All high school students get in free to Wednesday night's home game against San Francisco, who played in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Game 3: San Francisco (3-0) at Fresno State (1-1)
Nov. 16, 2022 • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center
TV/ONLINE: FOX26.2 & Mountain West Network (Ralph Wood & Jack Fertig)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: USF leads 15-8 (overall) & 7-6 (in Fresno)
LAST MEETING: San Francisco 71, Fresno State 63 (12/8/21 • San Francisco)
LATER THIS WEEK: at North Texas (11/19)
PROMOTION: High School Night -- All high school students get in free (with ID).
-- Also of note, all Fresno State students get in free and can bring one student guest for free to all home men's basketball games.
TICKETS: Tickets for the game start at $10 (GoBulldogs.com/tickets)
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 returning scorer (10.1 PPG) and Holland is the top returning rebounder (6.2 RPG).
Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is in his fifth season back home in the Central Valley and sports a 70-54 overall record, which includes two 23-win seasons (2018-19 and 2021-22).
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 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) joining forward Isaih Moore (Southern Miss) and centers Chuks Isitua (IUPUI) and Eduardo Andre (Nebraska).
OPENING TIP
Fresno State will host the San Francisco Dons on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT at the Save Mart Center.
Tickets for the game start at $10 (free for Fresno State and high school students with valid ID).
The game will be broadcast on FOX26.2 (TV), the MWN (online) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
Fresno State is seeking its first win over USF since a 78-71 home win over the Dons on Nov. 19, 2015.
Fresno State has won three of the last five games in the all-time series (3-1 all-time at the Save Mart Center).
This is the second game in a six-game stretch of the Bulldogs exclusively playing KenPom Top 150 teams, who also all finished in the NET Top 150 at the end of last season.
NATIONAL RESPECT IN COMPUTER RANKINGS, PROJECTIONS
Fresno State is currently ranked No. 65 in the nation in the 20223 T-Rank College Basketball Projections, which accounts for roster makeup and scheduling in performance projection analytics.
The T-Rank projections feature eight Mountain West teams in the Top 100, including five in the Top 70.
Through games played on Nov. 14, 2022, Fresno State is the fourth-highest rated MW program in the T-Rank projections (San Diego State [16], Utah State [30], Wyoming [63], Fresno State [65]).
Fresno State is currently ranked No. 111 in the 2023 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.
HILL NETS DOUBLE-DIGITS ON NEUTRAL FLOOR AGAINST BIG WEST FAVORITE, UCSB
Fresno State senior guard Isaiah Hill scored 12 points (5-for-5 FT) in the Bulldogs' 61-54 loss to Big West preseason favorite UCSB on Veterans Day at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Fresno State has limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 32 of its last 38 games, including in both games this season.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
"I come from a family of educators. My father was a teacher. My aunt was a teacher. Academics are very important to me. It's in my DNA." - Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson
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 Bulldogs were named Academic All-Mountain West with Baker earning MW Scholar-Athlete honors.