Fresno State Athletics
Tuesday, January 22
Fresno, Calif.
8 p.m. PT
Fresno State
14-4, 5-1MW
66
vs
62
San Diego State
10-8, 2-3MW
1
2
F
San Diego State
38
24
62
Fresno State
26
40
66
Photo by: Keith Kountz
’Dogs fight back, beat Aztecs in thriller
1/22/2019 11:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State rallied from a 20-point first half deficit to defeat San Diego State and move into a tie for first place in the Mountain West.
FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team showed fight and resilience as the Bulldogs defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 66-62 in come-from-behind fashion on Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State (14-4, 5-1 Mountain West) was led by senior guard Braxton Huggins, who scored 20 points with eight rebounds, while senior guard/forward Sam Bittner posted a career-high 18 points. Junior forward Nate Grimes added 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who overcome a 20-point deficit to win for the sixth time in their last eight showdowns with SDSU.
Fresno State now has back-to-back road games at Colorado State on Saturday and Wyoming on Jan. 30 before returning home to host New Mexico on Feb. 2 at the Save Mart Center.
How it happened: San Diego State raced out to a 31-11 lead with 5:51 remaining in the first half when the Bulldogs started making some shots and getting critical defensive stops. Fresno State closed the first half on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 12 at halftime.
After halftime, the Bulldogs continued to attack and made three straight 3-pointers to cut the deficit to one and then turned a heads-up play by freshman Aguir Agau to extend the shot clock with Grimes in position to give Fresno State the lead at 52-51.
The teams traded baskets and points, but the Bulldogs made more big shots and free throws down the stretch.
Fresno State led by as many as 63-58 with 66 seconds to go before sealing the game at the charity stripe.
Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins – 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On how the game felt…
"Tonight and tomorrow will be good. We are off tomorrow since we played on Tuesday, so we will get to watch it and see the good things. I was excited about the guys. To show that resiliency says a lot about this group of guys. I have been coaching for a long time. I have been down before, and I have been on the opposite side and had a lead and blew it, so the key to that is to stay poised, make an adjustment if you need to and make sure everybody stays together. That is what we did."
On staying poised…
"We knew San Diego State was going to come in very energetic for a lot of different reasons. We missed some easy shots and they made some hard ones. I had confidence in our guys. We played without Noah Blackwell as our point guard, but we had a lot of confidence in everybody who was out there tonight. There is no need to panic if you have a lot of confidence in your guys."
On the guys who stepped up…
"We had to play a couple of lineups that we haven't played with much before. With a short turnaround, there wasn't much time that we could work on it. We did have Aguir Agau and Sam Bittner in together at times, which you haven't seen. Usually they alternate time, but they stepped up tonight. Then, Deshon Taylor fouls out and New Williams has to play point guard. We work on those things a little bit, but it is not something that we planned on. That is what basketball is about. You need to try to keep it simple, adjust, look at the personnel of the people you have on the floor and we had enough. The guys really came through and played with confidence and caught for this."
Braxton Huggins, Fresno State senior guard
On how the game felt…
"It was fun. We play the game of basketball for the competitiveness. It is fun to be out there competing and playing for the love of the game, it is fun."
On stepping into a point guard role tonight…
"I have been watching film, and I noticed how they guard and that they pack the paint. I was trying to kick it out and make plays for others and be a better playmaker for my team."
On trailing by 20-points…
"We all had the same feeling. We all knew that we were going to be okay. We all just had to compose ourselves. They came out and made a lot of shots but we had to tell ourselves that 'we are going to be fine, we are going to come out and play our basketball in the second half, we are going to come back and get some stops and get back into this game.' We knew we were going to be fine from the beginning, we just needed to play our game."
Sam Bittner, Fresno State senior forward
On how the game felt…
"We come in here every day and we work hard, and this is the fun part. This is what we work so hard for. To come out here and have the energy of the crowd, the energy from the bench, from our team and from the other team is a great feeling to have."
On the change in the first half to the second half…
"I don't think that much changed, we were consistent. We knew that they were going to come out here with a lot of energy. They were hitting a lot of shots in the first half and we were missing a lot of shots that we should have made. We were trying to be consistent, we didn't make a lot of tweaks, we just stayed consistent with what our game plan was."
On his role…
"My role doesn't change between games depending on who is playing and who is not. I am going to come in here each and every day and play hard and do whatever Coach Hutson expects me to do. I am going to play defense and rebound the ball, and if I have my feet set and my shots are falling in, then he expects me to take the open shot. That has been what my role has been this year. Having Noah out is tough for us because we know how much he contributes to the team, but we had a lot of other contributions from other players and everybody really stepped up to the plate."
Up Next: Fresno State plays at Colorado State on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT and then visits Wyoming on Jan. 30. The Bulldogs' next home game is Feb. 2 when they host New Mexico at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.
"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.
Fresno State (14-4, 5-1 Mountain West) was led by senior guard Braxton Huggins, who scored 20 points with eight rebounds, while senior guard/forward Sam Bittner posted a career-high 18 points. Junior forward Nate Grimes added 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who overcome a 20-point deficit to win for the sixth time in their last eight showdowns with SDSU.
Fresno State now has back-to-back road games at Colorado State on Saturday and Wyoming on Jan. 30 before returning home to host New Mexico on Feb. 2 at the Save Mart Center.
How it happened: San Diego State raced out to a 31-11 lead with 5:51 remaining in the first half when the Bulldogs started making some shots and getting critical defensive stops. Fresno State closed the first half on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 12 at halftime.
After halftime, the Bulldogs continued to attack and made three straight 3-pointers to cut the deficit to one and then turned a heads-up play by freshman Aguir Agau to extend the shot clock with Grimes in position to give Fresno State the lead at 52-51.
The teams traded baskets and points, but the Bulldogs made more big shots and free throws down the stretch.
Fresno State led by as many as 63-58 with 66 seconds to go before sealing the game at the charity stripe.
Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins – 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
- Scored in double-figures for the 15th time this season.
- Grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds.
- Dished a team-high 5 assists.
- Played 38 minutes in the game.
- Scored in double-figures for the sixth time this season.
- Scored a career-high 18 points.
- Logged 37 minutes in the game.
- Logged a double-double for the fifth time this season.
- Scored in double-figures for the 10th time this season.
- Tied his career-high with 15 rebounds.
- Logged 38 minutes in the game.
- Fresno State moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West at 5-1 with No. 7 Nevada and UNLV.
- The Bulldogs improved to 3-2 when trailing at halftime this season.
- Fresno State improved to 61-14 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season (9-2 this season).
- Fresno State has won 12 of its last 14 games.
- Fresno State outrebounded their opponent for the second consecutive game (ninth time this season)
- Fresno State grabbed 14 offensive rebounds -- the most since having 16 against Long Beach State on Dec. 8.
- Fresno State has made at least six 3-pointers in every game this season (10 made today) and improved to 25-4 in their last 29 games making at least 10 3-pointers.
- Fresno State's 20-point deficit is the most in a win since at least 2011.
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On how the game felt…
"Tonight and tomorrow will be good. We are off tomorrow since we played on Tuesday, so we will get to watch it and see the good things. I was excited about the guys. To show that resiliency says a lot about this group of guys. I have been coaching for a long time. I have been down before, and I have been on the opposite side and had a lead and blew it, so the key to that is to stay poised, make an adjustment if you need to and make sure everybody stays together. That is what we did."
On staying poised…
"We knew San Diego State was going to come in very energetic for a lot of different reasons. We missed some easy shots and they made some hard ones. I had confidence in our guys. We played without Noah Blackwell as our point guard, but we had a lot of confidence in everybody who was out there tonight. There is no need to panic if you have a lot of confidence in your guys."
On the guys who stepped up…
"We had to play a couple of lineups that we haven't played with much before. With a short turnaround, there wasn't much time that we could work on it. We did have Aguir Agau and Sam Bittner in together at times, which you haven't seen. Usually they alternate time, but they stepped up tonight. Then, Deshon Taylor fouls out and New Williams has to play point guard. We work on those things a little bit, but it is not something that we planned on. That is what basketball is about. You need to try to keep it simple, adjust, look at the personnel of the people you have on the floor and we had enough. The guys really came through and played with confidence and caught for this."
Braxton Huggins, Fresno State senior guard
On how the game felt…
"It was fun. We play the game of basketball for the competitiveness. It is fun to be out there competing and playing for the love of the game, it is fun."
On stepping into a point guard role tonight…
"I have been watching film, and I noticed how they guard and that they pack the paint. I was trying to kick it out and make plays for others and be a better playmaker for my team."
On trailing by 20-points…
"We all had the same feeling. We all knew that we were going to be okay. We all just had to compose ourselves. They came out and made a lot of shots but we had to tell ourselves that 'we are going to be fine, we are going to come out and play our basketball in the second half, we are going to come back and get some stops and get back into this game.' We knew we were going to be fine from the beginning, we just needed to play our game."
Sam Bittner, Fresno State senior forward
On how the game felt…
"We come in here every day and we work hard, and this is the fun part. This is what we work so hard for. To come out here and have the energy of the crowd, the energy from the bench, from our team and from the other team is a great feeling to have."
On the change in the first half to the second half…
"I don't think that much changed, we were consistent. We knew that they were going to come out here with a lot of energy. They were hitting a lot of shots in the first half and we were missing a lot of shots that we should have made. We were trying to be consistent, we didn't make a lot of tweaks, we just stayed consistent with what our game plan was."
On his role…
"My role doesn't change between games depending on who is playing and who is not. I am going to come in here each and every day and play hard and do whatever Coach Hutson expects me to do. I am going to play defense and rebound the ball, and if I have my feet set and my shots are falling in, then he expects me to take the open shot. That has been what my role has been this year. Having Noah out is tough for us because we know how much he contributes to the team, but we had a lot of other contributions from other players and everybody really stepped up to the plate."
Up Next: Fresno State plays at Colorado State on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT and then visits Wyoming on Jan. 30. The Bulldogs' next home game is Feb. 2 when they host New Mexico at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.
"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.
Team Stats
SDSU
FS
FG%
.453
.389
3FG%
.227
.370
FT%
.600
.636
RB
28
41
TO
11
17
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballMBB: Highlight vs. San Diego [12/14/24]
Tuesday, December 17
MBB Media Availability [12/3]
Tuesday, December 03
MBB: Highlight vs. Prairie View A&M [11/20/24]
Thursday, November 21
MBB: Highlight vs. Sacramento State [11/8/24]
Saturday, November 09