Taylor scored in double figures for the eighth time in his career … has scored at least 18 points in each of the last six games since being inserted into the Bulldogs' starting line-up … went 8-for-8 from the free throw line (most this season when converting at a 100 percent clip) … fifth time this season that he made every free throw he attempted ... made at least eight free throws for the fourth time in the last six games … has scored 88 of his 120 points since joining the starting line-up in the second half.

Karachi Edo – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block
Edo scored in double figures for the 43rd time in his career and the seventh time this season … the senior went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line … he made a career-high two 3-pointers.

Team Notes:

Fresno State dropped to 10-2 at home this season (5-1 versus MW opponents).
San Diego State leads the overall series 60-48.
Fresno State is now 0-7 this season when trailing at the half this season.
Fresno State scored 37 points off the bench compared to San Diego State's 16 points off the bench.
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Aztecs 35-31.
Fresno State has now won 18 of its last 20, and 28 of its last 32 home games.
Fresno State lost a single-possession conference game for the first time since 2014.
Fresno State had its 13-game Mountain West home win streak snapped.
Fresno State had its 9-game home win streak snapped.
Fresno State has now won 15 of its last 20 games when playing a MW opponent.

Next Up: Fresno State will head east to the Front Range next week for road games at Wyoming on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT and Colorado State on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.

Fresno State returns home for a two-game homestand the following week with home games against San Jose State on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. PT and New Mexico on Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. PT.

Single-game tickets are available at the Save Mart Center Box Office and www.ticketmaster.com.

3-game mini-plans are also available through the Bulldog Ticket Office (northeast corner of the Save Mart Center) or by calling 559-278-DOGS and then pressing "1."

"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.