Feb. 14, 2018
San Jose, Calif. --- After a tightly contested first half between the Spartans and Bulldogs, the San José State men's basketball team let Fresno State run away with a 77-57 Mountain West victory inside The Event Center.
The Spartans (3-21, 0-13 MW) fell behind 11-3 to start the game, but came roaring back to take an 18-13 lead with 11:23 left in the first half. SJSU made six straight shots during the 15-2 run including threes from Ryan Welage and Isaiah Nichols.
San José State took a 29-19 lead with 6:13 to go in the half on a 3-pointer by Nai Carlisle. But that would be the end of the Spartans' run. The end of one run was the beginning of another, this time it was for the Bulldogs (18-8, 8-5 MW) who turned the game upside down.
Sam Bittner's three-point basket with 5:15 to play in the first half ignited a 13-0 Fresno State burst. The Bulldogs regained the lead before halftime, 32-31. Then over the course of the first 11:32 in the second period Fresno State outscored San José State 27-8.
An 8-0 run over 1:41 increased SJSU's deficit from three points to 11 points with 13:01 to go in the game. A Keith Fisher III layup put the fire out, but only temporarily as another Bulldogs 10-0 run ensued.
By the 10:13 mark the Spartans found themselves down 60-39. Fresno State led by as many as 24 points, 77-53, with 1:31 remaining.
Fisher finished with his second double-double in as many games including 17 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds. Welage pitched in with 15 points for the Spartans.
Fresno State's Jaron Hopkins led all scorers with 20 points. Deshon Taylor added 19 points.
Fresno State finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (28-63) while San José State shot 42.3 percent (22-52). The Bulldogs hit 11-of-29 from downtown while the Spartans were 7-of-18. SJSU was edged in rebounding, 35-33.
San José State heads on the road to Wyoming for its next game on Saturday, February 17. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. (MT).
Newspaper Box Score
Fresno State vs San José State
02/14/18 7:00 PM at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
FRESNO STATE 77, SAN JOSé STATE 57
FRESNO STATE (18-8, 8-5 MW)
HOPKINS, Jaron 8-12 4-6 20; TAYLOR, Deshon 6-13 4-5 19; BITTNER, Sam 3-5 0-0
9; BOWLES, Ray 3-11 0-0 9; WILLIAMS, Bryson 3-6 1-2 7; CARTER II, Terrell
3-5 1-1 7; TAYLOR, Jahmel 2-8 0-0 6; ROJAS, Lazaro 0-1 0-0 0; GRIMES, Nate
0-0 0-0 0; DEKONINCK, Gilles 0-0 0-0 0; WARREN, Myles 0-1 0-0 0; McWILLIAMS,
Johnny 0-0 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, New 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 10-14 77.
SAN JOSé STATE (3-21, 0-13 MW)
FISHER, Keith 8-18 1-4 17; Welage, Ryan 6-12 1-1 15; James, Jalen 3-6 0-0 8;
Nichols, Isaiah 1-3 1-2 4; Barry, Oumar 1-3 1-2 3; Carlisle, Nai 1-1 0-0 3;
Simmons, Caleb 1-2 0-0 3; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-4 2-2 2; Baumann, Noah 1-2 0-0
2; Chastain, Ashtin 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 22-52 6-13 57.
Fresno State.................. 32 45 - 77
San José State................ 31 26 - 57
3-point goals--Fresno State 11-29 (BITTNER, Sam 3-5; TAYLOR, Deshon 3-8;
BOWLES, Ray 3-8; TAYLOR, Jahmel 2-6; WILLIAMS, New 0-1; HOPKINS, Jaron 0-1),
San José State 7-18 (Welage, Ryan 2-7; James, Jalen 2-4; Simmons, Caleb 1-2;
Nichols, Isaiah 1-2; Carlisle, Nai 1-1; Baumann, Noah 0-1; Hillsman, Jaycee
0-1). Fouled out--Fresno State-None, San José State-None. Rebounds--Fresno
State 35 (HOPKINS, Jaron 7; CARTER II, Terrell 7), San José State 33
(FISHER, Keith 13). Assists--Fresno State 12 (HOPKINS, Jaron 4), San José
State 12 (Hillsman, Jaycee 4). Total fouls--Fresno State 11, San José State
16. Technical fouls--Fresno State-None, San José State-None. A-1682