Fresno State is 2-0 this month after winning 80-66 at UC Irvine and 65-56 over CSUN.
Game 9: Fresno State (3-5) at Pacific (3-7)
Dec. 10, 2022 • 2 p.m. PT • Stockton, Calif. • Alex G. Spanos Center
TV/ONLINE: WCC Network
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: Pacific leads 81-77 (overall) & 50-27 (games in Stockton)
LAST MEETING: Fresno State 81, Pacific 78 [OT] (11/28/18 • Fresno, Calif.)
UP NEXT: vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 17); at CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 20)
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 (13.4 PPG) and Baker (10.1 PPG) - are averaging double-digits in scoring this season.
OPENING TIP
Fresno State will visit the Pacific Tigers on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
The game will be broadcast on the WCC Network (web/digital) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
This is Fresno State's first third true road game this season (1-1 road record) and sixth game away from home.
Through games played on Dec. 8, Fresno State is one of four MW schools currently with a Quad 1 victory.
Fresno State has not been outrebounded by its opponent in each of its last four games (153-125).
Fresno State's scoring margin is exactly +0.0 through the first eight games of the season (496-496).
Fresno State's first six Division I nonconference opponents are all in the Top 125 KenPom teams.
SERIES HISTORY: FRESNO STATE VS. PACIFIC
Fresno State trails the all-time series 77-81 (overall), but the Bulldogs have won the last three meetings, including an 81-78 overtime home win over the Tigers in Hutson's first season at Fresno State (Nov. 28, 2018).
Overall, Fresno State has won five of the last seven contests in the series between schools separated by 133.9 miles and first met five times during the 1922-23 season.
Each of the last five matchups in Stockton were decided by single digits (nine points or fewer).
The last two contests went to overtime (both Fresno State victories - one in Stockton and one in Fresno).
BULLDOGS EARN BACK-TO-BACK WINS TO OPEN DECEMBER
Opening the month of December with a 2-0 record, Fresno State earned an 80-66 win at UC Irvine on Dec. 3 and then backed it up with a gritty 65-56 victory over CSUN at the Save Mart Center on Dec. 7.
Isaih Moore led the Bulldogs with 22 points and nine rebounds in the Quad 1 road win over the Anteaters.
Donavan Yap had a career-high 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting (5-for-7 3FGA) to headline the win over CSUN.
MOORE EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS AT 2022 PAYCOM WOODEN LEGACY
Fresno State senior forward Isaih Moore, who is from Columbia, S.C., produced two double-doubles for the Bulldogs in the 2022 Paycom Wooden Legacy at Anaheim Arena during Feast Week (Nov. 23-24, 2022).
Moore averaged 12.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game while battling the Pac-12's Washington Huskies and the SEC's Vanderbilt Commodores.
This season, Moore has recorded a total of three double-doubles in his first season playing at Fresno State.
DIALING UP THE HEAT ON D
Fresno State has limited 20 straight opponents in regular season games, including every game this season, to fewer than 70 points.
Fresno State has limited 12 straight nonconference opponents in regular season games, including every game this season, to fewer than 70 points.
Fresno State has limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points in 38 of its last 44 games, including every game this 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.