2023 Mountain West Men's Basketball Championships: No. 9 seed Fresno State • V1
March 8-11, 2023 • Las Vegas, Nev. • Thomas & Mack Center
MARCH 8: 11 a.m. PT • First Round (Mountain West Network)
MARCH 9: 12 p.m. PT • MW Quarterfinals (CBS Sports Network)
MARCH 10: 6:30 p.m. PT • MW Semifinals (CBS Sports Network)
MARCH 11: 3 p.m. PT • MW Championship Game (CBS)
-- All Fresno State games also broadcast on the Bulldog Sports Network (radio) --
THE BREAKDOWN
Fresno State entered the 2022-23 season bringing back eight returners, which included 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 coaching 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 2022 - two 23-win seasons (2018-19 and 2021-22).
Seven new players 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).
Fresno State guards Jemarl Baker (12.8 PPG) and Isaiah Hill (12.2 PPG) lead the Bulldogs in scoring.
OPENING TIP
Fresno State enters the 2023 Mountain West Men's Basketball Championships as the No. 9 seed.
The single-elimination tournament will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center from March 8-11, 2023.
Fresno State opens play by facing the No. 8-seeded Colorado State Rams on Wednesday at 11 a.m. PT in the first round in Las Vegas on the Mountain West Network (web/stream) and Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
The winner Wednesday's Fresno State-Colorado State game will draw the top-seeded and No. 20/20-ranked San Diego State Aztecs in the MW quarterfinals on Thursday at 12 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network (television).
SEASON NOTABLES
Fresno State finished the regular season third in the MW in scoring defense (65.63 points allowed per game).
Fresno State's first six Division I nonconference opponents were all Top 125 KenPom teams.
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, 2023 at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State is now 9-2 against UNM in Hutson's five seasons coaching the Bulldogs.
Fresno State completed its first regular season sweep of UNLV since 2018 by securing two victories over the Runnin' Rebels in a 14-day span. Fresno State is now 5-4 against UNLV in Hutson's five seasons.
Four of Fresno State's 11 wins have come in true road games (three in conference play).
Fresno State enters the tournament having made 76.8 percent of its free throws (315-410), which currently would eclipse the school record for single-season free throw percentage (74.2 percent, 484-652, 1991-92).
In the 2022-23 regular season, Fresno State had 11 of its 13 scholarship players miss at least one game for a non-coach's decision and have combined to miss 103 games (illness, injury, personal, unavailable, etc.).
Fresno State led Northern and Central California in attendance during the 2022-23 season (5,062/game), which ranked third in the state of California behind San Diego State and UCLA.
Through games played on March 5, all 11 Mountain West programs were rated in the Top 115 nationally in KenPom's strength of schedule. SDSU led the MW at 32nd nationally, while Fresno State was sixth (60th).
Fresno State's Eduardo Andre led the MW in conference play in blocked shots (31, 1.7/game).
In 108-72 victory over Chicago State in the regular season finale, Fresno State's Jemarl Baker was one of 13 players nationally this season to score at least 43 points in a game. He also tied the school-record for most points in regulation and his 10 made 3-pointers were tied for the third-most in a game nationally this season.
BAKER, HILL EARN ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST RECOGNITION
Fresno State's Jemarl Baker, Jr., and Isaiah Hill each earned All-Mountain West honorable mention for their play during the 2022-23 season. Hill was tabbed All-MW honorable by both the league's head coaches and a select MW media panel of journalists from each of the conference's 11 media markets, while Baker was recognized by the select MW media panel.
Baker closed out the 2022-23 regular season with a performance for the record books in Saturday's 108-72 win over the Chicago State Cougars. In the 36-point win, Baker tied a program record for most points in a regulation game (43) and broke or tied multiple Save Mart Center individual single-game arena records (points: 43, field goal percentage: 92.9 percent [13-14], 3-point field goals made: 10 and 3-point field goal percentage: 90.9 [10-11]).
For the season, Baker averaged 12.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
Meanwhile, Hill had scored a career-high 28 points in the Bulldogs' 76-63 home win over UNLV on Jan. 21, 2023 and earned his first career double-double (13 points/10 rebounds) in the record-setting rout of Cougars.
Hill finished the regular season by averaging 12.2 points, 4.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
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 finished no lower than seventh in league play in its first 10 seasons in the Mountain West, which included six first round byes in the MW Tournament.
In its 11 MW campaigns, Fresno State has won 102 regular season conference games (9.3 MW wins per season) – twice going 13-5 against MW opponents, including Hutson's first season at Fresno State during the 2018-19 season. In Hutson's tenure, Fresno State has won 43 regular season MW games (8.6 per season).
HILL ENTERS RECORDS BOOKS BACK HOME IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY
Isaiah Hill, who started his collegiate career at Tulsa, moved into the Top 50 of Fresno State's all-time scoring list and is the 47th men's basketball player to score at least 900 points as a Bulldog.
Hill enters the tournament ranked 45th all-time in program history with 940 career points at Fresno State.
'DOGS KNOCK OFF NO. 21/22 LOBOS, 71-67
Led by four Bulldogs in double figures, Fresno State knocked off No. 21/22 New Mexico 71-67 on Jan. 3 at the Save Mart Center. The loss was UNM's first of the season and the Lobos were the last undefeated team in the nation entering the game.
Fresno State notched its first win over a Top 25 team since defeating San Diego State 59-57 on Jan. 3. 2015. (Note: The Aztecs were ranked 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, but were not ranked in the AP Top 25.)
The Bulldogs snapped their 29-game losing streak to Associated Press Top 25 teams as Fresno State's last victory over an AP Top 25 team came back on Feb. 10, 2002 - a 58-52 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State at Selland Arena in downtown Fresno (Fresno State's home arena from 1967-2003).
OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN CLOSE HOME GAMES IN MOUNTAIN WEST PLAY
Four of Fresno State's home losses in MW play were by four points or fewer, which included a 51-48 loss to Air Force on Jan. 14 when the Bulldogs played a seven-man rotation while six players were out due to injury.
The other three close losses were a 45-43 loss to then No. 21/20 San Diego State on Feb. 15, a 60-57 loss to Colorado State on Feb. 18 and a 60-56 loss to Nevada on Feb. 24 - all played at the Save Mart Center.
ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY
AIR FORCE: Fresno State leads 26-9 (overall) & 2-1 (neutral site)
BOISE STATE: Fresno State trails 22-27 (overall) & 0-2 (neutral site)
COLORADO STATE:
Fresno State trails 17-26 (overall) & 1-3 (neutral site)
NEVADA: Fresno State trails 45-63 (overall) & 0-3 (neutral site)
NEW MEXICO: Fresno State leads 21-18 (overall) & 3-2 (neutral site)
SAN DIEGO STATE: Fresno State trails 53-70 (overall) & tied 3-3 (neutral site)
SAN JOSE STATE: Fresno State leads 96-78 (overall) & 5-0 (neutral site)
UNLV: Fresno State trails 19-34 (overall) & 8-20 (road games)
UTAH STATE: Fresno State trails 23-41 (overall) & 0-3 (neutral site)
WYOMING: Fresno State leads 22-15 (overall) & 1-0 (neutral site)
NOTEWORTHY ALL-TIME SERIES INFORMATION
AIR FORCE: Fresno State has won 10 of the last 13 meetings with Air Force
BOISE STATE: Have never met before in a MW Tournament game
COLORADO STATE: Nine-game losing streak (5th time meeting in MW Tourney)
NEVADA: Fresno State has lost 11 of the last 12 meetings with Nevada
NEW MEXICO: Fresno State is 9-2 versus UNM in Justin Hutson's five seasons
SAN DIEGO STATE: Nine-game losing streak (Have met 3x in MW Tourney)
SAN JOSE STATE: Fresno State has won 12 of the last 13 meetings with SJSU
UNLV: Fresno State seeking 2nd ever three-game sweep of UNLV in a season
UTAH STATE: Fresno State has lost eight of the last nine meetings with USU
WYOMING: Have never met before in a MW Tournament game
MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Location: Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, Nevada
Record (All-Time): 8-9
Record (Hutson's Tenure): 3-4
MW Tournament Opener Record (All-Time): 6-4
MW Tournament Opener Record (Hutson's Tenure): 3-1
First Round Record: 3-1
Quarterfinal Record: 3-6
Semifinal Record: 1-2
Championship Game Record: 1-0
Record as...
No. 1 Seed: 0-0
No. 2 Seed: 3-0
No. 3 Seed: 1-1
No. 4 Seed: 1-1
No. 5 Seed: 0-0
No. 6 Seed: 2-3
No. 7 Seed: 1-1
No. 8 Seed: 0-1
No. 9 Seed: 0-0
No. 10 Seed: 0-0
No. 11 Seed: 0-0
Record versus...
No. 1 Seed: 1-1
No. 2 Seed: 0-3
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No. 3 Seed: 0-3
No. 4 Seed: 0-0
No. 5 Seed: 1-1
No. 6 Seed: 2-0
No. 7 Seed: 1-0
No. 8 Seed: 0-0
No. 9 Seed: 0-1
No. 10 Seed: 1-0
No. 11 Seed: 2-0
Record versus...
Air Force: 2-1
Boise State: 0-0
Colorado State: 1-3
Nevada: 0-1
New Mexico: 2-1
San Diego State: 1-2
San Jose State: 0-0
UNLV: 1-0
Utah State: 0-1
Wyoming: 0-0