The Fresno State men's basketball team is making just its second-ever trip to play at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
Game 4: Fresno State (1-2) at North Texas (1-1)
Nov. 19, 2022 • 3 p.m. PT • Denton, Texas • The Super Pit
TV/ONLINE: ESPN+ (Hank Dickerson & DJ Draper)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Matt Norville & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: Series tied 1-1 • Fresno State leads 1-0 (in Denton, Texas)
LAST MEETING: North Texas 88, Fresno State 81 (1/5/77 • Selland Arena)
OTHER MEETING: Fresno State 96, North Texas 95 [2OT] (12/20/73 • Super Pit)
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 70-55 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 visit the North Texas Mean Green on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (web, subscription required) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
This is the third meeting between the programs with the road team winning in the first two contests.
Fresno State defeated North Texas 96-95 in double overtime at the Super Pit on Dec. 20, 1973, while UNT won 88-81 three seasons later at Selland Arena on Jan. 5, 1977. The teams have not met since 1977.
This is the third game in a six-game stretch of the Bulldogs exclusively playing KenPom Top 125 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. 72 in the nation in the 2022-23 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 six in the Top 75.
Through games played on Nov. 17, 2022, Fresno State was fifth in the MW in the T-Rank projections (San Diego State [13], Utah State [32], Wyoming [63], New Mexico [70], Fresno State [72], Boise State [75]).
Fresno State is currently ranked No. 121 in the 2023 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.
DIALING UP THE HEAT ON D
Last season, Fresno State ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense (59.4 ppg allowed).
Fresno State has limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 33 of its last 39 games, including in both games this season.
Fresno State limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 31 of its 36 games during the 2021-22 season.
Fresno State limited five of its opponents to 43 points or less during 2021-22 season.
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.
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).