'Dogs ride off with 83-48 win

Friday, December 17

Fresno, Calif.

7 p.m. PT

Fresno State

9-2,0-0Mountain West

Cal Poly

3-8,0-0Big West

Cal Poly

Fresno St.

Photo by: Kayla Barber

'Dogs ride off with 83-48 win

12/17/2021 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Fresno State Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team defeated the Cal Poly Mustangs 83-48 on Friday night at the Save Mart Center.

With the win, Fresno State (9-2) has finished its home portion of its nonconference schedule (7-0) undefeated for the first time since 2002.

Fresno State's Junior Ballard and Orlando Robinson led the 'Dogs in scoring with 18 points each, followed by Jemarl Baker recording 12 and Jordan Campbell added 10 in the 35-point win.

How it happened: Fresno State quickly built a 20-10 lead over Cal Poly in the first eight minutes of the game and never looked back.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 in the first half, later led 68-38 just over midway through the second half and left no doubt to the final buzzer.

As a squad, Fresno State recorded 18 assists on 30 made field goals - making 52.6 percent of its field goal attempts, which included a blistering 60.7 percent clip in the first half.

By consistently attacking the paint, the 'Dogs outscored the Mustangs 34-12 inside and 26-9 in points off turnovers.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the team's defense and having Junior Ballard playing more minutes...
"We played really good defense and shared the ball, it was a nice team victory. It is great to have Junior back, he works really hard and it was exciting to watch him because he worked really hard to get back from his injury. I loved what he did tonight."

Junior Ballard, Fresno State senior guard
On the team win...
"It was a good team win and bringing in the energy and just the little things but most importantly having fun. People cheering, just makes the games easier to play."

Team Notes:

Fresno State is off to its best start (9-2) through 11 games since opening 9-2 in 2006.
Fresno State improved to 7-0 at home this season.
Fresno State finished its home nonconference schedule undefeated for the first time since 2002.
Fresno Staten now leads the all-time series with Cal Poly 35-8 (overall), including a 21-2 record in games played in Fresno.
Fresno State has now won the last five meetings (eight of the last nine) between the Bulldogs and Mustangs.
This was Fresno State's fifth victory by at least 30 points over Cal Poly in the all-time series (largest margin of victory - 35 points - in the Bulldogs' Division I era).
This was fifth win (third over a Division I opponent) by at least 35 points in head coach Justin Hutson's tenure (54th all-time in the Bulldogs' Division I era) .
Fresno State improved to 5-0 in Hutson's tenure when limiting its opponent to under 50 points (3-0 this season).
Fresno State improved to 38-6 in Hutson's tenure when recording a better assist-to-turnover ratio than its opponent (17 straight wins).
Fresno State also improved to 17-1 in Hutson's tenure when allowing under 60 points.
By forcing nine first-half turnovers on Friday, Fresno State has now forced 38 first-half turnovers in its last three home games.

Player Notes:

Jordan Campbell recorded a career-high four assists.
Leo Colimerio earned a career-high 10 rebounds.
Junior Ballard tied his career-high 18 points as a Bulldog.
Steven Vasquez earned his first basket of the season.
Robert Vaihola scored a career-high six points and tied his career-high three rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

Next up: Fresno State closes its nonconference slate in the Beehive State with a two-game road trip – playing at Utah on Tuesday (Pac-12 Networks) and at Weber State on Thursday (ESPN+).

Both games will also be broadcast on the Bulldog Sports Network (FOX Sports 1340 AM in Fresno and FOX Sports 970 AM in Bakersfield).

"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.