'Dogs, Rams to meet in Fort Collins

Wednesday, January 22

Fort Collins, CO

6:00 PM PT

Fresno State

Colorado State

Photo by: Keith Kountz

'Dogs, Rams to meet in Fort Collins

1/21/2020 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Fresno State at Colorado State (PDF)

The Fresno State men's basketball team visits the Colorado State Rams on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT at Moby Arena on ESPN3 and 940 AM ESPN Radio.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

Game 19: Fresno State (6-12, 2-5 MW) at Colorado State (13-7, 4-3 MW)
Jan. 22, 2020 • 6 p.m. PT • Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
Online: ESPN3 (Trey Bender/Sed Bonner)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Series History: Tied 17-17 (overall) • Colorado State leads 13-3 (FS true road games)
Last Meeting: Colorado State 74, Fresno State 65 (1/26/219 • Fort Collins, Colo. • Moby Arena)
Next Up: vs. Boise State (Jan. 25); at Air Force (Jan. 28); vs. New Mexico (Feb. 1)
Fresno State's 2019-20 NCAA NET & Ken Pom Rankings: No. 151 & No. 131

Opening Tip

Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is in his second season after winning 23 games in his first season back home in the San Joaquin Valley.
Hutson was named the 2018-19 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year.
Hutson, a Bakersfield native, had spent 12 seasons (San Diego State and UNLV) as one of the most respected assistant coaches in the country.

Fresno State visits Colorado State in midweek game
Fresno State visits the Colorado State Rams on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT at Moby Arena. The game will be broadcast ESPN3 and 940 AM ESPN Radio.

Fresno State & Colorado State: All-Time Series History
Fresno State has won six of its last eight meetings with Colorado State, but the Bulldogs have only beat the Rams once in Fort Collins since joining the MW in 2012 - an 82-79 overtime win by Fresno State on Jan. 6, 2018. The other two road wins at CSU came in back-to-back seasons in 1993 and 1994. Last season, Fresno State went 7-2 on the road in MW play with the lone MW road losses in Hutson's first campaign being at Colorado State and Nevada. The Bulldogs split the season series with the Rams a year ago.

A proven winner and consistent contender in the Mountain West

Fresno State has won the third-most MW games in the last three-plus seasons (37), which is since the start of the 2016-17 season.
Fresno State is one of four programs (Boise State, Nevada and San Diego State) with over 55 MW wins in the last five-plus seasons.
Fresno State is the only program to earn a MW Tournament first-round bye in each of the past five seasons.
Fresno State is one of two programs, along with San Diego State, with a .500 record or better in MW play in each of the last six seasons.
Fresno State is the only team to win at least 10 MW games in each of the last five seasons.

Between the Baselines

Fresno State opened the season by playing seven of its first 10 games away from the Save Mart Center (six road games + one neutral site game).
Fresno State leads the MW in blocked shots per game (3.9 bpg).
Fresno State is second in the MW in 3-pointers made per game (9.0/gm).
Fresno State is 22-5 when leading at halftime during Hutson's tenure.
Fresno State's scoring margin against Division I opponents is minus-0.5.
Fresno State is 353rd out of 353 Division I teams in "luck" by Ken Pom.

Youth Movement
Fresno State has fielded six of the 22 freshmen who have appeared in games so far for Mountain West teams. Fresno State leads the league with freshmen averaging 99.9 minutes per game, which is nearly half of the Bulldogs' minutes per game average (48.6 percent). Fresno State's freshmen have accounted for 1,799 of the team's 3,700 total minutes played (48.6 percent) this season. Fresno State freshmen Orlando Robinson (13.5 ppg) and Jarred Hyder (10.5 ppg) lead the way for Fresno State's now six freshmen, who have scored 574 of the Bulldogs' 1,233 points for an average of 31.9 points of the team's 68.5 points per game (46.6 percent).

'Dogs played three preseason AP Top 25 teams early

Fresno State was one of two teams (Michigan State) in the nation that had three teams ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25 poll on its schedule for the first eight games of the 2019-20 regular season.
Fresno State opened the season at Oregon (No. 15) on Nov. 5, and then played Saint Mary's (No. 20) in Sacramento at Golden 1 Center on Nov. 20 and visited Utah State (No. 17) on Dec. 7 (AP Top 25 preseason rankings).

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes leads the Mountain West in blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and ranks fourth in rebounding (9.6 rpg), which is tied for 32nd in the nation, and tied for 58th nationally with six double-doubles this season (20 in his Bulldog career).
In the last seven games, Fresno State freshman forward Orlando Robinson has averaged 19.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks & 1.7 assists per game.
During the Justin Hutson era, Fresno State has outscored autonomy-five conference schools – TCU, Northwestern, Miami, Cal (twice) and Oregon – by a combined score of 438-427 (+11).
Fresno State used 10 starting line-ups in its first 18 games.

"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.