Bulldogs dominate UNLV, 83-65

Saturday, February 9

Las Vegas, Nev.

2 p.m. PT

Fresno State

17-6, 8-3MW

UNLV

12-11, 6-5MW

Fresno State

UNLV

Photo by: Keith Kountz

Bulldogs dominate UNLV, 83-65

2/9/2019 4:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State redshirt senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Bulldogs to their fifth Mountain West road win so far this season. Fresno State hosts Boise State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

LAS VEGAS --- The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the UNLV Runnin' Rebels 83-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Fresno State (17-6, 8-3 Mountain West) has now won five of its first six conference road games so far this season, including four MW road wins by 10 or more points. The win also marked the seventh straight victory by Fresno State in its all-time series with UNLV (12-11, 6-5 MW).

The Bulldogs also picked up the head-to-head tiebreaker over UNLV for MW Tournament seeding, if needed, as this was the only meeting between the programs during the regular season.

Fresno State redshirt senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a game-high 31 points with six of the Bulldogs' season-high tying 15 3-pointers in the contest. Deshon Taylor added 18 points for the Bulldogs, who also had Nate Grimes record his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Runnin' Rebels.

Noah Blackwell also had 13 points in the 40-minute contest, which Fresno State led for over 38 minutes.

How it happened: Fresno State hit five of its first six 3-point attempts as the Bulldogs' offense was scorching hot from the opening tip and the Fresno State defense also stepped up with a strong defensive effort.

Fresno State built a 39-25 lead on the Runnin' Rebels late in the first half and the 'Dogs held a 45-33 advantage at halftime.

UNLV closed to within five points on several occasions in the second half, but the Bulldogs withstood each counter attack and led by as many as 19 in the second half before finishing off the 18-point victory.

As a team, Fresno State shot 53.7 percent from the field (29-for-54), including a 51.7 percent clip from beyond the 3-point arc (15-for-29). The Bulldogs outrebounded UNLV 35-24 to improve to 10-1 this season when outrebounding their opponent.

All 83 of Fresno State's points were scored by the Bulldogs' five starters (no bench points for the first time this season).

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On getting out to a good start…
"It's not always all on us. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposing team, but it was starting to become a habit where it's like, 'Wait a minute fellas, you guys are out there starting the game, you guy have to come out and bring the energy and the focus' and they did. I thought they did awesome. We talked about it again (Friday) night after we watched film. It's easier said than done - there are a lot of variables involved in that. But we wanted to control what we could."

On defending on the perimeter and limiting UNLV to just three 3-pointers…
"That helped. They just made 14 three at Boise (State) and that's not easy to do. Boise is a good defensive team. You go and make 14 at Boise and come home, I know you have a lot of confidence so I'm proud of our guys for following the game plan."

Braxton Huggins, Fresno State redshirt senior guard
On scoring a game-high 31 points to lead his team to an 18-point win at UNLV…
"I was just open a lot. My teammates did a good job of finding me. I got a lot of good looks, and I love to score the ball."

On the Bulldogs getting off to a good start in the game…
"The last couple of games we'd start off and we'd be losing. I don't know if it's because of energy or effort or whatever it is, but we just always get off to slow starts. The game plan was to just start off with as much energy as possible and make sure we defend the three and stop them in transition."

Deshon Taylor, Fresno State senior guard
On his back-to-back 3-pointers...
"We had just turned the ball over, but we knew if we came back down and got a stop and a score, got another stop and a score that would blow the lead back open and that's what we did."

On defending the three...
"10 a game in conference. We always pride ourselves on trying to limit a team to five or less threes a game. We knew they were going to be at home, so that was a real big emphasis for our defense."

On the Bulldogs' great offensive execution…
"It wasn't really our offense, it was our defense. Our pick and roll (defense) was bad last game. We kept letting them turn the corner and I think that was kind of it. When it was time to get a stop, we let them turn the corner and make some big shots."

Marvin Menzies, UNLV head coach
"You have to give Fresno State credit. Those guys were incredible tonight. Their offensive transition was phenomenal in the first half. Some nights you have to just take the hit and go back and evaluate what you have to do better. I am obviously disappointed on the heels of playing a really good game on the road and then not being able to build on it."

Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins – 31 points, six 3-pointers, five rebounds, three assists, one steal

Scored at least 30 points for the second time this season (fifth game with 25 or more points).
Made six or more 3-pointers for the third time season (two shy of his career-high).
Has grabbed five or more rebounds in seven of the last eight games.

Team Notes:

Fresno State improved to 5-2 in true road games this season, including a 5-1 road record during MW play. The 5-2 record is currently tied for the 22nd-best road record in the nation this season.
Fresno State has now won nine of its last 12 true road games dating back to last season.
Fresno State has made at least four 3-pointers in every game this season. The Bulldogs improved to 27-5 in their last 32 games when making at least 10 3-point field goals.
This was the second time during league action that Fresno State has made 15 3-pointers in a game – matching the 15 3-pointers the Bulldogs made in a 78-77 road win at Utah State on Jan. 9.
This was also the second time this season that Fresno State has made more than 50 percent of its field goal attempts (15-29, 51.7 percent in today's 83-65 win at UNLV).
Fresno State improved to 7-1 this season when scoring over 80 points in a game.
Fresno State is now one win away from its sixth straight season winning at least nine conference games. Fresno State is one of three MW programs to have finished .500 or better in league play in each of the past five seasons.
Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson improved to 23-2 all-time as a Division I head coach (2-0) or assistant coach (21-2) when coaching against one of his former teams.

Up Next: Fresno State hosts Boise State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m PT at the Save Mart Center. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.

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