Fresno State Men's Basketball
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2018-19 FRESNO STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES FRESNO STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2018-19 GAME NOTES Stephen Trembley, Director of New Media • 559-278-6178 (office) • 559-270-4291 (cell) • [email protected] Taylor Martinez, Communications Assistant • 559-278-2509 (office) • 559-394-6492 (cell) • [email protected] GAME 11: UT-MARTIN (5-4) AT FRESNO STATE (8-2) Dec. 22, 2018 • 4 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center) TV: Mountain West Network (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones) Radio: 940 AM ESPN Radio (Paul Loeffler/Marc Q. Jones) 1600 AM ESPN Deportes (Jesse Beltran/Octavio Duarte) Series History: First Meeting Last Meeting: N/A UT MARTIN Next Up: vs. Utah Valley University (Dec. 29 • 4 p.m. PT • Fresno, Calif.) FRESNO STATE OPENING TIP ’DOGS TO FACE SKYHAWKS ON SATURDAY • First-year Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson is back home in the The Fresno State men’s basketball team will host the Tennessee-Martin Valley. Hutson, a Bakersfield native, spent the last 12 seasons (San Diego Skyhawks on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT inside the Save Mart Center. The game State and UNLV) as one of the most respected assistant coaches in country. between Fresno State (8-2) and UT-Martin (5-4) will be broadcast on • Fresno State has won at least 20 games in each of the past three seasons the Mountain West Network , 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN (four of the past five seasons). Deportes. Tickets start at $10 at the Save Mart Center Box Office. • Last season, Fresno State (21-11, 11-7 MW) finished fourth in the MW standings and earned its third straight Top 4 seed for the MW Tournament. ABOUT THE TENNESSEE-MARTIN SKYHAWKS • Fresno State is one of two MW teams (Boise State) to have earned a first The Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (Ohio Valley Conference) are 5-4 on the round bye in each of the past four seasons. season, including a 75-72 victory over Chattanooga on a 75-foot buzzer • Fresno State’s 2018-19 roster includes two Division I transfers who beater in their last game. The Skyhawks have six different players who redshirted last season: Braxton Huggins (New Mexico State) and Noah average double figure and have scored over 90 points three times this Blackwell (Long Beach State). Deshon Taylor (UMKC) and New Williams season. This is the first meeting between the schools in men’s basketball. (Auburn) are also D-1 transfers, as is Chris Seeley (Utah - redshirting). BLACKWELL THRIVING IN ROLE AS FLOOR GENERAL BULLDOG BONES - BY THE NUMBERS Fresno State junior forward Noah Blackwell (Roseville, Calif.) has emerged • Fresno State has outscored three autonomy five conference schools (TCU, as an efficient point guard. In his last three starts, Blackwell has a 3.6 assist- Northwestern & Miami) by a combined score of 318-287 this season. to-turnover ratio - averaging a team-high 37.3 minutes per game. • Fresno State is 41-3 in its last 44 games when shooting at least 50 percent from the field. GRIMES DELIVERING ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR • Fresno State has made at least seven 3-pointers in every game this season. Fresno State junior forward Nate Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev.) is proving The Bulldogs are 20-3 in the last 23 games making at least 10 3pt-FGs. himself as one of the most efficient rebounders in the nation. Grimes • Fresno State senior guard Braxton Huggins (19.3 ppg/3.3 rpg) was named currently ranks sixth in the Mountain West in rebounding (8.0 rpg). to the 2018 Wooden Legacy All-Tournament team and Deshon Taylor (19.0 He also has four career double-doubles, including one this season (15 ppg/4.3 apg) earned second-team honors. (Stats from Wooden Legacy) points/14 rebounds in a 21-point win over LBSU). Grimes also ranks third • Fresno State is in the middle of a 12-game stretch of playing exclusively in the MW in blocked shots (1.8 bpg). in the state of California. Fresno State is 7-1 in the first eight games of the Golden State run. COACH HUT IN ELITE COMPANY • Fresno State leads the Mountain West in steals, averaging 7.6 per game. Fresno State head coach Justin Hutson (Coach Hut) is one of five head The Bulldogs also are ranked second in 3-pointers made per game (9.4), coaches in program history (out of 19) to start his career with a 8-2 record 3-point percentage (37.9) and free-throw percentage (75.3). or better. The four other coaches to start 8-2 or better are: J. Flint Hanner • Fresno State redshirt junior guard Noah Blackwell is averaging 17.0 points (8-2), Ed Gregory (8-2), Boyd Grant (8-2) and Ray Lopes (8-2). Gregory per game in his last three starts this season (13.0 ppg in his five starts). (1965-66) and Lopes (2002-03) went on to win conference championships in their first seasons, while Grant is the Bulldogs’ all-time winningest head • REFERENCE: “Fresno State” (never: FSU, CSUF, Fresno State University, coach (194 wins, 1977-86). Hutson also current owns the best winningest or just simply “Fresno”); ABBREVIATION: Fresno St. or FS percentage (.800) of any head coach in program history. 2018-19 SCHEDULE & RESULTS (8-2) N2 (Fri) Humboldt State (Ex) ........................................ W, 78-50 Mountain West Conference Games J2 (Wed) at San Jose State [MWN] ............................................. 7 p.m. N6 (Tues) Alaska-Anchorage [MWN] ...............................W, 91-63 J5 (Sat) Colorado State [AT&T] .........................................7 p.m. N15 (Thurs) at No. 21 TCU [Fox Sports Southwest] ...................L, 69-77 J9 (Wed) at Utah State [MWN] ................................................... 6 p.m. N22 (Thurs) Northwestern1 [ESPNU] ..........................................W, 78-59 J12 (Sat) Nevada [ESPN2 or ESPNU] ...................................5 p.m. N23 (Fri) Miami1 [ESPN2] ........................................................L, 76-78 J19 (Sat) at Boise State [AT&T] ............................................. 2:30 p.m. N25 (Sun) Hawai’i1 [ESPNU] .....................................................W, 79-64 J22 (Tue) San Diego State [ESPNU] ......................................8 p.m. N28 (Wed) Pacific [MWN] ............................................... W, 81-78OT J26 (Sat) at Colorado State [AT&T] ........................................... 1 p.m. D1 (Sat) Cal Poly [MWN] ................................................W, 76-67 J30 (Wed) at Wyoming [MWN] .................................................... 6 p.m. D5 (Wed) Weber State [MWN] ..........................................W, 71-52 F2 (Sat) New Mexico [ESPNU]............................................7 p.m. D8 (Sat) Long Beach State [MWN] ..................................W, 92-71 F5 (Tues) Utah State [AT&T] ............................................7:30 p.m. D19 (Wed) California [STADIUM/Facebook] ....................W, 95-73 F9 (Sat) at UNLV [ESPN3] ......................................................... 2 p.m. D22 (Sat) Tennessee-Martin [MWN] ....................................4 p.m. F13 (Wed) Boise State [CBSSN] .........................................7:30 p.m. D29 (Sat) Utah Valley University [MWN] .............................4 p.m. F16 (Sat) at New Mexico [ESPN3] .............................................. 4 p.m. F20 (Wed) Air Force [AT&T] ..................................................7 p.m. 1 = Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Calif. • Titan Gym) F23 (Sat) at Nevada [CBSSN] ...................................................... 5 p.m. F27 (Wed) Wyoming [MWN] ..................................................7 p.m. NOTES: M6 (Wed) at San Diego State [CBSSN] ........................................ 7 p.m. • All games broadcast on 940 AM ESPN Radio M9 (Sat) San Jose State [MWN] ...........................................4 p.m. • All home games also broadcast in Spanish on 1600 AM ESPN Deportes • All home games in BOLD and played at Save Mart Center 2019 Mountain West Tournament (Las Vegas, Nev.) • All Times Pacific M13 (Wed) First Round .......................................................................TBD M14 (Thurs) Quarterfinals ....................................................................TBD AT&T = AT&T Sports Net M15 (Fri) Semifinals ..........................................................................TBD CBSSN = CBS Sports Network M16 (Sat) MW Championship Game .......................................... 3 p.m. MWN = Mountain West Network (www.GoBulldogs.com/mwn) | 6 NCAA APPEARANCES (1981, ’82, ’84, 2000*, ’01 & ’16) • 10 NIT APPEARANCES • 1983 NIT CHAMPIONS | 1 2018-19 FRESNO STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS – Men’s Basketball Numerical Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Exp. Hometown (High School/Previous School) 0 New Williams G 6-1 175 Jr. SQ Inglewood, Calif. (Santa Monica HS/Auburn) 1 Chris Seeley^ F 6-8 215 R-So. TR Fresno, Calif. (Central HS/Utah) 3 Johnny McWilliams G 6-6 200 Jr. 2L San Marcos, Calif. (San Marcos HS) 4 Braxton Huggins G 6-4 195 R-Sr. TR Bakersfield, Calif. (Mira Monte HS/New Mexico State) 10 Amrit Dhaliwal G 5-11 165 Fr. HS Modesto, Calif. (Central Catholic HS) 11 Christian Gray F 6-6 240 Jr. TR Moreno Valley, Calif. (John W. Worth HS/Salt Lake CC) 12 Myles Fitzgerald-Warren G 6-3 180 So. SQ Portland, Ore. (Madison HS) 13 Aguir Agau G 6-7 190 Fr. HS Omaha, Neb. (Cathedral HS) 20 Sam Bittner F 6-6 210 Sr. 3L Las Vegas, Nev. (Trinity International HS) 21 Deshon Taylor G 6-2 185 Sr. 2L Riverside, Calif. (John W. North HS/UMKC) 32 Nate Grimes F 6-8 225 Jr. 2L Las Vegas, Nev. (Quality Education Academy) 34 Assane Diouf^ C 7-1 275 Fr. HS Dakar, Senegal (DME Academy) 35 Lazaro Rojas F/C 6-11 245 R-So. SQ Porto Seguro, Brazil (Score Academy) 55 Noah Blackwell G 6-3 190 R-Jr. TR Roseville, Calif. (Woodcreek HS/Long Beach State) Alphabetical Roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Exp. Hometown (High School/Previous School) 13 Aguir Agau G 6-7 190 Fr. HS Omaha, Neb. (Cathedral HS) 20 Sam Bittner F 6-6 210 Sr. 3L Las Vegas, Nev. (Trinity International HS) 55 Noah Blackwell G 6-3 190 R-Jr. TR Roseville, Calif. (Woodcreek HS/Long Beach State) 10 Amrit Dhaliwal G 5-11 165 Fr. HS Modesto, Calif. (Central Catholic HS) 34 Assane Diouf^ C 7-1 275 Fr. HS Dakar, Senegal (DME Academy) 12 Myles Fitzgerald-Warren G 6-3 180 So.