Feb. 4, 2015
Fresno, Calif. --- Isaac Thornton finished with a season-high 14 points and the San José State men's basketball team went step for step with Fresno State into the second half, but the Bulldogs pulled away for a 81-63 victory at the Save Mart Center Wednesday night.
Jaleel Williams had eight first-half points, and Darryl Gaynor II hit three consecutive shots as the Spartans (2-20, 0-10 MW) withstood multiple first-period runs by the Bulldogs (11-12, 6-4 MW).
"I thought we played well in the first half when we were fresh," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "Guys have to play so many minutes that they start to wear down and that's when shots start falling short and we break down defensively."
Thornton converted a conventional three-point play with 16:52 to go in the second period that cut Fresno State's lead to two, 43-41.
From there, Fresno State went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, which made it 55-43. The Spartans got it back down to nine at one point, but would only hit three shots over the final 5:35 of the game.
The two teams combined to shoot 51 free throws in the game. Fresno State hit 19-of-28 to the Spartans' 17-of-23. Cezar Guerrero scored 11 of his 15 points at the stripe, and was one of five Bulldogs to finish in double-figures scoring.
Rashad Muhammad led the Spartans for the 11th time this season with his 16 points. He also drained a couple threes which moved him past Ricky Berry and into a tie with Terry Cannon for eighth all-time in the SJSU record books with 114 made three-point baskets.
Jaleel Williams finished his third straight game in double-figures with 10 points while grabbing seven rebounds.
San José State returns home to continue Mountain West action against Nevada on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score
San Jose State vs Fresno State
02/04/15 7 p.m. PT at Save Mart Center --- Fresno, Calif.
At Save Mart Center --- Fresno, Calif.
FRESNO STATE 81, SAN JOSE STATE 63
SAN JOSE STATE (2-20 (0-10 MW))
Muhammad, Rashad 3-12 8-11 16; Thornton, Isaac 5-7 3-3 14; Williams, Jaleel
4-11 0-0 10; Gaynor II, Darryl 3-8 1-2 8; Mitchell, Brandon 3-8 1-3 7;
Basor, Ivo 0-0 4-4 4; Mahoney, Danny 2-2 0-0 4; Singer, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 20-48 17-23 63.
FRESNO STATE (11-12 (6-4 MW))
GUERRERO, Cezar 1-10 11-14 14; EDO, Karachi 6-10 0-0 12; HARRIS, Marvelle
4-9 1-2 11; LEWIS, Julien 4-5 2-2 11; WATSON, Paul 4-7 0-1 10; CARTER,
Terrell 2-4 5-7 9; TAYLOR, Darnell 3-4 0-0 7; OWOOTOAH, Emmanuel 3-4 0-2 7;
PATTON, Jerrod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 19-28 81.
San Jose State................ 31 32 - 63
Fresno State.................. 37 44 - 81
3-point goals--San Jose State 6-16 (Williams, Jaleel 2-5; Muhammad, Rashad
2-6; Gaynor II, Darryl 1-2; Thornton, Isaac 1-2; Mitchell, Brandon 0-1),
Fresno State 8-17 (WATSON, Paul 2-3; HARRIS, Marvelle 2-4; LEWIS, Julien
1-1; OWOOTOAH, Emmanuel 1-1; GUERRERO, Cezar 1-7; TAYLOR, Darnell 1-1).
Fouled out--San Jose State-None, Fresno State-None. Rebounds--San Jose State
32 (Basor, Ivo 8), Fresno State 27 (HARRIS, Marvelle 9).
Assists--San JoseState 10 (Muhammad, Rashad 4), Fresno State 17 (HARRIS, Marvelle 6). Total
fouls--San Jose State 21, Fresno State 17. Technical fouls--San Jose
State-None, Fresno State-None. A-5550