'Dogs return home to host Utah State

Game 10: Fresno State (6-3, 1-0 MW) vs. Utah State (3-5, 0-1 MW)
Dec. 7, 2019 • 7 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
Stream: Mountain West Network (pxp Matt Norville)
Radio: 790 ESPN2
Live Stats: bulldogslive.com
Series History: Fresno State leads 23-4
Last Meeting: Fresno State won 64-53 on Feb. 6, 2019 in Logan, Utah

Bulldog Bones

Saturday's game marks Fresno State's conference home opener. The Bulldogs enter the game 6-1 in Mountain West home openers.
The 'Dogs last opened up its home slate of conference games against Utah State on Jan. 3, 2018 (57-56).
Following Saturday's slate of conference games, the MW schedule will take a hiatus until Jan. 1, 2020 when Fresno State will host San Diego State.
After playing eight games during the month of November, the Bulldogs will play just five in December, with three of those coming at home.
Fresno State is 6-0 this season when scoring more than 70 points.
With three players in its starting lineup who can play the point, Fresno State has taken care of the ball, ranking No. 6 in the NCAA with only 11.1 turnovers per game.
Fresno State's interchangeable offensive leaders are freshmen Hanna Cavinder (16.3), junior Maddi Utti (15.9) and Haley Cavinder (15.6). The trio rank second, third and fourth in the league in scoring.
Following a combined 18-to-5 ratio for Haley and Hanna on Tuesday at UNLV, the duo helped raise the Bulldogs to 20th nationally in the assist-to-turnover at 1.29.
Fresno State has held teams to the 14th-lowest 3-point percentage in the NCAA, first in the Mountain West, holding opponents to just 22.8 percent from deep.

Scouting Utah State

Utah State is 3-5 this season, and 1-3 on the road.
Utah State is coming off of a 76-61 defeat in Logan, Utah against San Jose State in its Mountain West opener.
The Aggies have been outscored by an average of 11.1 points per game, 12th in the conference, and scoring a league-low 59.5.
Utah State is being outrebounded by 3.8 per game which ranks eighth in the MW.
Like the Bulldogs, the Aggies also have a trio of scorers who are all averaging double figures. Steph Gorman leads the team and ranks fifth in 15.0 points per game while Lindsey Jensen-Baker ranks 13th (13.3) and Haley Bassett is 16th (12.8).

Series History with Utah State

Fresno State leads the all-time series 23-4.
The Bulldogs are 12-1 at home against the Aggies. USU's lone victory in Fresno came on Jan. 27, 2018 (60-52).
Two of the Bulldogs' four losses in the series have come during the last three seasons.
After winning 16 consecutive games in the series, the Bulldogs have won only three out of the last five.

The rest will come
With Saturday night's game marking the Bulldogs' fourth in eight days, Fresno State will enjoy some time off during the upcoming weeks. Following Utah State, the 'Dogs will play just three more games during the final three-and-a-half weeks of December before conference season ramps back up on Jan. 1.

Making the right pass
With back-to-back season highs in assists after 21 on Tuesday night at UNLV, the Bulldogs ranked third in the MW and No. 44 in the NCAA with 129. Fresno State has averaged 19.5 assists per game the last two games, 5.2 assists higher than its season average.
- Without starting guard Aly Gamez in the lineup against the Lady Rebels, Haley and Hanna Cavinder needed to pick up the lost production accounted for 18 of the team's 21 assists with each dishing nine.
- Ranking only sixth in the league in assists, the Bulldogs' low turnover frequency still has them second the MW and ranking No. 30 in the NCAA with a 1.23 assist-turnover ratio.

Explosive trio
No team in the Mountain West can claim to have three players rank in the top four in scoring in the conference, let alone the top 15, except Fresno State. The Bulldogs' trio of Haley Cavinder (4th), Hanna Cavinder (2nd) and Maddi Utti (3rd) rank two through four in the league in scoring.
- In five of Fresno State's nine games, the trio of Maddi Utti, Hanna Cavinder and Haley Cavinder have been the Bulldogs' top three scorers.
- The trio has accounted for 65.1 percent of the team's scoring
- The trio has twice accounted for at least 84 percent of the team's scoring in a game.
- Fresno State is 4-1 when the trio are the team's top three scorers.
- All three have three 20-point games this season. The Bulldogs are the only team in the Mountain West with three players who have posted multiple 20-point performances.

Running the show
Fresno State's offense has been started by the guard trio of junior Aly Gamez and freshmen Haley and Hanna Cavinder. All three rank in the top 10 in the MW in assist-to-turnover ratio with Gamez sitting fifth at 1.92. The Cavinders sit fourth and sixth in assists per game with Haley leading the team with 3.7 per contest.
- Gamez, Haley and Hanna have each posted multiple games with five assists or more.

"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.

'Dogs return home to host Utah State

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Players Mentioned

Haley Cavinder

Hanna Cavinder

Aly Gamez

Maddi Utti

Fresno State Athletics

'Dogs return home to host Utah State

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