Tag: Malik Fitts

Hyder Scores 20 as Bulldogs Fall 68-58 to Saint Mary’s

Game Recap: Saint Mary’s 68, Fresno State 58 Fresno State falls to 2-3 in loss to Gaels Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire Hyder continues to impress It was another tough loss for Fresno State on Wednesday night in what felt, at times, like …

[jwplayer 18QegcJn-sNi3MVSU]

Game Recap: Saint Mary’s 68, Fresno State 58

Fresno State falls to 2-3 in loss to Gaels

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Hyder continues to impress

It was another tough loss for Fresno State on Wednesday night in what felt, at times, like a winnable game for the Bulldogs. But Saint Mary’s pulled away late in the second half at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, defeating Fresno State, 68-58.

Fresno State continued their struggles to produce offense outside of breakout freshman Jarred Hyder. The first-year guard scored 20 points and only missed two shots, while the rest of the team was 34.1% from the field. Bulldogs big man Nate Grimes finished with eight points, nine rebounds, and a block.

While Fresno State (2-3, 0-0 MWC) was cold from inside the arc, they were effective from deep. The Bulldogs hit nine triples and hit 40% from deep for the first time all season. That shooting is what allowed Justin Hutson’s club to hang with the Gaels throughout the game, but they ultimately fell short.

Saint Mary’s was led by its formidable duo of Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts, with Tanner Krebs and Tommy Kuhse playing a big role in the win, as well. Ford scored a game-high 24 points while playing 40 minutes for head coach Randy Bennett. Fitts and Krebs combined for 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Kuhse filled up the stat sheet with nine points, six assists, and five steals.

The Gaels (4-1, 0-0 WCC) played a tight game overall, shooting over 50% from the field and committing just six turnovers. Their performance in Sacramento could help vault them back into the national polls. Saint Mary’s dropped out of the Top 25 after losing to Winthrop last week.

Fresno State is struggling to find a consistent recipe for success. It seems at this point that Plan A, which was seemingly to have Noah Blackwell and New Williams take on big roles, has backfired calamitously.

Neither guard has been able to find their form in the early going. After Blackwell missed the first two games due to a suspension, New Williams was conspicuously absent from the lineup against Saint Mary’s. Blackwell did play, but scored just three points and saw his field goal percentage drop to 22.7% on the season.

Luckily for the team, the new faces in town—namely Hyder, Orlando Robinson, and Mustapha Lawrence—have been able to pick up some of the slack. But this team is in desperate need of a second scorer behind Hyder. Nate Grimes seems the obvious choice for the role, but he has been unable to establish himself as a truly dominant force so far. Fresno State’s season hinges largely on whether he can become the legitimate second option on offense.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs don’t play again until November 30, when they head down south to take on Cal State Northridge (0-5, 0-0 Big West). The Matadors have struggled mightily after the late news came down that star forward Lamine Diane was ruled ineligible. That said, CSUN has played a raft of solid teams, including Auburn, New Mexico, Oregon State, Richmond, and Pepperdine.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1361]

[protected-iframe id=”a91365fa8364d5918c7afbfd61fa3801-97672683-123448869″
info=”cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/horizontal-slim-10_7.css” ]

[protected-iframe id=”a4765d451d4d2134c802175f6a037fca-97672683-123448869″
info=”//percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=671539″ width=”100%” height=”550px”
frameborder=”0″]

Fresno State vs. Saint Mary’s: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Live Stream, Odds, More

Fresno State vs. Saint Mary’s: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Live Streaming, Odds, More Bulldogs out to score first marquee victory of the season Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire Can Fresno State contain Jordan Ford? WHO: Fresno State …

[jwplayer 18QegcJn-sNi3MVSU]

Fresno State vs. Saint Mary’s: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Live Streaming, Odds, More

Bulldogs out to score first marquee victory of the season

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

Can Fresno State contain Jordan Ford?

WHO: Fresno State (2-2, 0-0 MWC) vs. Saint Mary’s (3-1, 0-0 WCC)

WHEN: Wednesday, November 20th — 8:00 P.M. PT / 9:00 P.M. MT

WHERE: Golden 1 Center — Sacramento, Calif.

TV: ESPNU

STREAM: WatchESPN (cable subscription required); Get a free one-week trial of FuboTV.

RADIO: TuneIn

SERIES RECORD: Saint Mary’s leads, 19-17

ODDS: Saint Mary’s -8, per KenPom

PREVIEW: Fresno State heads west to the state capital Wednesday night to take on Saint Mary’s at the Golden 1 Center, home to the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. As if playing in a professional arena weren’t enough, this game is the Bulldogs’ best chance at a marquee non-conference win.

But it certainly won’t be easy.

The Gaels are coming into this game on a 3-1 start, including a nail-biter overtime win against Wisconsin and a head-scratching loss to Winthrop. But they’ve rebounded well over the past two contests, beating Long Beach State and Cal Poly by 18 and 31 points, respectively.

Those victories weren’t enough to keep Randy Bennett’s team from falling out of the national rankings after last Monday’s loss to the Eagles, though. Despite the setback, the Gaels should still be one of the top mid-major teams in the country and are a good bet to back in the Top 25 sometime soon.

Saint Mary’s senior Jordan Ford, one of the top players in the country, has been as good as expected in the early going. The star guard is averaging 19.8 points per game—though that number is weighed down by a paltry 10-point performance against Long Beach State in which Ford took a backseat on offense. He scored over 20 points in each of the three other games.

Malik Fitts, the second half of the Gaels’ one-two punch, comes in averaging 13 points and six rebounds nightly. Fellow starters Tommy Kuhse, Tanner Krebs, and Matthias Tass have also been serviceable in their respective roles of distributor, shooter, and post presence.

Fresno State, like their opponents, is entering Wednesday’s matchup on the heels of a big win, albeit against Division II school Cal State San Bernadino. Prior to that, the Bulldogs went 1-2 in their first three games. Coincidentally, that win actually came against Winthrop, the only team to best Saint Mary’s so far. The other games didn’t go so well. Oregon proved to be a class above Fresno State in the opener, while WCC foes San Diego scraped out an overtime win.

After scoring just two points against the Ducks, freshman Jarred Hyder exploded onto the scene with a 26-point game against Winthrop. He followed that up with 23 points against the Toreros, before sitting out the game against CSU San Bernadino with a hip flexor injury.

Aside from Hyder, Fresno State has spread the scoring out, with four other players averaging at least eight points per game. Big man Nate Grimes has performed well against preseason expectations, averaging 10.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in the early going.

Aguir Agau is averaging over 10 points off the bench, while starters Orlando Robinson and Mustapha Lawrence have also contributed significantly for head coach Justin Hutson.

But the big issue has the play of Noah Blackwell and New Williams, who were expected to take up the mantel left behind by Deshon Taylor and Braxton Huggins. Blackwell missed two games to a suspension and has shot under 25% in the other two. Williams’ shooting has been even worse, with the guard firing at just a 16.7% clip so far.

With or without Hyder, Fresno State is surely counting on those their returning guards to turn things around. It’s hard to imagine a better opportunity for Blackwell and Williams to finally make a positive impact on this season than Wednesday night’s nationally-televised tilt with one of the nation’s premier mid-major programs.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1361]