Bulldogs host Tigers to tip off homestand

Game 6: Pacific (5-3) at Fresno State (3-2)
Nov. 28, 2018 • 7 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
TV: Mountain West Network (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN Radio (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones) & 1600 AM ESPN Deportes (Jesse Beltran/Octavio Duarte)
Series History: Pacific leads 81-78 (overall) & Fresno State leads 50-30 (games played in Fresno)
Last Meeting: Fresno State 70, Pacific 68 [OT] (12/17/16 • Stockton, Calif.)
Next Up: vs. Cal Poly (Dec. 1 • 12 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif.)

Opening Tip

First-year 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 ranked No. 64 in the NCAA's inaugural NET rankings.
Fresno State is rated No. 21 in the HaslamMetrics ratings.
Fresno State has outscored three autonomy five conference schools (TCU, Northwestern & Miami) by a combined score of 223-214 this season.
Fresno State is now 40-3 in its last 43 games when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
Fresno State has made at least nine 3-pointers in every game this season. The Bulldogs are 19-3 in the last 22 games making at least 10 3pt-FGs.
Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor is one of 33 players in program history with at least 1,000 career points while playing at Fresno State.
Fresno State senior guard Braxton Huggins (19.3 ppg/3.3 rpg) was named to the 2018 Wooden Legacy All-Tournament team and Deshon Taylor (19.0 ppg/4.3 apg) earned second-team honors. (Stats from Wooden Legacy). Nate Grimes was the leading rebounder (10.3 bpg) and blocker (2.0 bpg) in the three-game tournament.
Fresno State is in the middle of a 12-game stretch of playing games exclusively in the state of California. Fresno State is 2-1 so far through the first 3 games of the span.

Bulldogs host Tigers to tip off homestand
The Fresno State men's basketball team will host the Pacific Tigers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT inside the Save Mart Center. The game between Fresno State (3-2) and Pacific (5-3) will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network, 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN Deportes. Tickets for the game start at $10, with free admission available for fans following or liking Fresno State Athletics on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About the Pacific Tigers
The Pacific Tigers (West Coast) are 5-3 on the season, including home wins in two of its last three games and losses at Nevada (83-61) and UNLV (96-70). Pacific is led in scoring by Roberto Gallinat (14.3 ppg). Fresno State has won four of the last six meetings in the series, including the last two.

Bulldogs cruise past Hawai'i for 3rd place
Fresno State cruised to a 79-64 win over the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors on Sunday afternoon inside Titan Gym to finish in third place of the eight-team 2018 Wooden Legacy. Fresno State (3-2) went 2-1 during the tournament, which featured three games in four days, as the Bulldogs also crushed Northwestern 78-59 and fell 78-76 to Miami on a last second dunk. Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 20 points with five assists for the Bulldogs, who also had Braxton Huggins (13), New Williams (12) and Sam Bittner (11) in double figures.

'Dogs dominate Northwestern, 78-59
Fresno State soundly defeated Northwestern 78-59 in the 2018 Wooden Legacy quarterfinals last Thursday. Fresno State handed Northwestern its first loss of the season with the 'Dogs having five players in double figures – led by senior guard Braxton Huggins, who had a game-high 17 points. Fresno State shot 50 percent from the field and held NU to a 35.3 percent clip from the floor. The win marked the Bulldogs' fourth victory over an autonomy five conference opponent since 2008 and first since a 63-58 win at Oregon State on Nov. 25, 2016. Fresno State's 19-point win over Northwestern also was the Bulldogs' largest ever margin of victory when beating a Big Ten opponent (previous record: 14 points in a 72-58 road win at Michigan State in the NIT on March 20, 1983).

Protecting the Yard

Fresno State is 53-12 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season, including a 25-4 record versus nonconference opponents.
Fresno State is 42-9 overall at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
Fresno State has won 13 of its last 15 home games played on a Wednesday.
Fresno State has won at least 11 home games in five straight seasons.
Fresno State is 169-74 (69.5 percent) all-time at the Save Mart Center.

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.

Bulldogs host Tigers to tip off homestand

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Bittner

Nate Grimes

Braxton Huggins

Deshon Taylor

New Williams

Fresno State Athletics

Bulldogs host Tigers to tip off homestand

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Bittner

Nate Grimes

Braxton Huggins

Deshon Taylor

New Williams

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