Bulldogs to visit No. 25 Utah State

Saturday, December 7

Logan, UT

3:00 PM PT

Fresno State

No. 25 Utah State

Bulldogs to visit No. 25 Utah State

12/6/2019 9:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Utah State at Fresno State (PDF)

The last four regular season meetings between Fresno State and Utah State have been decided by a single possession. Saturday's game will be on AT&T Sports Net and 940 AM ESPN Radio.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

Game 8: Fresno State (2-5, 0-1 MW) at No. 25 Utah State (8-1, 1-0 MW)
Dec. 7, 2019 • 3 p.m. PT • Logan, Utah (Dee Glen Smith Spectrum)
TV: AT&T Sports Net (Jenny Cavnar/Joe Cravens)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Series History: Utah State leads 37-23 (overall) & 25-7 (games played in Logan, Utah)
Last Meeting: Utah State 85, Fresno State 60 (March 15, 2019 • Las Vegas, Nev.)
Next Up: at Cal (Dec. 10); at Cal Poly (Dec. 14); vs. IUPUI (Dec. 20)
Fresno State's 2018-19 Final NCAA NET Ranking: No. 82

Opening Tip

Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is in his second season after winning 23 games in his first season back home in the San Joaquin Valley.
Hutson was named the 2018-19 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year.
Hutson, a Bakersfield native, had spent 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 four seasons (five of the past six seasons) and joined the Mountain West in 2012.

Fresno State to visit No. 25 Utah State on Saturday
Fresno State, who is 25-14 since head coach Justin Hutson's arrival in 2018, will visit the No. 25-ranked Utah State Aggies on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on AT&T Sports Net and 940 AM ESPN Radio. This is the second Mountain West game of the season for both teams.

Fresno State & Utah State: All-Time Series History
Fresno State has won once in its last six meetings with Utah State, including a thrilling 78-77 road victory over the Aggies last season on Jan. 9, 2019. Braxton Huggins, who is now playing professionally in the Netherlands, led the Bulldogs with 33 points and made the game-deciding 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining. The last four regular season meetings (five of the last six) between the programs have been decided by a single possession. Fresno State and Utah State are tied 5-5 in regular season MW contests in the all-time series between the programs.

Fresno State all-time against AP Top 25 teams

Fresno State is seeking its first win over an AP Top 25 team since 2002.
Fresno State is seeking the program's fourth-ever road win over an Associated Press Top 25 opponent.
All three of Fresno State's road wins over Associated Press Top 25 opponents have been one-point victories.
- W, 73-72 at No. 12 Tulsa (Feb. 24, 2000)
- W, 65-64 at No. 13 Utah (Feb. 8, 1996)
- W, 43-42 at No. 19 Oregon State (Dec. 4, 1982)
Fresno State's last victory over an Associated Press Top 25 team was back on Feb. 20, 2002 when the Bulldogs defeated then-No. 14 Oklahoma State 58-52 at Selland Arena in Fresno.
Fresno State's last road victory over an Associated Press Top 25 team was back on Feb. 24, 2000 when the Bulldogs defeated then-No. 12 Tulsa 73-72 with Courtney Alexander scoring 25 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 30 seconds remaining, for Fresno State.
This will Fresno State's fifth contest against an Associated Press Top 25 opponent during Hutson's tenure (since the start of the 2018-19 season).

Bulldogs to play three preseason AP Top 25 teams early

Fresno State is one of two teams (Michigan State) in the nation that had three teams ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25 poll on its schedule for the first eight games of the 2019-20 regular season.
Fresno State opened the season at Oregon (No. 15) on Nov. 5, and then played Saint Mary's (No. 20) in Sacramento at Golden 1 Center on Nov. 20 and visits Utah State (No. 17) on Dec. 7 (AP Top 25 preseason rankings).

A proven winner and consistent contender in the Mountain West

Fresno State has won the second-most MW games in the last three seasons (35) and in the last four seasons (48).
Fresno State is one of three programs (Nevada and San Diego State) with 58 or more MW wins in the last five seasons.
Fresno State is the only program to earn a MW Tournament first-round bye in each of the past five seasons.
Fresno State is one of two programs, along with San Diego State, with a .500 record or better in MW play in each of the last six seasons.
Fresno State is the only team to win at least 10 MW games in each of the last five seasons.

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State is opening the season by playing seven of its first 10 games away from the Save Mart Center (six road games + one neutral site game).
Fresno State leads the MW in blocked shots per game (4.4 bpg).
Fresno State senior guard Noah Blackwell is second in the Mountain West in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1 A-TO ratio, 22-7).
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes is second in the Mountain West in blocked shots (1.6 blocks/game) and two blocks away from becoming the seventh defender in program history to record 100 career blocks.
Fresno State is 19-4 when leading at halftime during Hutson's tenure.

Youth Movement
Through the first four-plus weeks of the season, Fresno State has five of the 20 freshmen who have appeared in games so far for Mountain West teams. Fresno State leads the league with freshmen averaging 101.6 minutes per game, which is nearly half of the Bulldogs' minutes per game average (48.2 percent). Fresno State's freshmen have accounted for 679 of the team's 1,475 total minutes played (46.0 percent) this season. Fresno State freshmen Jarred Hyder (13.7 ppg) and Orlando Robinson (10.7 ppg) have combined to produce an average of 24.4 points per game for the Bulldogs to lead the way for Fresno State's five freshmen, who are averaging a combined 32.9 points of the team's 71.7 points per game (45.9 percent).

Most minutes per game played by freshmen
1. Fresno State: 101.6 MPG
2. Colorado State: 67.5 MPG
3. Nevada: 41.1 MPG
4. Boise State: 30.8 MPG
5. Wyoming: 27.0 MPG
6. Utah State: 20.3 MPG
7. San Jose State: 15.6 MPG
8. San Diego State: 6.8 MPG
None: Air Force, New Mexico & UNLV

Consistent, sustained success for the Bulldogs
Fresno State is 35-20 in Mountain West play since the start of the 2016-17 season, which ranks as the second-best conference record in the 11-team league. Fresno State is one of two MW programs to have won 35 or more MW games in the last three seasons, one of three programs to have won 45 or more MW games in the last four seasons and one of four teams with 55 or more MW wins in the last five seasons. Fresno State is the only program to have won at least 10 MW games in each of the last five seasons and the only team to have earned a first-round bye for the MW Tournament in each of the last five seasons.

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