FRESNO STATE (1-1) AT CSU BAKERSFIELD (2-1)
Nov. 16, 2024 • 6:30 p.m. PT • Bakersfield, Calif. (Icardo Center)
MEDIA COVERAGE
ESPN+ / Bulldog Sports Network (BSN)
Radio - PxP: Paul Loeffler • Analyst: Marc Q. Jones
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: Bulldog Sports Network
Live Stats: SidearmStats
X (Twitter): @FresnoStateMBB
FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State takes on its second Big West opponent this week, taking the short trip down the 99 on Saturday to face CSU Bakersfield. It is the second straight game on the road for the Bulldogs before returning home next week.
Tipoff at the Icardo Center is set for 6:30 p.m. PT. The game will stream on ESPN+.
QUICK LOOK
The Bulldogs are 3-3 all-time at the Icardo Center, picking up a win on its last trip on Dec. 20, 2022 (56-48).
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg who graduated from CSU Bakersfield in 1978. That year, Walberg set the program's single-game assists record with 17 against Azusa Pacific (Jan. 10, 1978). The record still stands today.
Fresno State is coming off its first loss of the year five-point defeat at UCSB, the 19th-ranked scoring offense in the country. The Bulldogs put up 86 points, the third-most points in a game against a Division I opponent dating back to the start of 2020.
Fresno State is playing its second game away from home this weekend. The Bulldogs will play seven of their first 10 games away from the Save Mart Center during the first 36 days of the season.
It took Vance Walberg just one game into his Fresno State career to earn his first win as the Bulldogs' head coach, defeating Sacramento State 64-57 on Nov. 8. It was 216 days between his hiring and his first win.
Aiding in the 64-57 win was Amar Augillard, the 2024 NJCAA DI National Player of the Year. The junior from Zion, Ill., accounted for nearly half the Bulldogs' win, dropping 30 points in his debut.
Augillard became the first player in program history to score at least 30 points in their first game as a Bulldog.
With 14 newcomers to the squad this offseason, 89.1% of the team's scoring on opening night came from its newest members.
Walberg is one of four current Division I head coaches who was a high school head coach the season before taking over their current head coaching position (Penny Hardaway, Bucky McMillan, Stan Waterman).
Walberg isn't the only coach on his staff putting an emphasis on community when it comes to this process. His staff has deep ties to the Central Valley. Three of his five assistant coaches grew up in the Valley while associate head coach John Welch was a part of Jerry Tarkanian's Bulldog staff from 1995-2002.
Walberg entered the season with the sixth-most newcomers on a roster in Division I this year with 14 new faces, a roster he and his staff worked to put together during the first 100-plus days after his hiring.
With just two players returning in Jalen Weaver and Pierre Geneste Jr., the Bulldogs rank in the Top 20 in the country in fewest returning minutes, points and rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS
43 - In 24 second-half minutes, Amar Augillard has scored 43 of his 51 points.
4.5 - The first player in the Mountain West this season to swipe six steals in a game, Zaon Collins ranks No. 2 in the country with 4.5 steals per game.
3 - Fresno State scored 86 points at UCSB on Wednesday. It was just the third time in the last four seasons that a Bulldog team has scored at least 86 points.
EYES ON THE BALL
In the last three halves, Zaon Collins has put his on-ball prowess on display. Like a dog watching a bouncing ball, the sophomore has come up with nine steals in the last game-and-a-half.
At UCSB, Collins became the first Mountain West player this season to record at least six steals in a game this season.
Collins' 4.5 steals per game ranks No. 2 in the NCAA.
SECOND-HALF EXPLOSIONS
It's only a matter of time until Amar Augillard will break out in a game. After 22 points in the second half in his Bulldog opener, the junior followed up with 21 in the second half on Wednesday at UCSB.
In 24 minutes combined in two second halves, Augillard has scored 43 of his 51 points.
FILLING IT UP
Averaging just under 20 minutes per game, Amar Augillard ranks No. 11 in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 25.5 points per game. Of the 12 players in the country averaging at least 25 points per game, three have been on the court for less than 30 minutes per game (Amar Augillard - Fresno State, Dawson Garcia - Minnesota), Gabe Madsen - Utah).
Augillard (19.7) is averaging more than seven minutes less on the court than Madsen (27.3).
Augillard is averaging 1.28 points per minute on the court.
LIFE ON THE ROAD
During the first 36 days of the season, Fresno State will play just three games at home. That stretch includes a 15-day span in which the Bulldogs will play five of six games away from home, finishing the day before Thanksgiving in Palm Desert, Calif., at the Acrisure Holiday Invitational.
Beginning on Nov. 13, the Bulldogs will play just two of nine games at the Save Mart Center during a 29-day period. The stretch concludes with a trip to BYU on Dec. 11.
SERIES HISTORY - CSU BAKERSFIELD
Fresno State is 12-5 all-time against CSU Bakersfield.
Despite the advantage in the series, the two programs have split the contests in Bakersfield (3-3).
The Bulldogs have come away with the win in three of their last four trips south, winning their most recent game in Bakersfield, 56-48 on Dec. 20, 2022.
Overall, Fresno State has won 10 of its last 11 meetings with the Roadrunners.