'Dogs test undefeated Dons in loss

Wednesday, December 8

San Francisco, CA

7 P.M. PT

Fresno State

7-2,0-0Mountain West

San Francisco

10-0,0-0WCC

Fresno St.

San Francisco

Anthony Holland, driving to basket, at USF, low res

'Dogs test undefeated Dons in loss

12/8/2021 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State's Anthony Holland had a career-high 19 points in the Bulldogs' 71-63 loss at San Francisco on Wednesday.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of Strategic Communications

The Breakdown

Fresno State's Anthony Holland scored a career-high 19 points, which included two 3-pointers and five baskets in the paint, in the Bulldogs' Quad 1 road loss at San Francisco (10-0).
While the Bulldogs outrebounded the Dons 37-33, Fresno State allowed USF to make 62 percent of its second-half shots after limiting the Dons to just 34.5 percent in the first 20 minutes.
The loss is just Fresno State's second this season – both on the road in the Bay Area.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Fresno State men's basketball team suffered a 71-63 loss by the hands of the undefeated San Francisco Dons on Wednesday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

Fresno State (7-2) built a double-digit lead in the second half before San Francisco (10-0) and Jamaree Bouyea got going down the stretch to become the first Division I team in the nation to reach 10 wins this season.

Anthony Holland scored a career-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting with nine rebounds, including five offensive boards, for the Bulldogs, who return home to host UC Irvine on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT.

How it happened: USF raced out to a 13-6 lead, but Fresno State later used 13-0 run to take the lead, which grew to as many as 10 with just over 13 minutes remaining.

That's when Bouyea, who had a game-high 27 points started finding more space and his stroke.

Even as the Bulldogs attempted to contain Bouyea, Fresno State still led 60-57 with 4:40 to go when USF answered with a 10-0 run to retake the lead for good.

Yauhen Massalski added 20 points for the Dons, with nine field goals at the rim.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On competing, but not winning the game…
"It made us mad. We lost the game. We needed to be a little tougher down the stretch. We have to do a better job in that pick and roll and it starts with me, to put two guys on Bouyea and make somebody else beat us. That was the game plan all night long, to put two guys on the ball on the pick and roll with Bouyea, because we know when it's time to win he's going to hold it and shoot it.

On the Bulldogs' offensive looks and costly turnovers after getting stops…
"I thought we got some good looks. I did. I thought we got some good looks. They're shooting step-back jumpers and knocking them in our face. I thought we got good looks in the corners, got good looks in the post. We got to the basket. It hurt us a little bit when we had the game within hand we came down and turned the ball over on our break. We got two good stops and came down and turned it over, and turned it over right away. To win games on the road, you can't do that. We've got to get better at that. We can't come down and turn the ball over unnecessarily on the break after we're working so hard to get stops."

Anthony Holland, Fresno State junior forward
On the physicality of the game…
"That was a real physical game. That was a real physical team. They had some big dudes down there and it was just a war in the paint, so it was really physical.

On driving to the basket…
"(Coach Hut) just said be aggressive, make your reads. The same thing he always tells me and I just did that."

On his leadership role…
"I feel like my role is always changing. If I want a bigger role I can step up and I can do it, and if Coach wants me to do that, I'll do anything to help this team."

On growing from battling in a road atmosphere…
"We have to learn how to execute, to play against tough crowds. This is our first real crowd of the year so we always have to learn. It's a tough crowd, we have to execute. We played against a real tough team in a home environment and it's just going to help us in the long run."

"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.