'Dogs host Nevada in Wednesday night tilt

Game 22: Fresno State (11-10, 6-4) vs. Nevada (11-8, 4-4)
Jan. 31, 2018 – 7 p.m. PT – Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: S idearmstats
Series History: Bulldogs lead 43-11
Last Meeting: Nevada won 90-73 on Dec. 28, 2017 in Reno, Nev.
Next Up: vs. Wyoming (Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. PT)

Opening Tip
• Fresno State will play its fourth game in eight days on Wednesday night as the Bulldogs host Nevada at the Save Mart Center.
• The 'Dogs will look to remain perfect at home against conference foes (4-0) and extend their home-winning streak to seven.
• Wednesday's contest will stream live on the Mountain West Network and air on 790 AM ESPN2 with Andrew Tomsky and Matt Norville on the call.

Bulldog Bones
• Candice White ranks second in the conference in scoring with 17.1 points per game. The junior has scored in double figures in 18 of 21 games this season and has posted six games with 20 or more, and two with at least 30. In league play she is averaging 18.9 per game which ranks third.
• Fresno State ranks No. 10 in the NCAA in 3-point percentage at 26.6 percent (105-of-395). The 'Dogs have held seven opponents to three or less 3's in a single game and seven opponents to 3-point percentages below 20.
• Fresno State is 10-4 this year when holding teams to below 30 percent shooting 3.
• The Bulldogs are 6-3 this season in games decided by 10 points or less, and 4-0 in games decided by one possession.
• Fresno State is 3-1 during its last four games and is doing so with a collective effort. Four 'Dogs are averaging between 8.0-12.5 points. Freshman point guard Aly Gamez is leading the group while shooting 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the 3-point line to with a team-high 14 assists and eight steals.
• The Bulldogs are 5-0 in conference play when leading after three quarters, and 1-4 when trailing. The 'Dogs trailed by one after 30 minutes at both Boise State and UNLV, going 1-1 in those games.
• Two indicators for success this season, in which the Bulldogs have not lost, are outrebounding opponents (7-0) and Fresno State's starters outscoring their counterparts (8-0).

Fresno State vs. Nevada
• Wednesday will be the 55th meeting between Fresno State and Nevada. The Bulldogs hold a 43-11 advantage in the all-time series.
• Fresno State went 3-0 against the Wolf Pack during the 2016-17 season but lost the first game of this season's series in Reno, Nevada, 90-73 after outscoring the 'Dogs 58-28 in the paint.
• The loss on Dec. 28 was the Bulldogs first to the Wolf Pack in the last 10 games.
• In its 11 losses to Nevada, Fresno State has lost just twice on its home court with the last coming on Feb. 20, 2013 (60-54).

A look at Nevada
• The Wolf Pack enter Wednesday's contest with an 11-8 overall record and are 4-4 in Mountain West play, two games back of Fresno State in the win the column.
• Two of Nevada's four losses have come to conference-leader Wyoming, losing by six on the road on Jan. 3 and by three at home in their last contest on Jan. 24.
• Senior Teige Zeller is Nevada's top scorer and rebounder with average of 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She ranks 11th in the MW in scoring and fourth in rebounding.
• A balanced offense, six Wolf Pack players average over eight points per contest.

Holding the perimeter
Fresno State is one the most frustrating teams this season for 3-point shooters as the Bulldogs rank No. 10 nationally in the in 3-point percentage defense at 26.6 percent (105-of-395). The 'Dogs have held seven opponents to three or less 3's in a single game and seven opponents to 3-point percentages below 20. Fresno State is 10-4 this season when holding its opponents to below 30 percent from 3.
• Leading the league in conference games in 3-point percentage defense at 23.6 percent, the Bulldogs have not allowed a Mountain West opponent to shoot better than 28 percent from 3 in any of their six wins. On the contrary, two of their four losses have come when allowing opponents to shoot above 38 percent from 3.
• The Bulldogs held Utah State to 6.7 percent (1-of-15), Air Force to 8.3 percent (1-of-12) and Colorado State to 18.5 percent (5-of-27), the lowest, second-lowest and fifth-lowest percentages for an opponent this season.
• Fresno State has allowed the second-least amount of made 3-pointers in conference play (45).
• The 4.5 made 3's per game is second in the MW to Wyoming which is allowing 3.8 per game. The Bulldogs though are seeing an average of 6.1 more attempts against them per game.

Winning close
Despite being one of the youngest teams in the country entering the season, Fresno State has gone against the grain when in tight games. The Bulldogs are 6-3 in games decided by 10 points or less, and are 4-0 in games decided by three or less as its youthful core has not wavered in crunch time.
• In each of their four wins that have been by three points or less (Montana, Weber State, Utah State, UNLV), the Bulldogs have trailed midway through the fourth quarter and games have been tied with under four minutes to play.
• In conference play, the 'Dogs have twice taken a lead in the final 10 seconds to win games. Candice White knocked down a pair of free throws versus Utah State with nine seconds to play to secure the win on Jan. 3. At UNLV, Aly Gamez hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer on Jan. 24.
Uphill battle
Unusual outside of tournament play, Fresno State is in the midst of playing five games in 11 days. With the rescheduling of Monday's Air Force game, which was originally slated for Jan. 20, the Bulldogs have played three games in six days in three different states (Nevada, Utah, California).
• Wednesday night's game will be the fourth game in eight days.

Uphill battle
Not something teams want to do, the Bulldogs have found themselves playing from behind more often than not during the season. In all but one of Fresno State's losses, the 'Dogs have trailed after the first quarter. Fresno State is 3-9 this season when trailing after the opening quarter.
• The first quarter has been the Bulldogs' Achilles heel this season as they are minus-52 in the scoring column during the period.
• Fresno State has scored less than 10 points in eight quarters this year, four have come during the first 10 minutes, including its three lowest point totals of two (at Utah State), six (at Texas State) and seven (vs. Montana).
• In six of the Bulldogs' nine losses, they have trailed by 10 points or more at the half.
• The 'Dogs have won twice this season when trailing after 20 minutes (15 points against Montana, 7 points versus Utah State). Boise State is the lone team to defeat the 'Dogs when they have led at the half (5 points).

'Dogs on SportsCenter
Despite not having any of its games televised on national TV, Fresno State has twice found itself in the spotlight on ESPN, as the Bulldogs have found a home on SportsCenter's Top 10.
• On Dec. 7, Maddi Utti found herself checking in at No. 9 after hitting a half-court buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter versus Pacific.
• On Jan. 24, Aly Gamez joined her fellow freshman teammate on SC Top 10 as her 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat UNLV also checked in at No. 9.

Returning to form
After missing a month due to injury, sophomore Kristina Cavey has begun to show signs nearly two months later she has returned to the form that she was at to start the year when she scored a then-career high of 21 points in the season-opener versus Eastern Washington.
• Cavey averaged 14.0 points in 28.3 minutes per game in three games prior to the injury.
• During the last four games, Cavey has not only scored a career-best 22 points to lead the Bulldogs over San Diego State, but has averaged 12.3 points per game.

Catch-and-shoot
During the past two games, redshirt sophomore Jordanna Porter has showed off what can make her so valuable for Fresno State after she made the move to join the team from Utah after the 2015-16 season. With a quick release, Porter has needed little time to get her shots off from outside where she has connected on 5-of-7 the last two outings.
• Porter is 19-of-53 on the year from 3 but since conference play has started she is shooting at a 45.8 percent clip (11-of-24).

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'Dogs host Nevada in Wednesday night tilt

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Players Mentioned

Kristina Cavey

Aly Gamez

Jordanna Porter

Maddi Utti

Candice White

Fresno State Athletics