Wednesday, March 6
San Diego, Calif.
7 p.m. PT
Fresno State
21-8, 12-5
76
at
74
San Diego State
19-11, 11-6
1
2
F
FRESNO STATE
39
37
76
SAN DIEGO STATE
32
42
74
Photo by: Jamie Schwaberow/Clarkson Creative
’Dogs win thriller to sweep Aztecs, secure No. 3 seed
3/6/2019 10:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State overcame a six-point deficit with 63 seconds remaining to complete a regular season sweep of San Diego State and clinch the No. 3 seed for the 2019 MW Tournament. Senior guard Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 25 points in the thriller.
SAN DIEGO – The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the San Diego State Aztecs 76-74 in an absolute thriller on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena.
Fresno State (21-8, 12-5 Mountain West) has now secured the No. 3 seed for the upcoming 2019 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Basketball Championships next week, which will start for the Bulldogs on March 14 at 8:30 p.m. PT against the winner of the first-round game between the No. 6 seed and San Jose State.
With the win, the 'Dogs handed San Diego State (19-11, 11-6 Mountain West) their only home MW loss this season and Fresno State has now won seven of its last nine games played against SDSU.
Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 25 points with five assists and four rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to their third straight road win against the Aztecs, who will be the No. 4 seed for the MW Tournament.
How it happened: Fresno State opened the game with an 8-0 start while holding San Diego State scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 15 seconds.
With Fresno State ahead 27-12, the Aztecs countered with a 13-4 run to pull within 31-25, but the Bulldogs were up 39-32 at halftime after Taylor beat the first half buzzer with his third 3-pointer of the opening half.
SDSU started second half with 15-8 run, including a 10-0 stretch during which the Aztecs took their first lead of the contest and Fresno State first-year head coach Justin Hutson was whistled for his first career technical foul after calling a timeout with 15:26 to play.
With SDSU leading 61-56, Blackwell missed a 3-pointer, Gray cleaned it up for two off an offensive rebound and New Williams drained a 3-pointer on the Bulldogs' next offensive possession to tie it at 61-all with 6:26 remaining.
The Aztecs scored the next seven points to move ahead 68-61 with 3:48 to go. SDSU also led 71-63 with 1:58 remaining and 72-66 with 1:03 left when the tide really started to turn for the 'Dogs.
Taylor made a 3-pointer with 62 seconds to play and Huggins added a lay-up off of a steal to cut the deficit to a single point with 43 seconds left. The Bulldogs' defense came up with another steal – this time by New Williams, who threw down the go-ahead dunk with 27 seconds remaining to cap a 7-0 surge in a span of a mere 35 seconds.
Fresno State never trailed again as Taylor was key to sealing the win with three free throws in the final 21 seconds and the Bulldogs' defense came up with a final stop to finish off the victory.
As a team, Fresno State made 10 3-pointers to climb to 298 triples for the season – five shy of tying the program record of 303, which was set during the 2006-07 season.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On Fresno State winning three in a row at Viejas Arena…
"It doesn't mean much to me. This is my first game. This group won. It's about this group. It's not about what happened in the past. This is my first year. This is this group's first year. We have brand new players. We had a lot of our minutes graduate, so it's a testament to this group, not who was here before. It's more a testament to this team. I have a special group of guys."
Hut on Christian Gray's impact (career-high 8 points)...
"His game was great, but it was also a testament to his attitude and the type of teammate that he is because he stayed ready. We've been coaching them hard. Everyone is there to get better. We need everybody and it was his turn. He stayed ready and just played great for us."
On the Bulldogs' defensive press…
"They were in front of me and I was screaming no foul. We smelled a little blood, so we wanted to stay with it and I wanted to trust my guys that we could pressure without fouling and I guarantee we'll show that to them because that's growth for us, to be able to get up and pressure without fouling at the end of the game."
Deshon Taylor, Fresno State senior guard
"It's a 40 minute game. It's March now. Anything can happen in March. The game is never over until the final buzzer, and we just kept playing. I hit a three. We got a steal and we scored. We got another steal and we scored. It was just unbelievable. I don't even know what to say. When we got that steal and New dunked it I was like, I feel like it's over. I feel like we got them."
Player Notes:
Deshon Taylor – 25 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 4-for-6 3FGA
"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.
Fresno State (21-8, 12-5 Mountain West) has now secured the No. 3 seed for the upcoming 2019 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Basketball Championships next week, which will start for the Bulldogs on March 14 at 8:30 p.m. PT against the winner of the first-round game between the No. 6 seed and San Jose State.
With the win, the 'Dogs handed San Diego State (19-11, 11-6 Mountain West) their only home MW loss this season and Fresno State has now won seven of its last nine games played against SDSU.
Fresno State senior guard Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 25 points with five assists and four rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to their third straight road win against the Aztecs, who will be the No. 4 seed for the MW Tournament.
How it happened: Fresno State opened the game with an 8-0 start while holding San Diego State scoreless for the first 4 minutes and 15 seconds.
With Fresno State ahead 27-12, the Aztecs countered with a 13-4 run to pull within 31-25, but the Bulldogs were up 39-32 at halftime after Taylor beat the first half buzzer with his third 3-pointer of the opening half.
SDSU started second half with 15-8 run, including a 10-0 stretch during which the Aztecs took their first lead of the contest and Fresno State first-year head coach Justin Hutson was whistled for his first career technical foul after calling a timeout with 15:26 to play.
With SDSU leading 61-56, Blackwell missed a 3-pointer, Gray cleaned it up for two off an offensive rebound and New Williams drained a 3-pointer on the Bulldogs' next offensive possession to tie it at 61-all with 6:26 remaining.
The Aztecs scored the next seven points to move ahead 68-61 with 3:48 to go. SDSU also led 71-63 with 1:58 remaining and 72-66 with 1:03 left when the tide really started to turn for the 'Dogs.
Taylor made a 3-pointer with 62 seconds to play and Huggins added a lay-up off of a steal to cut the deficit to a single point with 43 seconds left. The Bulldogs' defense came up with another steal – this time by New Williams, who threw down the go-ahead dunk with 27 seconds remaining to cap a 7-0 surge in a span of a mere 35 seconds.
Fresno State never trailed again as Taylor was key to sealing the win with three free throws in the final 21 seconds and the Bulldogs' defense came up with a final stop to finish off the victory.
As a team, Fresno State made 10 3-pointers to climb to 298 triples for the season – five shy of tying the program record of 303, which was set during the 2006-07 season.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On Fresno State winning three in a row at Viejas Arena…
"It doesn't mean much to me. This is my first game. This group won. It's about this group. It's not about what happened in the past. This is my first year. This is this group's first year. We have brand new players. We had a lot of our minutes graduate, so it's a testament to this group, not who was here before. It's more a testament to this team. I have a special group of guys."
Hut on Christian Gray's impact (career-high 8 points)...
"His game was great, but it was also a testament to his attitude and the type of teammate that he is because he stayed ready. We've been coaching them hard. Everyone is there to get better. We need everybody and it was his turn. He stayed ready and just played great for us."
On the Bulldogs' defensive press…
"They were in front of me and I was screaming no foul. We smelled a little blood, so we wanted to stay with it and I wanted to trust my guys that we could pressure without fouling and I guarantee we'll show that to them because that's growth for us, to be able to get up and pressure without fouling at the end of the game."
Deshon Taylor, Fresno State senior guard
"It's a 40 minute game. It's March now. Anything can happen in March. The game is never over until the final buzzer, and we just kept playing. I hit a three. We got a steal and we scored. We got another steal and we scored. It was just unbelievable. I don't even know what to say. When we got that steal and New dunked it I was like, I feel like it's over. I feel like we got them."
Player Notes:
Deshon Taylor – 25 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 4-for-6 3FGA
- Scored 25 or more points in a game for the 10th time in his career (fifth time this season)
- Scored 20 or more points in a game for the 29th time in his career (11th time this season)
- Made four or more 3-pointers for the sixth time this season
- Fifth straight game with five or more assists (13th time this season)
- Fourth straight game with four or more rebounds
- Climbed to No. 11 on the Bulldogs' all-time leading scorers list with 1,421 career points in his three seasons at Fresno State
- Fresno State has secured the No. 3 seed for the 2019 MW Tournament. The Bulldogs are the only MW program to have earned a first-round bye in each of the last five seasons, including this season.
- Fresno State improved to 30-7 in their last 37 games when making at least 10 3-pointers.
- Fresno State improved to 7-3 in true road games (7-2 in MW play).
- Fresno State improved to 18-2 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
- Fresno State has won the second-most MW games (34) in the last three seasons.
- Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson improved to 24-2 all-time as a Division I head coach (2-0 this season) and assistant coach (22-2) when coaching against one of his former teams.
"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
FRESNO
SDSU
FG%
.419
.407
3FG%
.345
.278
FT%
.737
.750
RB
32
43
TO
12
15
STL
9
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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