FRESNO, Calif. - Despite a go-ahead three-point attempt from Jemarl Baker in the final seconds of regulation, the Fresno State men's basketball team fell 45-43 to the No. 21/20-ranked San Diego State Aztecs on Wednesday evening at the Save Mart Center before a season-high 7,012 fans.
Fresno State (9-16, 5-9 Mountain West) was led by Isaiah Hill, who had a game-high 16 points with six rebounds and three assists.
Eduardo Andre chipped in 10 points, grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds and added three assists and two steals.
San Diego State (21-5, 12-2 MW), who won their fourth game in a row, was led in scoring by 10 points from Matt Bradley.
How It Happened
Offense was at a premium early and often.
With seven lead changes and three ties in the opening half, the 'Dogs used a 6-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into their largest lead of the half at 25-20 after a layup from Hill with 1:39 to play in the first half. A three-pointer by the Aztecs cut the 'Dogs lead down to two with Fresno State leading 25-23 at the break.
Another slow start offensively in the second half had the 'Dogs being held to six points for more than 11 minutes with the Aztecs grinding out to a 37-31 lead and extended it to seven, 40-33, after a three-pointer by Bradley.
A three-point play from Hill, a three-pointer by Anthony Holland and a jumper by Baker gave the 'Dogs back a one-point lead at 41-40 for an 8-0 run. Shortly thereafter, Hill tied the game at 43 with 2:42 remaining.
However, that would be the final points of the contest for the 'Dogs, who were held scoreless the remainder of the game as a pair of shots by Baker in the final seconds came up short with the Aztecs hitting a pair of free throws to secure the win.
Notes
Fresno State dropped to 31-25 all-time in home games played against San Diego State.
Fresno State had its 44-game winning streak when limiting its opponent to fewer than 50 points snapped (now 11-1 in Justin Hutson's tenure).
This was Fresno State's first loss when allowing 45 or fewer points since 1982.
Fresno State's 43 points was the fewest in a game since a 39-30 win over UC Riverside in 2012.
Fresno State has now limited 31 of its last 38 opponents in regular season games, including 18 of 25 games this season, to fewer than 70 points.
Through its first 25 games, Fresno State's scholarship players have combined to miss 82 games (non-coaches decision, i.e. injury/illness/health/personal).
Hutson is now 31-13 as a Division I head or assistant coach when coaching against one of his former teams (CSUB, Cal Poly, SDSU and UNLV).
This was Fresno State's 12th game played against an AP Top 25 opponent at the Save Mart Center and 100th overall.
Quotes
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On the game…
"Extremely proud of our guys' fight and togetherness. I was excited about that. It's not coming as a surprise right now, but this was a different level of team. They were going to bring a different challenge. Really happy for our guys' collective toughness. Now for our collective execution (that) let something to be desired. We want to play hard every night, this guy sitting next to me (Anthony) had some great rebounds and some great plays. That aggressiveness should be there every night, maybe it was a little extra, but we had to be. I think they thought it had to be or it wasn't going to work. Hats off to us for that."
On the last couple seconds…
"We wanted to get it to Hill, he had enough wiggle in him to get it. Once it was 3.2 seconds, we figured we could get it to him."
On the takeaways from the game…
"We represented ourselves well, but we came up short, you learn from it [late game execution], maybe not fouling quite as much. But we are not taking any moral victories from it."
On needing to be successful in closing the game…
"We've had Zay (Isaiah Hill) and Jemarl (Baker) close some games late. We had a couple shots before the last one, that we could have put a dagger in. They were shots that we liked but didn't fall."
Anthony Holland, Fresno State guard/forward
On knocking down a big 3-pointer late…
"I just saw that he had his back to me, he didn't know I was there, so I just had to try to take the ball from him or strip it or at least get a foul. I had an open shot, so I just had to knock it in."
On the game…
"They're a very tough defense to play against and they made it hard for us and that's what they try to do every night. It was very physical; they are a very big and strong team. We tried to match that, and I feel like we did for the most part."
Up next
Fresno State stays at home this weekend hosting Colorado State (11-15, 3-10 MW) on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT on CW59/Mountain West Network and the Bulldog Sports Network.