'Dogs host Aggies for hoops, AgFest

Saturday, February 15

Fresno, CA

7:00 PM PT

Fresno State

Utah State

Tickets

Photo by: Keith Kountz

'Dogs host Aggies for hoops, AgFest

2/14/2020 8:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Utah State at Fresno State (PDF)

The Fresno State men's basketball team will host the defending Mountain West champion Utah State Aggies on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets start at $18.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

Game 26: Utah State (20-7, 9-5 MW) at Fresno State (9-16, 5-9 MW)
Feb. 15, 2020 • 7 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
TV/Online: ESPNU (Steve Quis/Ben Braun)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Series History: Utah State leads 38-24 (overall) • Fresno State leads 16-10 (games in Fresno)
Last Meeting: No. 25 Utah State 77, Fresno State 70 (12/7/19 • Logan, Utah • The Spectrum)
Next Up: vs. Air Force (Feb. 19); at Nevada (Feb. 22); vs. Wyoming (Feb. 29)
Fresno State's 2019-20 NCAA NET & Ken Pom Rankings: No. 155 & No. 150

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 hosts Utah State on Saturday night
Fresno State will host the Utah State Aggies on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center. The game will be broadcast on the ESPNU and 940 AM ESPN Radio. Tickets for Saturday's game start at $18.

Fresno State & Utah State: All-Time Series History
Fresno State has won once in its last seven meetings with Utah State, including a thrilling 78-77 road victory over the Aggies last season on Jan. 9, 2019. Braxton Huggins, who is now playing professionally in the Netherlands, led the Bulldogs with 33 points and made the game-deciding 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining. The last five regular season meetings (six of the last seven) between the programs have been decided by a single possession or were tied at the end of regulation. Fresno State is 5-6 against Utah State in regular season MW match-ups.

A proven winner and consistent tender in the Mountain West

Fresno State has won the third-most MW games in the last four-plus seasons (53), which is since the start of the 2015-16 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 is second in the MW in blocked shots per game (3.7 bpg).
Fresno State is second in the MW in 3-pointers made per game (9.0/gm).
Fresno State is second in the MW in offensive rebounding (11.3/game).
Fresno State is 346th 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 101.8 minutes per game, which is nearly half of the Bulldogs' minutes per game average (49.3 percent). Fresno State's freshmen have accounted for 2,527 of the team's 5,125 total minutes played (49.3 percent) this season. Fresno State freshmen Orlando Robinson (13.1 ppg) and Jarred Hyder (9.3 ppg) lead the way for Fresno State's now six freshmen, who have scored 836 of the Bulldogs' 1,736 points for an average of 33.4 points of the team's 69.4 points per game (48.2 percent). Robinson is the only Bulldog to play in all 25 games this season. Three different freshmen have scored at least 25 points in a game this season: Niven Hart (30 points: 2/12 at SJSU & 29 points: 2/4 vs. Colorado State), Hyder (26 points: 11/10 vs. Winthrop) and Robinson (27 points: 12/28 vs. UC Riverside).

Hart surging down the stretch
In the last three games, Fresno State freshman reserve guard Niven Hart has averaged 24.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field (28-for-54). So in total, Hart has scored 74 points in those three games, including a career-high 30 points to lead the Bulldogs to an 84-78 overtime road win at San Jose State on Feb. 12, and 29 points against Colorado State on Feb. 5. Hart, who is originally from Orlando, Fla., is the first Bulldog freshman in program history to score 30 points in a game since Randy Holcomb did so against Sacramento State on Dec. 1, 1998. Paul George (2009) and Kevin Olekaibe (2011) are the only other two Fresno State freshmen to even score 29 points in a game in the last 15 seasons.

20-point games by Fresno State freshmen (Last 15 Seasons)
6 - Paul George, 2008-09
5 - Orlando Robinson, 2019-20
4 - Jarred Hyder, 2019-20
4 - Kevin Olekaibe, 2010-11
3 - Greg Smith, 2009-10
2 - Niven Hart, 2019-20

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes leads the Mountain West in blocked shots (1.6 bpg) and ranks third in rebounding (9.8 rpg), with nine double-doubles this season (23 in his Bulldog career).
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).
To open MW play, Fresno State played back-to-back overtime games for the second time since 2013 (first time in Hutson's tenure). Fresno State had last played back-to-back overtime games during the 2017-18 season.
Fresno State's overtime game against then-No. 25 Utah State was the Bulldogs' first overtime contest when playing an Associated Press Top 25 opponent since 2015 (then-No. 25 Wyoming).
Fresno State has used 11 starting line-ups in its first 25 games (same starting line-up for the last five games - season-high).

Grimes, Williams on 3X3U Midseason Watch List
Fresno State seniors Nate Grimes and New Williams were named to the 2020 Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship Midseason Watch List, Intersport announced on Feb. 4. Grimes and Williams are two of the 10 MW student-athletes currently under consideration to play for the four-man Team Mountain West, who will compete against the other 31 conferences during the NCAA's Final Four weekend in Atlanta. Fresno State and Colorado State have each had a representative on the team in the first two years of the now annual competition, with former Bulldog guards Deshon Taylor (2019) and Jahmel Taylor (2018) playing in Minneapolis and San Antonio, respectively.

"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.