’Dogs cruise to 76-50 win over Falcons in quarters

Thursday, March 14

Las Vegas, Nev.

8:30 P.M. PT

Fresno State

23-8

Air Force

14-18

Air Force

Fresno State

’Dogs cruise to 76-50 win over Falcons in quarters

3/14/2019 11:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Fresno State Men's Postgame Quotes 3.14.19 Photo Gallery (NCAA Photos)

Fresno State (23-8) will make its third MW semifinal appearance in the last four seasons after beating Air Force by 26 in the MW quarterfinals. The Bulldogs will next face Utah State on Friday at 8:30 p.m. PT.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

LAS VEGAS --- The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the Air Force Falcons 76-50 in the Mountain West quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

With the win, Fresno State (23-8) has advanced to face Utah State (26-6) on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. PT in the MW semifinals. This will be the Bulldogs' third MW semifinal appearance in the last four seasons.

Fresno State built a 17-point halftime lead and led by double digits the rest of the way en route to the 26-point rout.

Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored 18 points with a career-high 10 assists for his first career double-double in his 125th career game as a collegiate player. True freshman Aguir Agau added a career-high 16 points while making four 3-pointers for the Bulldogs.

How it happened: After Grimes threw down a dunk on a lob from Taylor on the game's first possession, Air Force rattled off a 13-4 run to lead 13-6 just over four minutes into the game.

Fresno State answered with a 16-0 run, which included a pair of 3-pointers by New Williams, over the course of nearly six and a half minutes to give the Bulldogs a 22-13 lead midway through the first half.

The sizzling run extended to 23-1 while holding Air Force without a field goal on 11 shot attempts for more than nine minutes of game play and helped Fresno State build a 29-14 lead over AFA.

Fresno State led by as many as 17 in the first half, which was the Bulldogs' 43-26 halftime advantage over the Falcons.

In the second half, Fresno State extended its lead to 34 with 4:38 remaining and finished off AFA down the stretch.

As a team, the Bulldogs had 23 assists on 28 made field goals and shot 45.9 percent from the field. Fresno State's bench outscored AFA's reserves 32-9.

Player Notes:
Deshon Taylor – 18 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals

First career double-double in 125 career games as a Division I players (last three seasons at Fresno State, played freshman season at UMKC)
Recorded career-high 10 assists
Third straight game with four 3-pointers
11th straight game scoring 10 or more points
Ninth game this season with at least five rebounds

Aguir Agau – 16 points, 4-for-6 3FGA, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

Scored a career-high 16 points
Third game this season in double figures and first since scoring 13 points against UT-Martin on Dec. 22)
Made a career-high four 3-pointers (entered the game with six made 3-pointers this season over the course of 30 games)
Grabbed at least three rebounds for the 11th time this season (third time in the last four games)
Played 18 minutes (most in a game since Dec. 22, 2018 versus UT-Martin)
Tied a career-high with six made field goals with a career-high 10 field goal attempts

Team Notes:

With the win, Fresno State first-year head coach Justin Hutson continues to lead the country with a 23-8 record (.742 winning percentage) among first-time NCAA Division I head coaches this season.
Hutson has also won a school-record 23 games for most win by first-year head coach (out of 19).
Fresno State improved to 17-2 this season when leading at halftime.
Fresno State has now advanced to the MW semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons.
Fresno State improved to 6-5 all-time in MW Tournament games (5-2 record since 2016).
Fresno State improved to 32-7 in their last 39 games when recording at least 10 made 3-point field goals (seven straight games with at least 10 3-pointers).

Up Next: No. 3 seed Fresno State will face No. 2 seed Utah State on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. PT in the MW semifinals on CBS Sports Network and 940 AM ESPN Radio. The winner earns a spot in Saturday's MW championship game against the winner of the early MW semifinal between No. 1 seed Nevada and No. 4 seed San Diego State.

"Just the Ticket to Build our Community" – 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 call 559-278-7160.