FRESNO, Calif. – San Jose State men's basketball was unable to hold off a hot-shooting Fresno State squad as the Bulldogs shot 60 percent in the second half to pull away for a 79-64 win on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.
After an even first half, Fresno State (5-10, 1-3) hit nine second-half triples to take an advantage that the Spartans (5-11, 1-3) were unable to overcome despite an outstanding game by senior guard Brae Ivey, who finished with 19 points with a career high-tying five 3-pointers. The Bulldogs outscored SJSU 51-36 in the second half to close the door.
For the second-straight season, a Bulldog dominated from the perimeter with 10 treys. Last season it was Braxton Huggins. This year it was New Williams, who finished with 10 on 10-of-18 shooting from outside the arc for a game-high 32 points.
It was an even first half with SJSU knocking down 11 shots and the Bulldogs putting in 10. Fresno State hit six treys to the Spartans' four. Richard Washington, coming off a 7-trey performance in the win over New Mexico, knocked down two of those Spartan 3-balls with Ivey converting the others. SJSU won the first half rebounding battle 20-17.
After trailing 6-2, SJSU went on a 10-2 run with three 3-pointers to take a 15-8 advantage at the 12:34 mark. Fresno State cut the lead down to one after New Williams knocked down a trey at the 9:27 mark to cut the score to 17-16 and sparked a mini 7-0 run to take a 20-17 lead.
Ivey knotted the score on the ensuing possession as he took a pass from Washington at the top of the key, made a defender miss and knocked down a triple. For the remainder of the half, the teams played back-and-forth ball with Seneca Knight knocking down the last bucket of the period with 1:07 to play. The teams went into the locker room deadlocked at 28-28.
With 12:30 to play in the second half, Fresno State took their largest lead to that point after Williams knocked down back-to-back treys as part of an 11-1 run to take a 46-39 advantage. Zach Chappell ended the run with a conventional 3-point play.
Williams and Ivey then exchanged 3-balls on the next two possessions to push the score to 49-45 with 11:24 on the clock, but the Bulldogs quickly pushed the lead to 12 after an 8-0 run. Washington knocked down all three free throws after drawing a foul at the top of the arc to end that spree, but unfortunately, those points weren't enough to cut off the potent Bulldog offense as Fresno State used an 11-1 run to take a 70-49 advantage. The Spartans were held scoreless from the field for nearly six minutes in the drought.
With 4:53 remaining, Chappell stole a pass at center court and handed off to Knight who finished with a slam to spark an 8-4 run over the final minutes to cut the deficit to 14, but that was as close as the Spartans would get.
Williams' career night led the Bulldogs while Orlando Robinson finished with a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds. Fresno State shot 47 percent (27-of-57) for the game.
Chappell finished the afternoon with 11 points while Ralph Agee pulled down a team-best nine boards. The Spartans shot 42.6 percent for the game (23-of-54)
SJSU returns to action on Wednesday against Nevada at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. PT.
