Bulldogs edged by TCU in NIT opener

Wednesday, March 15

Fort Worth, TX

5 p.m. PT

Fresno State

20-13

TCU

20-15

Fresno State

TCU

Photo by: Patrick Green

Bulldogs edged by TCU in NIT opener

3/15/2017 8:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Fresno State men’s basketball team closed the 2016-17 season with a 20-13 record, including eight wins over Top 100 RPI Teams.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FORT WORTH, Texas --- The Fresno State men's basketball team lost 66-59 on the road to the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs on Wednesday night inside Schollmaier Arena in the first round of the 2017 National Invitation Tournament.

Fresno State (20-13) is one of eight schools on the West Coast to have made postseason appearances in either the NCAA or NIT in the last two seasons (Arizona, California, CSU Bakersfield, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon, Saint Mary's and Southern California).

How it happened: Fresno State erased a 12-point first-half deficit and took the lead on a Bryson Williams left-handed hook shot in the paint, which gave the Bulldogs a 43-42 lead over the Horned Frogs with 11:49 remaining in the second half.

But TCU used a 13-2 run after the score was tied at 47-47 to provide the cushion to hold off Fresno State down the stretch.

Fresno State redshirt sophomore guard Deshon Taylor scored a team-high 13 points off the bench, and Bulldogs' redshirt junior guard Jaron Hopkins added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Fresno State seniors Cullen Russo and Paul Watson posted nine points and eight points, respectively, in their final games in a Bulldog uniform. Fresno State senior forward Karachi Edo also played 10 minutes off the bench to close out his collegiate career.

TCU was led by Jaylen Fisher, who had 14 points, and Kenrich Williams, who added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Horned Frogs. TCU, who beat then-No. 1 Kansas last week in the Big 12 quarterfinals, improved to 20-15 on the season.

Quoteable:
Rodney Terry, Fresno State head coach
"I thought we were a team that kept competing all year long. We fought through some adversity in the ebb and flow of a season. We had some guys grow up and get some valuable experience this year. I thought our seniors did a good job finishing out the season the right way. There's never a given that you're going to be in postseason and to get to this tournament and be on this stage, you don't ever take it for granted and I thought our guys came in here and competed hard. We had opportunities, much like we did in Vegas, to get over the hump and break through and we weren't able to do that."

"There were a couple of 50-50 balls that could have gone either way, and they ended up going the other way on us and at the end of the day they really kind of cost us. We get those balls and we're able to have that possession then obviously it's a different deal. A couple of those plays kind of broke our back a little bit. But our guys' effort was there. We had guys diving on the floor for loose balls. You can't ever fault that. Our guys were trying. The ball just kind of bounced their way on a couple of plays. But I thought our guys fought and kept competing the whole time. When you're on the road, you have to make a way. You have to find a way. We were close to finding a way."

Paul Watson, Fresno State senior guard/forward
"It was a tough one for us tonight. We had some unforced turnovers throughout the whole game, which really hurt us. We gave up a couple offensive rebounds in crucial parts of the game that hurt us. It was just a rough one for us tonight.

On making postseason appearances in three of his four seasons…
"I told Karachi (Edo) before the final buzzer, 'It has been fun.' It has been an amazing four years and I've learned so much, played with a lot of great guys and made a lot of memories. These four years, these guys, everybody that I've played, they'll be my brothers forever and I've learned a lot from coach Terry, from coach (Byron) Jones, from coach (Michael) Schwartz when he was here, coach (Kenton) Paulino and coach (Jerry) Wainwright. It's just a great staff. They instilled a lot of things in me, learning how to play hard, the whole 40 minutes and the work ethic that they demand from you and instill in you, those are the main things that I'll definitely take from this program."

"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.