Fresno State Athletics
Photo by: Samuel Marshall
Coast-to-coast for final chapter
3/30/2022 9:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State (22-13) plays for its second-ever national postseason tournament title on Friday at Coastal Carolina.
Championship: Fresno State (22-13) at Coastal Carolina (19-13)
April 1, 2022 • Conway, S.C. • HTC Center • The Basketball Classic, presented by ERACISM
TV/ONLINE: ESPN+ (Jeff McCarragher & Nate Ross)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY:Â First Meeting
THE BREAKDOWN
Fresno State's Orlando Robinson was named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2021-22 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award on Jan. 12, 2022. Â Robinson is one of 30 players included on the watch list for the award, which is presented annually to the top player in Division I college basketball, and named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at Arizona. The award will be announced on April 1 in New Orleans, site of the NCAA men's basketball championship. Â Robinson was also named to the Midseason Team for the 2022 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
THE 40's & 30's
April 1, 2022 • Conway, S.C. • HTC Center • The Basketball Classic, presented by ERACISM
TV/ONLINE: ESPN+ (Jeff McCarragher & Nate Ross)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY:Â First Meeting
THE BREAKDOWN
- Fresno State Athletics is celebrating its centennial year and the 2021-22 men's basketball season is the 100th season of competition in program history and seeking its second national postseason tournament title.
- Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is in his fourth season back home in the San Joaquin Valley.
- Fresno State earned a postseason appearance for the 25th time in program history (first since 2017).
- This is the first-ever meeting between Fresno State and Coastal Carolina.
- Fresno State will visit Coastal Carolina on Friday at 3 p.m. PT at the HTC Center in the championship game of The Basketball Classic, presented by ERACISM, in THE CLASSIC 4.
- Fresno State is second in the MW and ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense (59.0 ppg allowed).
- Fresno State limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 31 of its 35 games during the 2021-22 season.
- Fresno State limited five of its opponents to 43 points or less during the regular season.
- Through games played on March 29, Fresno State junior forward Orlando Robinson was ranked seventh in KenPom's 2022 Player of the Year Standings with a 1.323 kPOY rating (2nd nationally in Game MVPs: 20).
- With 1,395 career points, Orlando Robinson (19.4 ppg/8.1 rpg) enters the game in 16th on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list and needs just six points to tie Gary Alcorn for 15th (1,401). Â Robinson is also seven points away from tying Rod Higgins for 14th (1,402), 12 points from tying for 13th and 13 points from tying for 12th.
- Robinson was named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2021-22 Lute Olson National Player of the Year.
- Robinson was named to the Midseason Team for the 2022 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
- Robinson earned 2021-22 All-MW first team honors from both the coaches and a select MW media panel.
- Robinson, a Las Vegas native, was also a 2021-22 preseason All-MW selection and earned 2020-21 second-team All-MW, NABC All-District honors, CoSIDA Academic All-District and MW Scholar Athlete honors.
- Through games played on March 13, Fresno State was No. 73 in the NCAA's NET rankings.
- Through games played on March 13, six MW teams were in the Top 75 of the NCAA's NET rankings.
- Fresno State entered conference play as high as No. 50 in the NET (through games played on Dec. 27, 2021) and has been as high as No. 48 overall (through games played on Jan. 14, 2022).
- Fresno State checked in at No. 93 in the NCAA's first NET rankings release of the season on Dec. 5, 2021.
- Fresno State played eight Quad 1 games during the 2021-22 regular season.
- Fresno State has three Quad 2 wins: SCU (59-52, N); at UNLV (73-68, A); vs. USU (61-54, H).
- Through games played on March 29, Fresno State was No. 78 in the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.
- This will be Fresno State's 42nd postseason game in its Division I era (since the 1970-71 season).
- This is Fresno State's 18th postseason appearance in its Division I era (25th all-time in program history).
- This is Fresno State's first postseason appearance since 2017 (first in The Basketball Classic).
- This is Fresno State's third championship game postseason appearance in its Division I era (since 1971).
- Fresno State is seeking its second national postseason championship title (1983 - NIT).
- Fresno State is 23-18 all-time in postseason play in its Division I era (since the 1970-71 season).
- Fresno State has won at least three games four times in postseason tournament appearances (D-1 era).
Fresno State's Orlando Robinson was named to the Mid-Season Watch List for the 2021-22 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award on Jan. 12, 2022. Â Robinson is one of 30 players included on the watch list for the award, which is presented annually to the top player in Division I college basketball, and named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at Arizona. The award will be announced on April 1 in New Orleans, site of the NCAA men's basketball championship. Â Robinson was also named to the Midseason Team for the 2022 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Player of the Year.
THE 40's & 30's
- Fresno State's swarming defense limited seven opponents to fewer than 50 points during the season.
- In those games, Fresno State was 7-0 while holding Air Force to 40 points (Feb. 22), four different teams to exactly 43 points (San Diego, CSUN, Weber State and San Jose State) and Cal Poly (Dec. 17) & Southern Utah (March 28) to 48 points.
- In Fresno State's first six seasons in the MW, the Bulldogs had limited six opponents to fewer than 50 points.
- Fresno State has won 34 consecutive games when holding an opponent to fewer than 50 points, with the last loss coming back when the 'Dogs were edged 49-48 at San Jose State on Feb. 23, 1987.
- Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is a finalist for the 2022 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.
- Hutson, who is in his fourth season back home in the Central Valley leading the Bulldogs, has led Fresno State to a 22-13 record, the 2021 Venue Twin Southern California Surf Division Championship and the finals of The Basketball Classic, presented by ERACISM, this season.
- Fresno State's defense is one of the best in the country in 2021-22 – ranking fourth in the nation in scoring defense (59.0 points allowed per game) through games played on March 29.
- With a 68-53 career record in his four seasons at Fresno State, Hutson has two seasons with 22 or more wins with an opportunity for his second 23-win season when the Bulldogs travel to play at Coastal Carolina on Thursday night in the championship game of the national postseason tournament.
- During his time coaching the 'Dogs, Hutson has produced eight all-conference honorees, including two first-team All-MW selections (Deshon Taylor and Orlando Robinson), and earned 2018-19 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year honors, which recognizes the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball.
Players Mentioned
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