'Dogs dig deep to beat Lobos

Tuesday, January 25

Albuquerque, N.M.

6 p.m. PT

Fresno State

14-5,4-2Mountain West

New Mexico

7-13,0-7Mountain West

Fresno St.

New Mexico

Photo by: CARY EDMONDSON - FRESNO STATE BRAND STRATEGY AND MARKETING

'Dogs dig deep to beat Lobos

1/25/2022 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State’s Anthony Holland scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Bulldogs to a gritty 65-60 road win at New Mexico.

By: Strategic Communications

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Fresno State men's basketball team dug deep to defeat the New Mexico Lobos 65 -60 on Tuesday night at The Pit.

Anthony Holland scored a career-high 22 points to help Fresno State (14-5, 4-2 Mountain West) to its third-ever win at The Pit.

This win makes Justin Hutson the only Fresno State men's basketball head coach in program history to coach the Bulldogs to a win at The Pit twice.

Junior forward Orlando Robinson produced early before suffering an injury, but was able to record 11 points, including five after returning in the second half and helped the Bulldogs secure the gritty road conference victory.

How it happened: Fresno State made its first eight shots while building a 21-7 lead over New Mexico.

The Bulldogs consistently attacked the basket early and also made perimeter baskets, defended with energy and weathered the storm while Robinson was sidelined with an ankle injury for the final 12 minutes of the first half.

After leading 41-26 at halftime, Fresno State had to withstand New Mexico's fearless comeback bid, which featured a 23-8 run to cut the Lobos' deficit to two points at 51-49, even as Robinson was able to return for nearly the last nine minutes of the contest.

For the game, Fresno State outshot New Mexico 47.8 percent to 36.4 percent and limited the Lobos to just five 3-point field goals, which snapped a stretch of three straight games that UNM had made at least 10 3-pointers.

Fresno State led for more than 38 minutes of the 40 minute contest.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On his team's performance and growth…
"That's what we're supposed to do. You're supposed to get better. You're supposed to have returners and then you have returners and they get older, then you're supposed to be pretty good. That's how you're supposed to build a program. Sometimes you're going to take a step back. Sometimes the other team is going to be the hammer and you're going to be the nail. It's just going to happen. But I was proud of the way we responded tonight, and responded when Orlando went out."

On Orlando Robinson's gritty effort…
"He showed me what I know about O, already. If I didn't think he had that, he wouldn't have went back in the game, right? When he said he had a chance to go back in, someone who works as hard as he does and means as much to our program and us as he does, if he says he has a chance to go back in and they say he was healthy then we were going to give him a chance to go back in."

Anthony Holland, Fresno State junior guard/forward
On his mindset entering the game…
"I just wanted to come out and bounce back (after Friday's 77-73 loss at Nevada) and help my team out, and that's what happened."

On how the team responded to Orlando Robinson being injured in the first half…
"We just talked to each other. We just had to step up. We all had to step up. O is a real big part of our team and that he wasn't out there was a real big shock to us, but we all stepped up and we got this win."

On Orlando Robinson returning in the second half…
"He looked like O. That's the toughest guy I know."

On missing the front-end of a one-and-one at the free throw line and then sealing the game at the line in the closing seconds...
"It happens, but I knocked down the biggest ones of the game. That's what counts."

Team Notes

This was Fresno State's third-ever road win at New Mexico (out of 14 games) and the second in three contests at The Pit in Hutson's tenure.
Fresno State has now limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 17 of its 19 games this season.
Fresno State improved to 41-7 when recording a better assist-to-turnover ratio than its opponent.
Fresno State improved to 10-0 this season when having a better field goal percentage than its opponent (49-9 in Hutson's tenure).
Fresno State improved to 7-0 this season when making at least 45 percent of its field goal attempts (23-7 in Hutson's tenure).

Player Notes:

Junior guard/forward Anthony Holland was the top scorer of the game for the second time this season with 22 points tonight, a career high.
Anthony Holland also made three or more 3-pointers in four out of the last 5 games - going 3 for 6 tonight.
Freshman forward Robert Vaihola recorded a career-high 10 rebounds - making him the fourth Bulldog with 10 or more rebounds in a game this season.
Fresno State's Orlando Robinson scored 11 points while only playing 15 minutes. Robinson has now scored double figures in 26 of his last 27 games.
This was Isaiah Hill's 20th game with at least 10 points in his Bulldog career (43 games played).

Up next: The 'Dogs head home to battle for redemption against the MW-leading Boise State Broncos (16-4, 7-0 MW) at the Save Mart Center on Friday night. Tickets start at $5.

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