Fresno State Athletics
Tuesday, February 4
Fresno, CA
6:00 PM PT
Fresno State
8-15, 4-8MW
70
vs
80
Colorado State
17-8, 8-4MW
1
2
F
Colorado State
42
38
80
Fresno State
30
40
70
Photo by: Keith Kountz
Hart nets 29, ’Dogs fall to Rams
2/4/2020 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State freshman guard Niven Hart scored a career-high 29 points in the Bulldogs’ 80-70 loss to Colorado State on Tuesday night. The ’Dogs will next play at UNLV on Saturday night.
FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team lost 80-70 to the Colorado State Rams, but the Bulldogs did get a career-night from freshman Niven Hart on Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center
Hart, who entered Tuesday's contest averaging under 15 minutes per game, erupted for a career-best 29 points and also had four rebounds, a career-high three assists and his first career block for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State (8-15, 4-8 Mountain West) got 33 of its 70 points from its bench, headlined by Hart's 29, which included 26 second-half points.
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his 22nd career double-double.
Colorado State (17-8, 8-4 MW) continued its ascent up the conference standings with a double-double from senior center Nico Carvacho, who finished with a team-high 17 points with 16 rebounds. Freshman guard Isaiah Stevens added 13 points, eight assists and three rebounds for the Rams.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the difference in tonight's game versus the Jan. 22 game against Colorado State…
"Well they're a good team. They run fast, break well, they move the ball well and they get it inside but the difference to me from us was our energy and our effort. Very inconsistent. The way we moved the ball in the second half against Colorado State did not happen in the first half tonight."
On pulling all five starters in the second half …
"I wasn't hoping much. Hope is not a strategy. Those guys didn't deserve to be out on the floor, so I was going try some of the other guys."
On how they can limit perimeter offensive opportunities…
"Colorado State's a tough team to do it because they get out there and transition and they get them in transition before you're set. So you've got to make sure you have your guys back, we have to be disciplined and we have to communicate in transition and not give up the ones in transition. They actually could have made a lot more in the first half, they were wide open in front of our bench. In the half court, they had a couple of guys they could throw the ball inside too, that demand help, so we've got to give the appropriate help and be able to rotate back out to the shooters. We did a good job on that, but we did not do a good job on transitioning."
On Nico Carvacho…
"He's a very good player and he had a very good game tonight. He's definitely one of the best rebounders in the conference history and he's been on some winning teams. I'm glad he's a senior."
Niven Hart, Fresno State freshman guard
On how tired he was and how tough it was to push through that fatigue…
"I was pretty tired, but Coach wanted me to stay in because everything was flowing. So "Coach rock with me, I rock with Coach." Coach wanted me to push through it, so I was going to push through it. That's what I did. I tried to do whatever I can to make us come back. I wasn't so much in the game thinking about how many points I had or how much I was scoring. I was just trying to get the score right – trying to win the game."
Player Notes:
Niven Hart — 29 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Hart, who entered Tuesday's contest averaging under 15 minutes per game, erupted for a career-best 29 points and also had four rebounds, a career-high three assists and his first career block for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State (8-15, 4-8 Mountain West) got 33 of its 70 points from its bench, headlined by Hart's 29, which included 26 second-half points.
Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his 22nd career double-double.
Colorado State (17-8, 8-4 MW) continued its ascent up the conference standings with a double-double from senior center Nico Carvacho, who finished with a team-high 17 points with 16 rebounds. Freshman guard Isaiah Stevens added 13 points, eight assists and three rebounds for the Rams.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the difference in tonight's game versus the Jan. 22 game against Colorado State…
"Well they're a good team. They run fast, break well, they move the ball well and they get it inside but the difference to me from us was our energy and our effort. Very inconsistent. The way we moved the ball in the second half against Colorado State did not happen in the first half tonight."
On pulling all five starters in the second half …
"I wasn't hoping much. Hope is not a strategy. Those guys didn't deserve to be out on the floor, so I was going try some of the other guys."
On how they can limit perimeter offensive opportunities…
"Colorado State's a tough team to do it because they get out there and transition and they get them in transition before you're set. So you've got to make sure you have your guys back, we have to be disciplined and we have to communicate in transition and not give up the ones in transition. They actually could have made a lot more in the first half, they were wide open in front of our bench. In the half court, they had a couple of guys they could throw the ball inside too, that demand help, so we've got to give the appropriate help and be able to rotate back out to the shooters. We did a good job on that, but we did not do a good job on transitioning."
On Nico Carvacho…
"He's a very good player and he had a very good game tonight. He's definitely one of the best rebounders in the conference history and he's been on some winning teams. I'm glad he's a senior."
Niven Hart, Fresno State freshman guard
On how tired he was and how tough it was to push through that fatigue…
"I was pretty tired, but Coach wanted me to stay in because everything was flowing. So "Coach rock with me, I rock with Coach." Coach wanted me to push through it, so I was going to push through it. That's what I did. I tried to do whatever I can to make us come back. I wasn't so much in the game thinking about how many points I had or how much I was scoring. I was just trying to get the score right – trying to win the game."
Player Notes:
Niven Hart — 29 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
- Scored a career-high 29 points (previous best: 16 points, versus IUPUI on Dec. 20)
- Scored 26 of his game-best 29 points in the second half alone
- Shot 12-21 from the floor (57%)
- Dished out a career-best three assists and recorded his first career block
- Collected his eighth double-double on the season
- 22nd double-double in Bulldog career
- Scored in double-digits for the 13th time this season
- Scored in double-digits for the 12th time this season
- Made three or more 3-point field goals for the eighth time this season
- The Bulldogs dropped to 13-3 all-time against the Rams in games played in Fresno and trail the all-time series with CSU, 18-16. However, Fresno State has won six of its last ten meetings with Colorado State.
- Fresno State is now 186-84 all-time at the Save Mart Center.
- Fresno State is 82-29 overall at home since the start of the 2013-14 season, including a 18-10 home record in head coach Justin Hutson's tenure.
Team Stats
CSU
FS
FG%
.413
.443
3FG%
.429
.296
FT%
.762
.444
RB
43
37
TO
10
13
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
29
FGM
12
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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