Game 10: Sacramento State (5-5) at Fresno State (3-6)
Dec. 17, 2022 • 4 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. • Save Mart Center
TV/ONLINE: CW59/Mountain West Network (Ralph Wood & Jack Fertig)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (Matt Norville & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: Fresno State leads 40-9 (overall) • 28-2 (games in Fresno)
LAST MEETING: Fresno State 77, Sacramento State 65 (11/14/08 • Fresno, CA)
UP NEXT: at CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 20); vs. Wyoming (Dec. 28)
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 (13.6 PPG) and Baker (10.2 PPG) - are averaging double-digits in scoring this season.
OPENING TIP
Fresno State will host the Sacramento State Hornets on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.
The game will be broadcast on CW59/MWN (TV/stream) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio, 1130 AM).
This is Fresno State's first fourth home game of the season (2-1 record at the Save Mart Center this season).
Through games played on Dec. 13, Fresno State was one of five MW schools currently with a Quad 1 victory.
Fresno State's first six Division I nonconference opponents are all in the Top 125 KenPom teams.
Fresno State is playing its 20th season at the Save Mart Center (first game was back on Dec. 5, 2003).
SERIES HISTORY: FRESNO STATE VS. SACRAMENTO STATE
Fresno State leads the all-time series 40-9 (overall), which includes a 28-2 record against Sacramento State in games played in Fresno (2-0 all-time in games played at the Save Mart Center).
This is the 51st all-time meeting between the programs (a 110-73 victory on Dec. 1, 1998 was vacated by Fresno State). The Bulldogs have won their last 22 contests against the Hornets.
This is the first meeting between the programs separated by 177.3 miles since Nov. 14, 2008, which also happened to be Paul George's Bulldog debut as a freshman.
Jerome Jenkins, who is on Justin Hutson's staff as a special assistant to the head coach, was Sacramento State's head coach from 2000-08. Fresno State went 2-0 against Jenkins during his time with the Hornets.
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.
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.