’Dogs host 49ers on Saturday afternoon

Game 9: Long Beach State (3-7) at Fresno State (6-2)
Dec. 8, 2018 • 4 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
TV: Mountain West Network (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones) & 1600 AM ESPN Deportes (Jesse Beltran/Octavio Duarte)
Series History: Fresno State leads 43-35 (overall) & 23-15 (games played in Fresno)
Last Meeting: Fresno State 106, Long Beach State 70 (12/2/17 • Long Beach, Calif.)
Next Up: vs. California (Dec. 19 • 7 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.
Fresno State's 2018-19 roster includes two Division I transfers who redshirted last season: Braxton Huggins (New Mexico State) and Noah Blackwell (Long Beach State). Deshon Taylor (UMKC) and New Williams (Auburn) are also D-1 transfers, as is Chris Seeley (Utah - redshirting).

Bulldog Bones - By the numbers

Fresno State has outscored three autonomy five conference schools (TCU, Northwestern & Miami) by a combined score of 223-214 this season.
Fresno State is 40-3 in its last 43 games when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
Fresno State has made at least seven 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)
Fresno State is in the middle of a 12-game stretch of playing exclusively in the state of California. Fresno State is 5-1 in those games at the midway point of the current Golden State run.
This is the third time in the last four seasons that Fresno State has started the season with a record of 6-2 through its first eight games.

'Dogs host 49ers on Saturday afternoon
The Fresno State men's basketball team will host the Long Beach State 49ers on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT inside the Save Mart Center. The game between Fresno State (6-2) and Long Beach State (3-7) will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network, 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN Deportes. Tickets start at $10 at the Save Mart Center Box Office. Fresno State will honor its 2018 MW football champions and hold its fourth annual Baby Race during halftime.

About the Long Beach State 49ers
The Long Beach State 49ers (Big West) are 3-7 on the season, including wins over Iona (86-85) and Southern Utah (82-71). The 49ers traditionally play a competitive non-conference schedule, which this season has included road games at UCLA, Arizona State, Mississippi State, USC and San Diego. LBSU is led in scoring by Deishuan Booker (15.6 ppg/3.9 apg) and Temidayo Yussuf (11.6 ppg/6.6 rpg). Fresno State leads the all-time series with Long Beach State 43-35, but this will be just the fourth meeting between the schools in the last 25 seasons.

Last Season: 'Dogs beat 49ers by 36 on the road
Fresno State cruised to a record-setting 106-70 wire-to-wire victory at Long Beach State on Dec. 2, 2017. Fresno State was clicking on all cylinders from start to finish, while recording the program's largest margin of victory ever in a road win. The 36-point road win was four points better than the previous mark of 32, which happened back on Dec. 3, 1981 when the Bulldogs won 75-43 at UC Davis. Fresno State then-junior guard Deshon Taylor had 23 points for the Bulldogs in the rout.

Coach Hut in elite company
Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson (Coach Hut) is one of five head coaches in program history (out of 19) to start his career with a 6-2 record or better. The four other head coaches to start 6-2 or better are: J. Flint Hanner (8-0), Ed Gregory (6-2), Boyd Grant (6-2) and Ray Lopes (6-2). Gregory and Lopes went on to win conference championships in their first seasons while Grant is the Bulldogs' all-time winningest head coach (194 wins, 1977-86). Hutson also current owns the best winningest percentage (.750) of any head coach in program history.

George, Johnson represent Fresno State in NBA
Former Fresno State basketball players Paul George (2008-10) and Tyler Johnson (2010-14) are two of the 30 former Bulldogs to have played in the NBA. George is currently in his ninth NBA season and second with the Oklahoma City Thunder after being drafted 10th overall in 2010 by the Indiana Pacers, who he played for from 2010-17. Johnson is in his fifth season with the Miami Heat.

’Dogs host 49ers on Saturday afternoon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Noah Blackwell

Braxton Huggins

Chris Seeley

Deshon Taylor

New Williams

Fresno State Athletics

’Dogs host 49ers on Saturday afternoon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Noah Blackwell

Braxton Huggins

Chris Seeley

Deshon Taylor

New Williams

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