Fresno State has always been known as one of those conference opponents that is gritty, regardless of whether the Bulldogs finish atop the standings. After a one-point win over Fresno State a month ago, it was another close battle, but another win, this time a 69-59 final.
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It wasn’t a good shooting night for either side, and it’s not crazy to say the officials weren’t interested in the shot. There were 36 fouls called against Nevada, some pretty serious, but Steve Alford & Co. found a way around it.
Rating summary
first half
Fresno State 28 – Nevada 28
second half
Fresno State 31 – Nevada 41
Finals: Fresno State 59, Nevada 69
first half
Fresno State hit two free throws to take an early lead, but Vaughn Weems’ quick layup tied the game for Nevada. The first three points of the game were scored by Jake Heidbreder, who scored 25 points in his first game against Nevada in January.
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The Bulldogs opened the game with two 3-pointers and took a 10-4 lead within four minutes. That put Nevada on a scoring drought for more than two minutes until former Bulldog Elijah Price tied the game at four on a 2-2 run from the free throw line.
Despite the free throws, Nevada went without a field goal for more than three minutes until Wilms made his second shot of the night, this time from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack entered the first media timeout trailing 15-9.
Nevada’s offense stalled, shooting just 3-12 from the field and was indifferent for more than three minutes until Jerria Coleman’s dunk cut the deficit to six points. Despite the cold shooting, Nevada shared some and held Fresno State scoreless for more than five minutes. Guard David Douglas Jr. drained his second 3-pointer of the night to get the Bulldogs out of trouble.
Wims’ layup and foul narrowed the gap, giving Fresno State a 23-19 lead with 7:30 left in the half. Not long after, Nevada got another huge addition in the game, with the return of Joel Armotrading after missing time since November with a fractured sternum.
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“It’s great to have him back, I’m happy for him,” Alford said of his return. “Credit to his teammates, we’ve lost him 16 times and we’re 12-4 and not a lot of people are talking about that. But when you lose your starting center on Thanksgiving and don’t get him back until Valentine’s Day and you’re 12-4, that’s a great job.”
Amotrading used free throws to score his first point since returning, keeping the score gap within double digits. Nevada’s offense remained lackluster but gained some momentum after Corey Camper Jr.’s first 3-pointer cut the deficit to four points. Wims and Nevada hit two more free throws to make it a two-point game.
Nevada went on a 7-0 run and tied the score at 28 with 1:25 left in the half. Despite the late momentum, Nevada was lucky that Fresno State’s offense was equally quiet. Against Nevada, the Bulldogs once again faced a scoring drought, going scoreless in the final six minutes of the half.
Both offenses were terrible in the first half. Nevada shot 33% from the field and 14% from three-point range, while Fresno State shot 32% from the field and 26% from three-point range. Wilms led by eight points in the first 20 minutes. Both sides also grabbed two offensive rebounds each.
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“One of the offensive rebounds came from Miles [Walker]that wasn’t really his role, so that was a focus and we ended up with 13, so the team would listen and respond. “
second half
Fresno State opened the second half with two quick jumpers and took a 32-28 lead. Shortly after, Price went to the free throw line again and made two free throws to chase the score to 32-30.
Nevada’s offense started slow again after that, and although the whistle (or lack thereof) kept the Wolves in trouble, it wasn’t out. Tyshawn Comer scored Nevada’s first three points of the game of the second half to pull within three, then a steal and a foul put Nevada within another two.
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Fresno State followed with some long shots from Heidblad and DeShawn Gorey. Price continued to break into the paint for a few layups, bringing Nevada within three. Kemper hit your everyday 3-pointer and Nevada tied the game at 45 with just over 10 minutes left.
Nevada took its first lead of the game at 47-45 on Tyler Rollison’s free throw. Fresno State committed a few turnovers before Kaleb Lowery hit a jumper to start a 9-0 run that forced a Fresno State timeout with less than nine minutes left.
Nevada made the score 15-2 and Fresno State was scoreless for five minutes until Heidbread made two free throws to give Nevada a 53-47 lead around six and a half minutes. The Fresno State guard scored 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Fresno State went on a 7-0 run to give Nevada a 53-52 lead with 4:53 left in the game. In an effort to keep it real, the officiating became extremely brutal in the second half. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trip where a player went down and caught the ball and got called (which is exactly what happened to Wilms and got called), but any coach will tell you that you can’t let the referee control your game.
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“It’s part of the game, so just keep playing basketball and don’t let anything affect what you’re doing and just stay together and be connected to each other,” Rolison said.
Rolison hit his first 3-pointer of the night to give Nevada a six-point lead, and then after Fresno State missed a shot, Kemper caught the ball and did the same thing, putting Nevada up 64-55 with less than two minutes to go.
Nevada held on to a big enough lead in the final minute and moved the ball around, giving the Wolves another tough win over Fresno State. Wimes and Camper each scored a team-high 15 points, Rollison scored 11 points, and Price scored 10 points. Nevada shot 22-57 from the field and 6-24 from three-point range. Fresno State has a 19-53 record in the outfield and a 9-23 record on the outside.
what’s next
Nevada will embark on a two-game road trip, starting in Southern California to face San Diego State on Valentine’s Day. The Aztecs won 73-68 in their first game in Reno in early January.
Tip-off time is set for Saturday, February 14th at 7pm PST.
