Bulldogs visit No. 21 TCU

Game 2: Fresno State (1-0) at No. 21 TCU (2-0)
Nov. 15, 2018 • 6 p.m. PT • Fort Worth, Texas (Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena)
TV: Fox Sports Southwest (Brian Estridge & Colin Boddicker) -- [DirecTV 676 and Dish 416]
Radio: 940 AM ESPN Radio (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Sirius XM (Audio): Sirius 98, XM 199, Internet 953 (Jeff Williams & John Denton - TCU Radio)
Series History: TCU leads all-time series 5-4 (3-2 in games played in Fort Worth, Texas)
Last Meeting: TCU 66, Fresno State 59 (3/15/17 • Fort Worth, Texas)
Next Up: vs. Northwestern (Nov. 22 - Wooden Legacy in Fullerton, Calif.)

Opening Tip

New Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is back home in the Valley. Hutson, a Bakersfield native, spent the last 12 seasons (San Diego State and UNLV) as one of the most respected assistant coaches in country.
Fresno State has won at least 20 games in each of the past three seasons (four of the past five seasons).
Last season, Fresno State (21-11, 11-7 MW) finished fourth in the MW standings and earned its third straight Top 4 seed for the MW Tournament.
Fresno State is one of two MW teams (Boise State) to have earned a first round bye in each of the past four seasons.

Bulldog Bones - By the Numbers

Fresno State is seeking its first Top 25 non-conference road win since defeating then-No. 19 Oregon State 43-42 on March 13, 1982.
Fresno State has won three road games against Top 25 in program history, with all three wins coming by a single point.
- at No. 13 Utah (W, 65-64) - Jan. 8, 1996 (conference)
- at No. 12 Tulsa (W, 73-72) - Jan. 29, 2000 (conference)
- at No. 19 Oregon State (W, 43-42) - Dec. 4, 1982 (non-conference)
Fresno State has 20 all-time wins over Top 25 teams,
- Last Top 25 win: W, 59-57, vs. No. RV/25 San Diego State (1/3/15)
- Last AP Top 25 win: W, 58-52, vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State (2/10/02)
Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor enters the game with 991 career points at Fresno State.

Bulldogs visit No. 21 TCU
The Fresno State men's basketball team will take its first regular season road trip as the Bulldogs visit the No. 21-ranked TCU Horned Frogs on Thursday night at 6 p.m. PT inside Schollmaier Arena. The non-conference game between Fresno State (1-0), who is being led by first-year head coach Justin Hutson, and TCU (2-0) will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest (DirecTV 676 and Dish 416), 940 AM ESPN Radio and Sirius XM.

About the TCU Horned Frogs
The Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs are 2-0 on the season and rank No. 21 in both the most recent Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. TCU is led by four-time national coach of the year Jamie Dixon, who also coached at Pitt for 13 years, including one game against the Bulldogs in 2013. Fresno State is 0-2 against Dixon-led teams as the 'Dogs lost 75-54 at Pitt on Nov. 12, 2013 and 66-59 at TCU in the NIT First Round on March 15, 2017. TCU leads the all-time series with Fresno State 5-4, with the Bulldogs losing the last two in the series. In 2018, the Horned Frogs have been led by Desmond Bane (18.0 ppg/6.0 rpg) and Alex Robinson (17.5 ppg/6.0 apg) while beating CSU Bakersfield 66-61 on Nov. 7 and Oral Roberts on Nov. 11.

'Dogs win big in Hutson's debut back home in the Valley
In a historic moment for the Fresno State men's basketball program, the Bulldogs opened the season and the Justin Hutson era with a 91-63 win over the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves on Nov. 6 inside the Save Mart Center. Hutson, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., won his debut as the Bulldogs' head coach as senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a game-high 23 points to lead Fresno State to its 27th straight victory over a non-Division I opponent.

Fresno State's consistency leads to success
Fresno State is one of three Mountain West teams to have finished .500 or better in league play in each of the past five seasons, including this season. Fresno State, Boise State and San Diego State have won at least nine conference games in each of the last five seasons. Fresno State has averaged 10.8 conference wins per season (last five seasons), with at least 10 MW wins for four straight seasons, including a 13-5 mark in 2015-16.

Deshon Taylor returns for senior season
After testing the NBA Draft waters this spring, Deshon Taylor decided to return to Fresno State for his senior season and now is a prime position as an experienced guard poised to once again lead the Bulldogs on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Last season, Taylor earned first-team All-Mountain West and All-Defense Team honors from the MW's head coaches, first-team All-MW honors from the MW Wire staff and second-team All-MW honors from a select MW media panel of newspaper beat reporters. Taylor finished the 2017-18 season averaging 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. During the Bulldogs' campaign a year ago, Taylor set a new single-season program record 200 free throws and he was one of 11 players in the nation with at least 200 free throws made during the 2017-18 season. Taylor ranked fifth in the MW with an 83.3 free throw percentage (200-for-240).

Bittner named CoSIDA Academic All-District 8
Fresno State senior guard/forward Sam Bittner was named a 2017-18 College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District 8 honoree. Bittner is also a three-time Mountain West scholar athlete and a three-time Academic All-MW selection. Bittner (business administration major, 3.95 GPA) is the second Bulldog ever to be honored as a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection – joining three-time Academic All-District honoree Nedeljko Golubovic, who was recognized from 2009-11.
Last season, he ranked 11th in the nation in 3-point shooting (39-for-81, 48.1 percent) for players with at least one made 3-pointer per team game. He also made more field goals and 3-pointers in his junior season than he did in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. On defense, Bittner can guard all five positions on the floor, while offensively, he has become an efficient 3-point shooter. Fresno State is 30-11 in Bittner's 41 career starts.

Hutson returns home to the Valley, hires staff
Justin Hutson, one of the West's best recruiters and a veteran of the Mountain West, was named Fresno State's 19th head men's basketball coach on April 5, 2018. Hutson, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., takes over a Fresno State program that has become a consistent MW contender in recent years with former Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry largely modeling his program on what Hutson, along with Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher, had built at San Diego State. Hutson returns to the Valley after serving most recently as a Division I associate head coach or assistant coach for 10 seasons at San Diego State (2006-11, '13-18) and two seasons at UNLV (2011-13). For his staff at Fresno State, Hutson has hired Keith Brown, Tarvish Felton and Tim Shelton as assistant coaches and Marvin Adams as his director of basketball operations, Titus Shelton as his director of player development and Nate Leal as a special assistant.

Surpassing Preseason Expectations

This season, Fresno State was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West by the league's media in a preseason poll released in mid-October.
Before the 2015-16 season, Fresno State was picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll. The Bulldogs went on to win the 2016 MW Championship and earn the MW's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Fresno State Athletics

Bulldogs visit No. 21 TCU

Players Mentioned

Sam Bittner

Braxton Huggins

Deshon Taylor

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