FRESNO STATE (6-6) AT SAN DIEGO (9-4)
Dec. 29, 2023 | 7 p.m. PT | ESPN+ | Jenny Craig Pavilion | San Diego, Calif.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Stream - ESPN+
Radio - Bulldog Sports Network (BSN)
Play-by-Play - Paul Loeffler
Analyst - Marc Q. Jones
Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Bulldogslive.com
X (Twitter): @FresnoStateMBB
FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State will play its first of two games during the next week in San Diego on Friday night. The Bulldogs will close their nonconference season at USD before opening conference play next week at San Diego State.
Friday's game against USD will tipoff at 7 p.m. PT at Jenny Craig Pavilion and stream on ESPN+.
QUICK LOOK
The Bulldogs are in a 19-day stretch without a home game before returning to the Save Mart Center on Jan. 6.
Friday will be the third true road of the season for the 'Dogs. Fresno State is 1-4 on the year away from home, 0-2 in road contests.
Fresno State ranks third in the Mountain West in effective field-goal percent (54.7%), field goal percentage (48.5%) and fast break points (12.8).
Depth has come in handy thus far as the Bulldogs' bench is averaging 24.3 points per game, best in the MW. The bench has accounted for 30 or more points in four contests.
Senior Isaiah Hill has done the heavy lifting for Fresno State thus far, leading the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg). Whereas the point guard ranks No. 16 in the Mountain West in scoring, he ranks 20th nationally in assists per game, fifth in the MW.
Transfer Xavier DuSell is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game. The senior leads the 'Dogs in 3-point percentage, connecting at 43.8 percent clip (32-of-73). He sits second in the MW in 3-point percentage and third 3-pointers made per game (2.7).
Enoch Boakye (7.7) and Eduardo Andre (6.7) rank No. 3 and No. 9, respectively in the MW in rebounding per game.
With seven newcomers to the squad, that group has stepped in quickly to help complement the returners in the scoring column. Newcomers have accounted for 48.0 percent of the scoring thus far.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Fresno State and San Diego will meet for just the 13th time in their history.
Fresno State has won all but two of the previous 12 games.
The Bulldogs won the most recent meeting in 2021 (63-43) but lost in their last trip to San Diego in 2019 (72-66 OT).
SCORING FROM THE BENCH
Depth is big in a long season and Fresno State has been trying to develop that. Fresno State is getting 24.3 points per game from its bench, best in the Mountain West.
The bench has accounted for at least 30 points in four games.
A bench player has scored in double figures in eight out of 12 games for the Bulldogs.
The 'Dogs are 2-0 this season when two bench players reach double figures.
70 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
70 points. Through 12 games, 70 has been the number that the Bulldogs' offense is looking for. All but one of Fresno State's wins have come when scoring more than 70 points. When they don't hit that mark, it has all but once resulted in a loss for the 'Dogs.
The Bulldogs are 5-1 when reaching 70 points.
NOT PLAYING CLOSE
Whether at home or on the road, Fresno State games for the most part haven't been close. Eight of the Bulldogs' 12 games have been separated by double digits.
Fresno State is 2-2 in the two games separated by five points or less.
Five games have been separated by more than 20 points (2-3).
EYES FROM THREE
Shoot from outside. That's what was expected and what Wyoming transfer Xavier DuSell has brought to Fresno State. With a team-high 32 made 3-pointers through 12 games, DuSell is above the 2.0 per game he made in his 86 games at Wyoming.
DuSell ranks No. 2 in the Mountain West 3-point percentage (43.8) and No. 3 in made 3's per game (2.7).
His 43.8 percent from deep ranks 28th in the NCAA.
Against Pacific, he matched his career high with six made 3's, doing so on nine attempts. It was the fifth time he has made six 3-pointers in a game.
ASSERTING HIMSELF
With 31 points through the first 10 games of the season, Isaiah Pope has begun to find his footing after being hampered by injury early in the season. The fifth-year senior has scored 24 points in his last two games.
13 of Pope's points in the last two games have come at the free-throw line as he's gone 13-of-16 from the stripe.