Game 1: Fresno Pacific at Fresno State
Nov. 7, 2022 • 7 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center
TV/ONLINE: Mountain West Network (PBP: Matt Norville/Sideline: Taylor Martinez)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (PBP: Paul Loeffler/Analyst: Marc Q. Jones)
-- Radio stations: Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM & 96.7 FM (Fresno, Calif.); 970 AM (Bakersfield, Calif.) Also you can catch all the action with downloading your iHeartRadio App.
LIVE: BulldogsLive.com
LAST MEETING: Fresno State 74, Fresno Pacific 54 (Nov. 9, 2021 • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center )
SERIES HISTORY: Fresno State leads 2-0 (official regular season games for Fresno State)
TICKETS: Bulldog Ticket Office / GoBulldogs.com (Starting at $5)
The Breakdown
Fresno State enters the 2022-23 season bringing back eight returners which includes four seniors in Jemarl Baker, Jordan Campbell, Anthony Holland and Isaiah Hill along with juniors Destin Whitaker, Donavan Yap and Leo Colimerio and sophomore Steven Vasquez.
Hill is the Bulldogs' leading returner scorer -- averaging 10.1 points a season ago with Holland being the top returning rebounder at 6.2 boards per game.
Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is entering his fifth season back home in the San Joaquin Valley entering the season with a 69-53 mark as a Bulldog, which represents the second-most wins by a head coach in his first four seasons in program history.
The 'Dogs welcome a pair of new assistant coaches in Vonn Webb and Nelson Hernandez joining Keith Brown who enters his fifth season at Fresno State.
This is the third straight season that Fresno State and Fresno Pacific have played. The game counts as a regular season contest for Fresno State, while it is an exhibition for Fresno Pacific.
Fresno State leads the official all-time series 2-0 in regular season countable games. The Bulldogs also have a 9-0 record all-time in exhibition games against FPU.
Bulldog Bones
The Bulldogs are coming off a 23-win campaign in 2021-22 and a postseason title after winning The Basketball Classic in April.
Seven new Bulldogs join the 'Dogs this season with guards Jordan Brinson (Salt Lake CC), Alexander Gorton (Palm Beach Atlantic), Joseph Hunter (San Joaquin Memorial HS) and Jeff Sims (Santa Rosa Academy) joining forward Isaih Moore (Southern Miss) and centers Chuks Isitua (IUPUI) and Eduardo Andre (Nebraska).
Hunter was selected as the Preseason Mountain West Freshman of the Year on Oct. 19 and was named the 2022 Fresno Bee's Boys Basketball Player of Year.
Fresno State was rewarded for a second straight season with the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award (team GPA 3.0 or higher) with Baker and former Bulldog Orlando Robinson being named to the 2021-22 NABC Honors Court (GPA 3.2 or higher).
Eight 'Dogs were named Academic All-Mountain West with Baker earning MW Scholar-Athlete honors.
2022-23 Schedule Overview
The excitement is continuing to build for the 2022-23 Fresno State men's basketball season, which will officially tip off at the Save Mart Center in November 2022.
In October 2022, the Bulldogs released their nonconference schedule in coordination with the announcement of the Mountain West national television package.
Fresno State, who went 23-13 last season and won the 2022 The Basketball Classic in April, begins its 2022-23 regular season slate on Nov. 7 when the Bulldogs host the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds.
At least four 2022 NCAA Tournament teams will visit the Save Mart Center during the 2022-23 campaign, including San Francisco (Nov. 16), Wyoming (Dec. 28), San Diego State (Feb. 15) and Colorado State (Feb. 18).
National Exposure for the Bulldogs
The Bulldogs will once again get national exposure in November during Feast Week by playing in the 2022 Paycom Wooden Legacy, which also features Washington, Saint Mary's College and Vanderbilt, on the ESPN Family of Networks.
This is Fresno State's second appearance in the Wooden Legacy - previously playing in the Southern California-based tournament in 2018 when it had an eight-team field with the Bulldogs earning a third-place finish with wins over Miami and Hawai'i and a close loss to Miami on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. This season's event will be played at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Last fall, Fresno State won the 2021 Venue Twin Southern California Challenge with victories over Santa Clara and Pepperdine on CBS Sports Network (CBSSN).
Fresno State will also have 10 of its MW games broadcast on either CBSSN or FS1, with the other eight on the Mountain West Network this season. Seven games are included in a local television package on CW59 or FOX26.2 via LEARFIELD.
Four starters return for the 2022-23 season
With four returning starters - Isaiah Hill (10.1 PPG), Anthony Holland (9.6 PPG), Jordan Campbell (7.1 PPG) and Leo Colimerio (5.3 PPG), Fresno State returns most of its core rotation from last season's championship season, while also adding seven new players to its roster.
The Bulldogs will need to replace the production of Orlando Robinson, who finished his collegiate career ranked No. 12 on the program's all-time scoring list (1,415 points in 90 games over three seasons). Robinson was a national defensive All-American in 2021-22 and also earned First Team All-MW honors in 2022.
In addition to the four returning starters, Hutson also brings back Jemarl Baker, Jr. (Kentucky/Arizona), Steven Vasquez, Destin Whitaker and Donavan Yap (UNLV) for the 2022-23 season.
Bulldogs picked to finish 7th in the Mountain West
With the Mountain West on the rise after sending four teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2022, the conference is loaded with veteran teams stocked with talented transfers, experienced returners and some elite, and potentially high-impact, freshmen, like Hunter.
Fresno State was rated as high as No. 64 nationally (fourth in the MW) in the 2023 T-Rank College Basketball Projections, which accounts for roster makeup and scheduling in performance projection analytics, and featured seven MW teams in the preseason Top 100 in the nation, as of Oct. 19, 2022.
In the official 2022-23 MW Predicted Order of Finish, as voted on by a select group of MW media, Fresno State was picked to finish seventh.
The NUTRL Zone is coming to Bulldog Basketball!
The NUTRL Zone is making its Bulldog Basketball debut on Nov. 7 for Fresno State's doubleheader against Fresno Pacific at the Save Mart Center.
The NUTRL Zone is a new lounge, floor level club area behind the west baseline open to all fans attending Bulldog Basketball games this season.
The area will feature televisions, food and beverages available for purchase, including NUTRL product.
The new gameday experience will also have bar tables and couches, along with a view of the court and game from the baseline on the floor level.
There are also new baseline seating locations between the baseline and NUTRL Zone available for purchase.
Single-Game, Mini-Plans, Season Tickets on Sale
New this season, fans can purchase single-game tickets directly through the Bulldog Ticket Office and GoBulldogs.com.
Single-game tickets for Monday's opener game start at $5 for baseline seating locations ($10 for sideline tickets).
Single-game tickets for Fresno State's three other nonconference home contests (Nov. 16 vs. San Francisco, Dec. 7 vs. CSUN and Dec. 17 vs. Sacramento State) are available starting at $10 for baseline seats ($20 for sideline seats)
A new 6-game weekend mini-plan is available, which includes tickets to the Dec. 17 game versus Sacramento State, along with the Bulldogs' five conference weekend games.
Baseline tickets start at $78 ($60 for youth) and sideline tickets are $138 for the 6-Game Weekend Plan.
2022-23 season tickets are also on sale starting at $99 (plus a $50 scholarship contribution) in sections 101-105, 114-115 and 118.