Game 17: Air Force (10-7, 1-3 MW) at Fresno State (6-10, 2-3 MW) • V1
Jan. 14, 2023 • 4 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center
TV/ONLINE: CW59/Mountain West Network (Ralph Wood & Jack Fertig)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: Fresno State leads 25-8 (overall) & 12-3 (in Fresno, Calif.)
LAST MEETING: Fresno State 65, Air Force 40 (2/22/22 • USAFA, Colo.)
UP NEXT: vs. UNLV (Jan. 21), at Boise State (Jan. 24)
THE BREAKDOWN
Fresno State entered 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.
Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is in his fifth season back home in the Central Valley.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 23-win campaign in 2021-22 and a postseason title after winning The Basketball Classic, presented by ERACISM, in April - two 23-win seasons (2018-19 and 2021-22).
Seven new players have joined the program: guards Jordan Brinson (Salt Lake CC), Alexander Gorton (Palm Beach Atlantic), Joseph Hunter (San Joaquin Memorial HS) and Jeff Sims (Santa Rosa Academy) along with forward Isaih Moore (Southern Miss) and centers Chuks Isitua (IUPUI) and Eduardo Andre (Nebraska).
Two Bulldogs - Moore (12.1 PPG) and Baker (11.9 PPG) - are averaging double-digits in scoring this season.
OPENING TIP
Fresno State hosts the Air Force Falcons on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center.
The game will be broadcast on CW59 (television), the MWN (stream) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
Fresno State enters Saturday's in seventh place in the Mountain West with a 2-3 record in conference play.
Fresno State enters Saturday's game second in the MW in scoring defense (63.69 points per game allowed).
Fresno State earned its first win over an Associated Press Top 25 opponent since 2002 when the Bulldogs handed then-No. 21/22 New Mexico 71-67 its first loss of the season on Jan. 3 at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State's first six Division I nonconference opponents were all Top 125 KenPom teams.
Through games played on Jan. 12, eight Mountain West programs were rated in the Top 100 nationally in strength of schedule. San Diego State leads the MW at 18th nationally, while Fresno State is third (52nd).
Fresno State's Anthony Holland is poised to play in his 100th game as a Bulldog on Saturday afternoon.
SERIES HISTORY: FRESNO STATE VS. AIR FORCE
Fresno State leads its all-time series with Air Force, 25-8 (overall), which includes three straight wins over the Falcons (6-2 in Hutson's first four seasons) and victories in 16 of the last 19 meetings between the programs.
Fresno State owns a 12-3 advantage in games played in Fresno (7-1 at the Save Mart Center).
Last season, Fresno State defeated Air Force 65-40 on the road at Clune Arena in the only meeting between the schools. The teams were originally scheduled to also play at the Save Mart Center on Jan. 1, 2022, but the game was postponed and later canceled due to health and safety concerns.
This will be the first game played between the Bulldogs and Falcons at the Save Mart Center since Fresno State defeated Air Force 71-2 on Feb. 19, 2020.
NOTHING BUT NET
Fresno State ranked No. 77 in the final 2021-22 NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings (April 4, 2022), but the Bulldogs were No. 73 on Selection Sunday, which made their all of their home games count as Quad 1 contests, and neutral site and road games as Quad 2 for their opponents.
Last season, the Bulldogs ranked as high No. 45 nationally in the NET entering MW play (Dec. 27, 2021).
Fresno State had checked in at No. 93 in the first release of the 2021-22 season (Dec. 5, 2021).
In 2022-23, Fresno State has played three nonconference games against teams ranked in the Top 75 of the NET at the end of last season (San Francisco [26], North Texas [55] and Vanderbilt [62]).
Fresno State checked in at No. 196 in the first release of the 2022-23 season (Dec. 5, 2022) and remained at No. 196 through games played on Jan. 12, 2023.
Through games played on Jan. 1, 2022, Fresno State had played two games against Quad 1 opponents (both road games: at North Texas, at Utah State).
The NCAA's NET rankings assist the NCAA Tournament selection committee seed and select at-large bids.
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.
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.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs once again earned national exposure in November during Feast Week by playing in the 2022 Paycom Wooden Legacy, which also featured Washington, Saint Mary's College and Vanderbilt, on the ESPN Family of Networks.
This was 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 was 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, including seven also included in a local television package on CW59 or FOX26.1 via LEARFIELD.
FRESNO STATE CONTENDING IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Since joining the Mountain West in 2012, Fresno State has won the 2016 conference tournament championship and finished as high as second in the regular season. The Bulldogs have finished no lower than seventh in league play in its first 10 seasons in the Mountain West, which includes six first round byes in the MW Tournament. In the last seven MW campaigns, the 'Dogs won an average of 10.3 MW contests per year -- twice going 13-5 against MW opponents, including Hutson's first season at Fresno State during the 2018-19 season. Fresno State averaged nearly 10 conference victories per season (9.7) in Hutson's first four seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach.