Saturday, December 14
San Luis Obispo, CA
7:00 PM PT
Fresno State
3-7
62
at
37
Cal Poly
2-8
1
2
F
Fresno State
24
38
62
Cal Poly
21
16
37
Photo by: Samuel Marshall
Bulldogs dominate Cal Poly, 62-37
12/14/2019 10:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes scored a career-high 23 points with 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to a dominating 62-37 road win at Cal Poly. The ’Dogs host IUPUI on Friday at 7 p.m. PT.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the Cal Poly Mustangs 62-37 on Saturday night at the Mott Athletics Center.
Fresno State (3-7) used a strong second-half effort to put away Cal Poly (2-8) as the Bulldogs earned their first road victory of the season.
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes recorded his 20th career double-double with a career-high 23 points, along with 12 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State's New Williams added 11 points with three rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. Orlando Robinson also had eight points, paired with a career-best 15 rebounds in the 25-road win.
The Mustangs were led by Junior Ballard, who had 10 points.
How it happened: Fresno State built a 22-14 lead over Cal Poly with most of its early offensive production coming from the post and three 3-pointers in the first half.
But it was the Bulldogs' sizzling 23-2 start to the second half that put away the Mustangs headlined by a focused and relentless defensive effort. Fresno State led by as many as 26 points late in the road rout.
Fresno State outscored Cal Poly 28-10 in the paint and 19-4 in second-chance points, with the Bulldogs dominating the glass 45-25, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
Fresno State's defense limited Cal Poly to just 1-for-16 from beyond the 3-point line (6.3 percent) and 12-for-49 from the field (24.5 percent), which was the lowest field goal percentage by a Bulldog opponent since 2016.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On his team's performance…
"Young group on the road, you never know how they're going to respond and they responded like I want them to. We played defense. We controlled what we could. I slowed them down a little bit, called more plays so we wouldn't turn the ball over."
On the second-half game plan…
"We had to defend without fouling. We knew that coming in. We had to stop the 3-point shot, which was huge for us, and they were 1 of 16. Their big guy hit it and I think that was his first one of the year. And, we wanted to get the ball inside to Orlando and Nate and play off of that. We'd get some 3-pointers that way."
On pressuring at start of second half…
"We weren't able to do it that much because we were in foul trouble and we didn't have a deep bench at the guard spots, but we were able to turn it up at times to try to create some disruption. Our guys did a good job of that."
On Orlando Robinson…
"We're trying to keep him down there (in the post) a little more so he's able to be there and he does have his moments when he gets down there. He's tough to box out, no question."
On Nate Grimes…
"Big step for Nate tonight in maturity. He did a lot of things when we needed him to do them."
New Williams, Fresno State senior guard
On the team's mindset for the second half…
"We went in at halftime and we just talked about playing that brand of Bulldog basketball that we put our name on, our stamp on. When we came out, that was our main focus, to not let them get any threes, to be solid on the ball, guard the ball, communicate and as we always say be connected. We just played possession by possession and tried to make sure we did our job on every possession down and every time we got a stop we were on to the next play and then when we come back down we wanted to get another stop. We take pride in our defense and being able to get stops, string together stops."
On his five steals…
"Just being in the right place at the right time, seeing the floor, good rotations. I saw them driving in a lot and I was able to come up with some of those when they were driving with their heads down."
On getting the road win…
"It was pivotal. We've been working really hard all season and we've had a lot of close games, a lot of tough ones. It felt good to finally get this one and we want to keep this momentum going forward."
Game Notes
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"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 (3-7) used a strong second-half effort to put away Cal Poly (2-8) as the Bulldogs earned their first road victory of the season.
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes recorded his 20th career double-double with a career-high 23 points, along with 12 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State's New Williams added 11 points with three rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. Orlando Robinson also had eight points, paired with a career-best 15 rebounds in the 25-road win.
The Mustangs were led by Junior Ballard, who had 10 points.
How it happened: Fresno State built a 22-14 lead over Cal Poly with most of its early offensive production coming from the post and three 3-pointers in the first half.
But it was the Bulldogs' sizzling 23-2 start to the second half that put away the Mustangs headlined by a focused and relentless defensive effort. Fresno State led by as many as 26 points late in the road rout.
Fresno State outscored Cal Poly 28-10 in the paint and 19-4 in second-chance points, with the Bulldogs dominating the glass 45-25, including a 14-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
Fresno State's defense limited Cal Poly to just 1-for-16 from beyond the 3-point line (6.3 percent) and 12-for-49 from the field (24.5 percent), which was the lowest field goal percentage by a Bulldog opponent since 2016.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On his team's performance…
"Young group on the road, you never know how they're going to respond and they responded like I want them to. We played defense. We controlled what we could. I slowed them down a little bit, called more plays so we wouldn't turn the ball over."
On the second-half game plan…
"We had to defend without fouling. We knew that coming in. We had to stop the 3-point shot, which was huge for us, and they were 1 of 16. Their big guy hit it and I think that was his first one of the year. And, we wanted to get the ball inside to Orlando and Nate and play off of that. We'd get some 3-pointers that way."
On pressuring at start of second half…
"We weren't able to do it that much because we were in foul trouble and we didn't have a deep bench at the guard spots, but we were able to turn it up at times to try to create some disruption. Our guys did a good job of that."
On Orlando Robinson…
"We're trying to keep him down there (in the post) a little more so he's able to be there and he does have his moments when he gets down there. He's tough to box out, no question."
On Nate Grimes…
"Big step for Nate tonight in maturity. He did a lot of things when we needed him to do them."
New Williams, Fresno State senior guard
On the team's mindset for the second half…
"We went in at halftime and we just talked about playing that brand of Bulldog basketball that we put our name on, our stamp on. When we came out, that was our main focus, to not let them get any threes, to be solid on the ball, guard the ball, communicate and as we always say be connected. We just played possession by possession and tried to make sure we did our job on every possession down and every time we got a stop we were on to the next play and then when we come back down we wanted to get another stop. We take pride in our defense and being able to get stops, string together stops."
On his five steals…
"Just being in the right place at the right time, seeing the floor, good rotations. I saw them driving in a lot and I was able to come up with some of those when they were driving with their heads down."
On getting the road win…
"It was pivotal. We've been working really hard all season and we've had a lot of close games, a lot of tough ones. It felt good to finally get this one and we want to keep this momentum going forward."
Game Notes
- This was the second of seven straight games Fresno State is playing in the state of California, including four home games at the Save Mart Center.
- Justin Hutson improved to 25-3 all-time as a Division I head coach (5-1) or assistant coach (20-2) when coaching against one of his former teams. Hutson was an assistant coach at Cal Poly for two seasons (2004-06).
- This was the 43rd all-time meeting (20th in San Luis Obispo, Calif.) between the programs separated by 137 miles. Fresno State and Cal Poly will play again next season when the Bulldogs host the Mustangs in a nonconference game at the Save Mart Center.
- Fresno State improved its lead in the all-time series to 35-8 overall, which includes a 14-6 record in road games at Cal Poly.
- The Bulldogs have now won 20 of the last 22 contests against the Mustangs, including eight of the last nine match-ups over on the California coast in San Luis Obispo.
- Fresno State improved to 4-1 against Big West opponents during Hutson's tenure, including a 2-0 record against Cal Poly.
- The 37 points scored by Cal Poly were the fewest scored against a Fresno State defense since Wyoming scored 36 in 2013.
- The Bulldogs' defense held Cal Poly to a 24.5 percent field goal percentage, which is the lowest field goal percentage by a Fresno State opponent since the 'Dogs held Colorado State to 22.8 percent on March 11, 2016.Â
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"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
FS
CP
FG%
.434
.245
3FG%
.292
.063
FT%
.750
.800
RB
45
25
TO
20
15
STL
10
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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