Fresno State has always been known as one of those plucky conference opponents, regardless of whether the Bulldogs are at the top of the standings or not. After a one-point win over Fresno State a month ago, it was another close battle but another victory, this time a 69-59 final.
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It wasn’t a pretty night of shooting for either side, and it’s not crazy to say the refs stuck their noses in this one. There were 36 total fouls and some pretty tough ones against Nevada, but Steve Alford & Co. found a way to fight back.
Scoring summary
1st time
Fresno State 28 – Nevada 28
2nd half
Fresno State 31 – Snowfall 41
Final: Fresno State 59, Nevada 69
First half
Fresno State opened the game with two free throws to take an early lead, but a quick layup by Vaughn Weems tied the game for Nevada. The first three of the game were scored by Jake Heidbreder, who scored 25 points against Nevada in the first meeting in January.
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The Bulldogs made two 3-pointers to start and took a 10-4 lead within four minutes. It put Nevada in a scoring drought of more than two minutes until former Bulldog Elijah Price scored 2-2 from the free throw line to cut the score to four.
Despite the free throws, Nevada did not shoot from the field for more than three minutes until Weems made his second shot of the night, this time from beyond the arc. The Wolf Pack entered the first media timeout trailing 15-9.
Nevada’s offense was stagnant, shooting just 3-12 and going cold for more than three minutes until a Jeriah Coleman dunk cut the Pack’s deficit to six points. Despite the cold shootouts, Nevada shared some of them and held Fresno State scoreless from the field for more than five minutes. Guard David Douglas Jr. got the Bulldogs out of there with his second three of the night.
Weems closed the gap with a layup and a foul, cutting it to a 23-19 Fresno State lead with 7:30 left in the half. Shortly after, there was a big addition to the Nevada game when Joel Armotrading made his return after being sidelined with a broken sternum since November.
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“It was great to have him back, I’m happy for him,” Alford said of his return. “Big credit to his teammates, we lost him 16 times and we were 12-4, not a lot of people talk about that. But when you lose your starting center on Thanksgiving and you don’t get him back until Valentine’s Day and you go 12-4, that’s a big job.”
Armotrading scored the first points of its comeback with free throws, making both and keeping the deficit under double digits. Nevada’s offense held steady, but gained a small boost after Corey Camper Jr.’s first 3-pointer cut it to a four-point deficit. Two more free throws for Weems and Nevada had made it a two-point game.
Nevada went on a 7-0 run and used it to tie the game at 28 with 1:25 left in the half. Despite the late push, Nevada was lucky that Fresno State’s offense was just as composed. The Bulldogs suffered another scoring drought during Nevada’s run, ending the final six minutes of the half without a point.
The first half ended quite ugly for both teams’ offense. Nevada shot 33 percent from the field and 14 percent from three, while Fresno State shot 32 percent from the field and 26 percent from three. Weems led the first 20 minutes with eight points. Both teams also collected two offensive rebounds each.
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“One of those offensive boards was by Myles (Walker), and that’s not really his role, so it was an emphasis, and we finished with 13, so this team listens and responds.”
Second half
Fresno State hit two quick jumpers to open the second half and take a 32-28 lead. Price forced another trip to the free throw line soon after, converting both to cut the score to 32-30.
After that, it was another slow start for Nevada’s offense, although the whistles (or lack thereof) kept the pack down but not out. Tayshawn Comer scored his first points of the game on Nevada’s first three of the second half to cut the score to three, then a steal and foul allowed Nevada to cut it to another two-point game.
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Fresno State followed with some deep shots from Heidbreder and DeShawn Gory. Price continued to drive through the paint for some layups and kept Nevada within three. Insert Camper’s daily 3-pointer and Nevada tied the game at 45 with just over 10 minutes left.
Thanks to some free throws from Tyler Rolison, Nevada took its first lead of the game with a score of 47-45. Some Fresno State turnovers followed by a Kaleb Lowery jumper gave Nevada a 9-0 run, forcing Fresno State to take a timeout of just under nine minutes.
Nevada turned that into a 15-2 run and held Fresno State scoreless for five minutes until Heidbreder made two free throws to cut Nevada’s lead to 53-47 around the six-and-a-half minute mark. The Fresno State guard finished the night with 13 points and 3-for-11 shooting.
Fresno State went on a 7-0 run, cutting it to a 53-52 Nevada lead with 4:53 left. To be realistic, the officiating during the second half became extremely atrocious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trip called on a player who was falling to the ground and caught the ball (that’s exactly what happened and Weems was called), but any coach will tell you that you can’t let the referees control your game.
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“It’s part of the game, so keep playing and don’t let any of that get to you, just stay together and stay connected to each other,” Rolison said.
Rolison scored his first three of the night to give Nevada a six-point lead, then after a missed Fresno State shot, Camper took the ball and did the same, making it a 64-55 Wolf Pack lead with less than two minutes left.
Nevada held a big enough lead in the final minute to pass the ball, giving the Pack another gutsy victory over Fresno State. Weems and Camper led the team with 15 points each, followed by Rolison with 11 and Price with 10. As a team, Nevada shot 22-57 from the field and 6-24 from three. Fresno State went 19-53 from the field and 9-23 from deep.
What’s next?
Nevada will embark on a two-game road trip, starting in Southern California to take on San Diego State on Valentine’s Day. The Aztecs won the first meeting in Reno in early January 73-68.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm PST on Saturday, February 14.