Bulldogs visit UNLV on Saturday

Saturday, February 8

Las Vegas, NV

5:00 PM PT

Fresno State

UNLV

Photo by: Keith Kountz

Bulldogs visit UNLV on Saturday

2/7/2020 12:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes: Fresno State at UNLV (PDF)

The Fresno State men's basketball team has won two of its last three road games. The Bulldogs open a two-game road swing with a game at UNLV on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT on ESPNU & 940 AM ESPN Radio.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

Game 24: Fresno State (8-15, 4-8 MW) at UNLV (11-13, 6-5 MW)
Feb. 8, 2020 • 5 p.m. PT • Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center)
TV/Online: ESPNU (Steve Quis/Corey Williams)
Radio: 940 AM ESPN (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones)
Series History: UNLV leads 31-15 (overall) & 17-5 (games played in Las Vegas)
Last Meeting: UNLV 81, Fresno State 80 [2OT] (12/4/19 • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center)
Next Up: at San Jose State (Feb. 12); vs. Utah State (Feb. 15); vs. Air Force (Feb. 19)
Fresno State's 2019-20 NCAA NET & Ken Pom Rankings: No. 159 & No. 154

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.
Justin Hutson is 25-5 all-time as a Division I head coach (5-3) or assistant coach (20-2) when coaching against one of his former teams. Hutson was the associate head coach at UNLV for two seasons from 2011-13.

Fresno State visits UNLV on Saturday night
Fresno State will visit the UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT at the Thomas & Mack Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and 940 AM ESPN Radio. Fresno State enters Saturday's contest having won two of its last three road games.

Fresno State & UNLV: All-Time Series History
Fresno State has won seven of its last eight meetings with UNLV, including the last four true road games in the series. The Bulldogs are 1-1 against the Runnin' Rebels in the last two seasons with head coach Justin Hutson, which includes an 81-80 double overtime loss back on Dec. 4 in both teams' MW opener. Fresno State is 5-17 all-time in road games with UNLV (all five road wins by the Bulldogs coming in the last seven seasons).

A proven winner and consistent contender in the Mountain West

Fresno State has won the third-most MW games in the last four-plus seasons (52), 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 (3.6 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 (11.2/game).
Fresno State is 348th 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 100.3 minutes per game, which is nearly half of the Bulldogs' minutes per game average (49.1 percent). Fresno State's freshmen have accounted for 2,306 of the team's 4,700 total minutes played (49.1 percent) this season. Fresno State freshmen Orlando Robinson (12.6 ppg) and Jarred Hyder (9.5 ppg) lead the way for Fresno State's now six freshmen, who have scored 737 of the Bulldogs' 1,515 points for an average of 30.8 points of the team's 68.2 points per game (46.5 percent). Robinson is the only Bulldog to play in all 23 games this season. Three different freshmen have scored at least 25 points in a game this season: Niven Hart (29 points: 2/4), Jarred Hyder (26 points: 11/10) and Orlando Robinson (27 points: 12/28).

Number of 20-point games by Fresno State freshmen (Last 15 Seasons)
6 - Paul George, 2008-09
4 - Jarred Hyder, 2019-20
4 - Kevin Olekaibe, 2010-11
4 - Orlando Robinson, 2019-20

Hart erupts for 29 against surging Rams
Fresno State freshman guard Niven Hart, who had averaged under 15 minutes per game prior to the Bulldogs' Feb. 4 game against Colorado State, erupted for a season-high 29 points with four rebounds, a season-best four assists and his first career block in 28 minutes as a reserve in the Tuesday night showdown with the Rams. Hart scored 26 of his 29 points in the second half as the Bulldogs got 33 of its 70 points from its bench. Hart, a native of Orlando, Fla., helped lead Oak Ridge High School to the 2018 FHSSA Class 9A state championship. Hart is widely regarded as one of the nation's best and most explosive dunkers. Hart is one of three Fresno State freshmen in the last 15 seasons to score 29 points in a game - joining Paul George (2009) and Kevin Olekaibe (2011) in the exclusive club.

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.

Bulldog Bones

Fresno State senior forward Nate Grimes leads the Mountain West in blocked shots (1.7 bpg) and ranks third in rebounding (9.8 rpg), with eight double-doubles this season (22 in his Bulldog career).
In his last four games, Nate Grimes has averaged 17.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 62.8 percent from the field (27-43) and 50 percent from beyond the 3-point line (9-18).
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 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 has used 11 starting line-ups in its first 23 games.

Bulldogs thriving in the Mountain West
When the Bulldogs joined the MW in 2012, the conference had three teams – New Mexico (No. 21), San Diego State (No. 22) and UNLV (No. 23) – ranked in the final 2011-12 Associated Press poll on March 12, 2012. It appeared to be – and was – a daunting task to find a way to compete and thrive in such a challenging conference, which sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and five in 2013. Yet, after a lot of hard work and a relentless commitment to excellence, Fresno State is a combined 21-9 against UNLV (7-1), UNM (7-4) and SDSU (7-5) for a 70.0 winning percentage against those three MW programs in the past four-plus seasons.

"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.