Fresno State earns 78-67 wire-to-wire win over Colorado State

Saturday, January 5

Fresno, Calif.

7 p.m. PT

Fresno State

11-3, 2-0MW

Colorado State

5-10, 0-2MW

Colorado State

Fresno State

Photo by: Keith Kountz/Fresno State

Fresno State earns 78-67 wire-to-wire win over Colorado State

1/5/2019 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored 21 points and had seven assists while going a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line in the Bulldogs’ 78-67 victory over Colorado State. Fresno State next plays at Utah State on Wednesday night before returning home to face Nevada on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team remained undefeated in Mountain West play with a 78-67 wire-to-wire win over the Colorado State Rams on Saturday night inside the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (11-3, 2-0 Mountain West) is tied atop the conference standings after the first week of league action, in which the Bulldogs led for nearly 78 of the 80 minutes of play and by as many as 22 in both games.

Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored a team-high 21 points with seven assists to lead four Bulldogs in double figures. Sam Bittner had a career-high 17 points and Nate Grimes registered his sixth career double-double (third this season) with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who also got 11 points from New Williams.

Colorado State (5-10, 0-2 MW) was led by Anthony Masinton-Bonner with 26 points.

Fresno State is 2-0 to start conference play for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.

How it happened: For the second time in as many games, Fresno State used an 18-0 run in the first half to build a 22-point lead, which the Bulldogs never relinquished.

Grimes scored the first six points of the game and the Bulldogs were up 16-12 before the 18-0 surge for a 34-12 lead with 3:44 remaining in the opening half. The Rams would close the half on a 10-2 run of their own, but the 'Dogs finished the half with a 36-22 advantage. Taylor led Fresno State with 10 first-half points.

Grimes once again opened the scoring in the second half, but the Rams battled back to within nine points before the Bulldogs clamped down for his second double-digit conference victory of the season.

Bittner made three clutch 3-pointers in the second half after making one in the first half. As a team, the Bulldogs converted 12 3-pointers for the third time this season.

Fresno State finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the field with 16 assists on 26 made field goals. The Bulldogs' perimeter defense limited the Rams to just 15.8 percent (3-for-19) from beyond the 3-point arc, including no 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the win…
"We had big senior leadership tonight. You could feel their experience out on the floor. It didn't have much to do with coaching, you could feel that they were experienced, knew the job at hand and that they were going to play strong and confidently. We jumped out early in the first half. We are still trying to put two halves together. It is not an easy thing to do, and it takes a whole team effort to do. I think Colorado State got in to that rhythm in the second half, so we have to look at ourselves and see how we can keep them out of that."

On the chance at a 3-0 start to conference play…
"We are 2-0 so we are excited about that. We are happy to be 2-0. It is better than 0-2. It is a long season, we all know that. Our job is to get a little rest on our Sunday and then come back and get ready to face Utah State on Wednesday."

Sam Bittner, Fresno State senior forward
On his focus going into the game…
"Playing defense and getting them out of their rhythm. We knew that they are a system offensive team and our coaches did a great job preparing us on defense. We wanted to go in there and stop them, we already knew what we were going to do on offense. We are going to be consistent on offense every single game. Defense is going to be changing every single game."

On playing at Utah State…
"Their student section gets really into the game. I know this year is going to be a hard fought game. It is always hard to play at Utah State so we are going to have to go in there prepared. We are going to take tomorrow off and come back and get at it."

Player Notes
Deshon Taylor – 19 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds

Scored in double-figures for the eighth time this season.
Was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
Tied his season-high with 7 assists.

Nate Grimes – 17 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 block

Scored in double-digits for the eighth time this season.
Grabbed double-digit rebounds for the fifth time this season.
Recorded a double-double for the third time this season.
Has recorded at least one block in 10 games this season.

Sam Bittner – 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Scored a career-high 17 points.
Scored in double-figures for the fourth time this season.

Team Notes

Fresno State is tied for first place in the Mountain West with Boise State, New Mexico and UNLV. The Bulldogs 2-0 to start MW play for the first time in program history. Fresno State joined the MW in 2012 and last time started conference play 2-0 was during the 2010-11 season when the 'Dogs were in the WAC.
This was Fresno State's 24th win in Mountain West play by at least 10 points (joined MW in 2012).
This was the second straight game that Fresno State went on an 18-0 run during the first half.
Fresno State has made at least six 3-pointers in every game this season. The Bulldogs are now 23-3 in their last 26 games when making at least 10 3pt-FGs.
Fresno State improved to 60-13 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season, including a 29-7 record against Mountain West opponents in that stretch.
Fresno State also improved to 49-10 overall at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
Fresno State has won 22 of its last 27 home games when playing a Mountain West opponent.
Fresno State has won nine of its last 13 MW home games.
Fresno State has still not lost back-to-back MW home games since 2014.
Fresno State has wrapped up a 12-game stretch of playing exclusively in the state of California (10-2 during the Golden State run).
Fresno State has taken the all-time series lead 18-17 in 35 meetings played against Colorado State, including wins in six of the last seven meetings and a 13-2 record all-time in games played in Fresno.

Up Next: Fresno State will visit Utah State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT and then host Nevada on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15 at the Save Mart Center Box Office and www.ticketmaster.com.

"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.