FRESNO, Calif. -- Down seven at the half, Amar Augillard put his teammates, and new Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg on his back, scoring 22 of his game-high 30 points during the final 17 minutes to lead the Bulldogs to a season-opening 64-57 win over Sacramento State on Friday night at the Save Mart Center. Augillard outscored the Hornets 22-20 in the second half.
Augillard scored his 30 points in just over 21 minutes off the bench, shooting 9-of-19 from the field and a going 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Point guard Zaon Collins chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresno State managed to hold a slim advantage throughout much of the opening 10 minutes. Back-to-back 3-pointers from EJ Neal started an 8-0 run for the Hornets with just under eight minutes remaining to give the visitors a 24-18 lead.
Cold shooting from the Bulldogs, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the field from Julian Vaughns, saw Fresno State's deficit grow to 11 at 37-26 with 1:32 on the clock. The 'Dogs scored the last four of the half to claw back within seven despite shooting 32.1% from the field (9-of-28) and 23.5% from 3 (4-of-17).
Following an early bucket from Alex Crawford out of the break, Vaughns pushed Sacramento State's advantage back up to nine. But that's when the Bulldogs turned the tide.
It took the 'Dogs two minutes and four possessions to level the game at 41-41. A pair of offensive rebounds led to four second-chance points and two steals by Zaon Collins led the other seven.
Fresno State continued to push, extending its run to 17-2 following Augillard sinking three free throws after getting fouled on a corner 3. The Bulldogs lead moved to 49-43 with 11:11 on the clock. The Hornets countered with back-to-back buckets to pull back within one but Augillard had the answer with another triple.
Scoring all 12 of the Bulldogs' points during a seven-minute stretch, the junior guard kept Fresno State ahead.
Sacramento State cut its deficit to one with 3:13 remaining but the defense for the 'Dogs locked in. After Elijah Price extended the lead to three with 90 seconds, a missed 3-pointer at one end turned into Collins finding Augillard for a dagger 3 with 40 ticks on the clock.
Fresno State held the Hornets to 0-of-6 from the field during the final three minutes.
NOTES
Vance Walberg won his first game as Fresno State's head coach in his debut.
Fresno State outscored Sacramento State 14-1 at the free throw line.
Fresno State was +9 in second second-chance points, scoring 20 on 14 offensive rebounds.
Fresno State held the Hornets to 16 points during the final 16 minutes of the game.
The Bulldogs forced nine turnovers in the second half and held the Hornets to 29.0% shooting, 11.8% from 3.
Amar Augillard's 30 points was the most by a Bulldog since Leo Colimero went for 30 last season against UNLV (Feb. 14, 2024).
Jalen Weaver collected a career-high nine rebounds.
Weaver (2) and Collins (3) had five of the team's eight steals.
QUOTES
Vance Walberg, Head Coach
On the first game…
"A little scary. We didn't shoot the ball the way we wanted but I think we played hard. I thought we did a lot of good things out there. Any time you win it's good. It makes the weekends. The best drug around is winning but I'm very proud of the kids. Those times we got down eight or nine but they didn't put their heads down, they kept competing."
On changes in the second half…
"I think we finally hit a couple of shots. Amar (Augillard) obviously had a hell of a night, I didn't realize he had 30 (points). I thought we just did a few more things in the second half. I think we got out rebounded by two and came back the second half and out rebounded them by six which helped quite a bit too."
On the reaction to the crowd…
"It was awesome. I think little by little people are going to enjoy the way we play the game. I think it's a fun style. We are a little short right now with some bodies and once we get one or two more, I think it's going to be a lot more enjoyable to where we can at least push it a lot more."
On Amar Augillard…
"You have to know Amar, Amar will drive you crazy. He's one of those guys at times you go, "what are you doing?" but the thing I love about him is he's got that attitude. He wants to score, he wants to put the ball in the hole and we need it. He hits some big shots."
On the offense…
"I would give it about two. I'd say defense is about six or seven. I knew coming into tonight not having DJ (David Douglas Jr.), he's one of our better shooters. If you have two guys that can space them out he makes it a lot easier, so I knew that was going to hurt us a little bit. I knew they were going to jam things up, they play boxes and elbows really well. But again, I am very happy with the win."
Zaon Collins, G, So.
On the game…
"I feel good. We started off slow and their energy was higher than ours, we just had to pick up and stay together, stay calm and play through all the bad and just keep going. I wouldn't say jitters really, we just had to calm down, first game and it's a night time game. Everybody wanted to play all day, you get in there and it just hits you and you have to calm down real quick. Come back out at half time and flip the switch."
On his first game…
"I liked it. There were a lot of fans here cheering us on, I know we will keep winning and keep this up to get more and more fans in. Just to fill the Save Mart Center and when Amar hits a 3-pointer, just to hear the crowd goes crazy, I like that."
On being here…
"Blessed. I'm feeling blessed. Just to have this opportunity to be here, Coach Walberg gave me the opportunity so playing here and being here together brings a smile to my face. Everyday honestly, just to get out to practice with my brothers but especially tonight, it really made me happy."
Amar Augillard, G, Jr.,
On his 30-point game…
"I feel great, I feel good playing at a D-I level again. It was a great atmosphere, I loved it so much."
On his reaction to the crowd…
"That's the best feeling in the world I think. I can't even tell you how I feel every time I hit a shot, it just felt great to hear the fans roaring."
On the pressure from the game…
"For me, I always thrive in big moments, I knew they were going to get me the ball and I just knew I had to make it happen for us. I just kept telling myself to keep shooting."
UP NEXT
Fresno State will hit the road for its next two games. The road swing will begin with UCSB on Wednesday (7 p.m. PT) and follow with a trip to CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 16 (6:30 p.m. PT).