Bulldogs battle Cowboys tough

Sunday, February 6

Fresno, Calif.

4 p.m. PT

Fresno State

16-7,6-4Mountain West

Wyoming

19-3,8-1Mountain West

Wyoming

Fresno St.

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

Bulldogs battle Cowboys tough

2/6/2022 7:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Fresno State’s Isaiah Hill scored a game-high 25 points for the Bulldogs, who committed just two turnovers as a team (a program record for fewest in a game) in a 61-59 loss to Wyoming.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team battled from start to finish before coming up just short in falling 61-59 to the Wyoming Cowboys on Sunday at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State (16-7, 6-4 Mountain West) committed program-record low with just two turnovers and Isaiah Hill scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting for the Bulldogs, who have lost only twice at home this season in hard-fought games against two top teams in the Mountain West.

Wyoming (19-3, 8-1 MW) was led by Hunter Maldonado, who finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists (four turnovers).

The Bulldogs will next play at Colorado State on Friday night.

How it happened: In a battle of two of the best post players in the MW, Fresno State outscored Wyoming 36-32 in the paint, but struggled to match the Cowboys on the glass (46-28).

Even as Wyoming led for more than 35 minutes of the 40-minute affair, the Bulldogs continued to battle back and had a chance to tie in the closing seconds before the Cowboys closed out the game at the free throw line.

Orlando Robinson added another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but the 'Dogs struggled from the perimeter outside of Hill and Junior Ballard, who made his only 3-point attempt.

Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State Head Coach
On the game...
"61-59, two well fought teams... Hard fought game. We came up short. We have to play better than that, especially on the offensive side of things."

About the positives to take away from the game…
"We have stats that we look at, the rebounds and the turnovers - we did great in one and not so good in the other. And the rebounds really hurt us."

About the standard of the conference as a whole…
"Me being in this conference for 15 years, I don't think I have seen the conference be this tough from 1 to 11. But it is always a tough conference because of the travel and the altitude and things that are happening, nice arenas like Save Mart. From 1 to 11, this is probably one of the toughest ones I've been in. You always have one or two teams that are a little young, a little down, but with the transfer situation now and guys getting new jobs - they bring their guys with them and completely reload, which is exciting."

Team Notes:

Fresno State has now limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 21 of its 23 games this season.
This was the third of three games in six days for the Bulldogs, who had beat San Jose State and Nevada earlier this week.
Six Mountain West teams are currently in the Top 56 of the NCAA's NET rankings.
Fresno State dropped to 10-2 at home this season with the other loss by five in overtime to Boise State.
This was Fresno State's fourth-ever home loss to Wyoming (out of 18 games played).
Fresno State and Wyoming will meet again on March 5 in the regular season finale in Laramie.

Player Notes:

Isaiah Hill scored a career-high 25 points.
Hill played a career-best full 40 minutes.
Hill had a career-high 10 made field goals and 17 field goal attempts.
Hill scored in double figures for the 10th time this season, and 20+ points for the second time this season.
Hill has now made a 3-pointer in 12 of his last 14 games, with multiple in each of his last six games.
Orlando Robinson recorded a double-double for the seventh time this season.
Robinson scored in double figures for the 22nd time this season.
Robinson grabbed 10+ rebounds for the seventh time this season.
Junior Ballard scored in double figures for the third time this season.

"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.