Fresno State Athletics
Thursday, March 14
Las Vegas, Nev.
8:30 P.M. PT
Fresno State
23-8
76
vs
50
Air Force
14-18
1
2
F
Air Force
26
24
50
Fresno State
43
33
76
’Dogs cruise to 76-50 win over Falcons in quarters
3/14/2019 11:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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.
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
"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.
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
- 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
- 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).
"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.
Team Stats
AF
FS
FG%
.367
.459
3FG%
.222
.421
FT%
.667
.571
RB
34
36
TO
18
9
STL
3
13
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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