Wednesday, December 11
Berkeley, CA
7:00 PM PT
Fresno State
2-7,0-2Mountain West
63
at
69
California
6-4,0-0Pac-12
1
2
F
Fresno St.
29
34
63
California
32
37
69
Williams nets 21 in 69-63 road loss at Cal
12/11/2019 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State senior guard New Williams scored a team-high 21 points in the Bulldogs’ 69-63 loss at Cal. The Bulldogs next play at Cal Poly on Saturday before returning home to face IUPUI on Dec. 20.
BERKELEY, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team returned to nonconference play with a 69-63 road loss to the California Golden Bears on Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion in front of an announced 3,211 fans.
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Fresno State (2-7) played without fifth-year senior guard Noah Blackwell, who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury suffered in this past Saturday's road game at then-No. 25 Utah State with 35 seconds remaining in overtime.
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The Bulldogs were led by senior guard New Williams, who had a team-high 21 points for his second straight 20-plus scoring output.
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Cal (6-4) remained undefeated at home under head coach Mark Fox, who previously coached at Nevada and Georgia before taking over the Golden Bears' program this season. Cal's Matt Bradley scored a game-high 24 points.
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How it happened:Â Â After the Bulldogs found themselves down 11-4 on the road at Cal, Fresno State settled in and worked its way right back and had a 24-21 lead over the Golden Bears late in the first half when Mustafa Lawrence drained a 3-pointer from the left wing.
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Cal answered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead at 28-24 and the Bears later were up 32-29 at halftime.
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Williams shot the Bulldogs back in front by making two 3-pointers in the first 61 seconds of the second half to put Fresno State up 35-34 – a lead the 'Dogs extended to 39-36 with 16 minutes remaining.
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Cal then scored eight of the next nine points, which was an 8-1 run ended by another 3-pointer by Williams, and the Bears led by as many as eight in the final minute. Neither team led by more than eight points in the 40-minute battle.
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The Bulldogs outrebounded the Golden Bears 38-28, with Fresno State only giving up five offensive boards by Cal, but a big one came with 2:50 to go off a missed front end of a one-and-one.   Fresno State registered assists on six of its 22 made field goals consistently attacked the Bears' defense throughout the contest.
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Lawrence finished with 16 points, while Nate Grimes added seven points with 14 rebounds and Orlando Robinson had seven points with six rebounds for the 'Dogs.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the Bulldogs' late-game execution and missing a key offensive rebound…
"It was winning time and we didn't perform. We've seen it happen before, man. It has to stop. Bottom line. It happened at the end of the Winthrop game, happened at Northridge ... Saint Mary's. It just has to stop … right during prime time."
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New Williams, Fresno State senior guard
On the Bulldogs' attacking Cal's defense…
"We saw lanes. We have guys that can get to the rim and make decisions so we attacked them. We wanted to get to the basket, make sure that we get paint touches and some good inside-out play. That was the focus for us."
On the team's play down the stretch...
"We just have to be better in those situations. Winning time, we have to buckle down and be solid. We played how we were supposed to play the majority of the game so in a time like that we just have to be solid and continue to be poised."
Game Notes:
"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please visit bulldogfoundation.org.
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Fresno State (2-7) played without fifth-year senior guard Noah Blackwell, who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury suffered in this past Saturday's road game at then-No. 25 Utah State with 35 seconds remaining in overtime.
Â
The Bulldogs were led by senior guard New Williams, who had a team-high 21 points for his second straight 20-plus scoring output.
Â
Cal (6-4) remained undefeated at home under head coach Mark Fox, who previously coached at Nevada and Georgia before taking over the Golden Bears' program this season. Cal's Matt Bradley scored a game-high 24 points.
Â
How it happened:Â Â After the Bulldogs found themselves down 11-4 on the road at Cal, Fresno State settled in and worked its way right back and had a 24-21 lead over the Golden Bears late in the first half when Mustafa Lawrence drained a 3-pointer from the left wing.
Â
Cal answered with a 7-0 run to retake the lead at 28-24 and the Bears later were up 32-29 at halftime.
Â
Williams shot the Bulldogs back in front by making two 3-pointers in the first 61 seconds of the second half to put Fresno State up 35-34 – a lead the 'Dogs extended to 39-36 with 16 minutes remaining.
Â
Cal then scored eight of the next nine points, which was an 8-1 run ended by another 3-pointer by Williams, and the Bears led by as many as eight in the final minute. Neither team led by more than eight points in the 40-minute battle.
Â
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Golden Bears 38-28, with Fresno State only giving up five offensive boards by Cal, but a big one came with 2:50 to go off a missed front end of a one-and-one.   Fresno State registered assists on six of its 22 made field goals consistently attacked the Bears' defense throughout the contest.
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Lawrence finished with 16 points, while Nate Grimes added seven points with 14 rebounds and Orlando Robinson had seven points with six rebounds for the 'Dogs.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the Bulldogs' late-game execution and missing a key offensive rebound…
"It was winning time and we didn't perform. We've seen it happen before, man. It has to stop. Bottom line. It happened at the end of the Winthrop game, happened at Northridge ... Saint Mary's. It just has to stop … right during prime time."
Â
New Williams, Fresno State senior guard
On the Bulldogs' attacking Cal's defense…
"We saw lanes. We have guys that can get to the rim and make decisions so we attacked them. We wanted to get to the basket, make sure that we get paint touches and some good inside-out play. That was the focus for us."
On the team's play down the stretch...
"We just have to be better in those situations. Winning time, we have to buckle down and be solid. We played how we were supposed to play the majority of the game so in a time like that we just have to be solid and continue to be poised."
Game Notes:
- During the Justin Hutson era, Fresno State has outscored autonomy-five conference schools – TCU, Northwestern, Miami, Cal (twice) and Oregon – by a combined score of 438-427 (+11).
- Fresno State was coming off playing back-to-back overtime games for the second time since 2013 (first time in Hutson's tenure). Fresno State had last played back-to-back overtime games during the 2017-18 season.
- This was the first of seven straight games that Fresno State will play in the state of California, which includes four home games at the Save Mart Center.
- This was the sixth of seven games that Fresno State will play away from the Save Mart Center in the first 10 contests of the 2019-20 season.
"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please visit bulldogfoundation.org.
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Team Stats
Fresno
Cal
FG%
.393
.480
3FG%
.368
.429
FT%
.667
.833
RB
38
28
TO
12
6
STL
1
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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