'Dogs battle back, but falter late

Tuesday, December 28

Boise, Idaho

6 p.m. PT

Fresno State

10-4,0-1Mountain West

Boise State

10-4,1-0Mountain West

Fresno St.

Boise St.

Photo by: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

'Dogs battle back, but falter late

12/28/2021 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State (10-4) turned a double-digit deficit into a second half lead before Boise State (10-4) answered down the stretch.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of Strategic Communications

BOISE, Idaho – In a battle of two of the Mountain West's best, the Fresno State men's basketball team fought back and took the lead after erasing a double-digit deficit – only to fall 65-55 on the road to the Boise State Broncos on Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena.

Fresno State (10-4, 0-1 Mountain West) was led by junior forward Orlando Robinson, who scored a game-high 22 points on 10-for-17 from the field, including a 2-for-4 clip on 3-point field goals.

Robinson also had five rebounds, three assists and a steal to lead the Bulldogs, who as a team attempted only two free throws in the game – the program's fewest in a game this century.

The win was the seventh-in-a-row for Boise State (10-4, 1-0 MW) with all seven of those victories featuring the Broncos holding its opponent 60 or fewer points.

How it happened: Fresno State used an 8-0 run to take a 15-13 lead over Boise State midway through the first half.

The Broncos answered with a 22-10 run to close the first half to have the Bulldogs trail 35-25 at intermission.

In the second half, Fresno State chipped away its double-digit deficit and tied the game at 48-48 on a Robinson fastbreak dunk off jumping a passing lane for a steal, and then took a 50-48 lead on Boise State just over a minute later when Robinson drove for a physical lay-up in the paint.

Boise State then settled in and finished with a 17-5 run to avenge its lone home loss from a season ago.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the Bulldogs' comeback bid...
"I think we played a little better for the first 10 minutes of the second half. The ball moved a little freer. We played in front of a nice, big crowd and I thought we clammed up a little in the first half. But we definitely missed Anthony's presence on the defensive end and rebounding. He's our best defender. He's our most efficient player and guys got more minutes and their matchups all went up. Now you've got to guard the best player, now you have to guard the second best player and I thought they took us by surprise a little bit in the first half and punched in the mouth. I thought we settled in and when we got to a point where we had a good game, we didn't make plays and they did."

On Orlando Robinson attacking the basket…
"That was the game plan, to spread out Armus a little bit. I wish he could have made a few more threes. I mean, he can shoot the ball better than what he gives himself credit for. We've got to get him where he could have made a few more threes that would have really loosened it up for him on the drive. … We were asking him to. He did a little bit of everything for us and we were still asking for more, right? We put him in that spot quite a few times, our guards did, to give us some open looks. He needs to let them fly.

"He had to be more aggressive. They weren't sending two right away. It started with his jump shot and when he hit one I think that gave him more confidence and it made them come out a little bit more. O is always there to compete. He did play better in the second half and that was great for us – that was a big reason why we came back."

Orlando Robinson, Fresno State junior forward
On the battle…
"I mean, it was a fight. Halftime, we were down and we had to come together as a collective and just focus in on what we weren't doing right in the first half and we did. We fought hard, but we kind of let go of the rope a little bit toward the end and Boise punished us for that. Now, we get back to the drawing board and figure out what we did wrong so we can come back and be a better team.

On the details…
"Sometimes, it may be fatigue, it may be a lack of focus on certain details and then some teams are able to punish you for that, for that lack of attention, maybe trailing Shaver on a three or me not getting out there on a three and then they get these threes and they punish us for it and we then have to come back. The longer we can hold our attention span and the longer we can hold our discipline the better team we'll be."

Team Notes:

Fresno State opened up Mountain West play on the road at Boise State for the first time (sixth road game to open MW play in the last eight seasons).
The Bulldogs collected eight steals in the game and outscored the Broncos 34-26 in the paint and 14-6 in points off turnovers.
This was Justin Hutson's 100th game as the Bulldogs' 19th head coach.
Six Mountain West teams are currently in the Top 70 of the NCAA's NET Rankings (all in Top 68).
Fresno State has attempted an average of 20.7 free throws (15. 2 FTM/GM, 142-186 FT, .763 ) in non-road games versus now an average of 8.0 free throw attempts (5.2 FTM/GM, 26-40 FT, .650) in true road games.
Fresno State's two free throw attempts are the fewest in a game this century.

Player Notes:

Orlando Robinson surpassed former Bulldog Paul George's 974 total career points by scoring 22 points tonight, making him 38th on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list (975 total).
Orlando Robinson led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points, his 13th game scoring in double figures this season.
Orlando Robinson has earned at least 20 points in six games this season (14 in his career) after scoring 22 tonight.

"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.