Fresno State making another run in Mountain West tourney
Jaron Hopkins and Deshon Taylor watched from the bench last season, waiting their turn as redshirt transfers but also taking in what was unfolding before them.
They saw their Fresno State teammates go on a late-season run and ride it all the way to the Mountain West basketball tournament championship.
Now it’s the turn of the current group of Bulldogs, including Hopkins and Taylor, and they’re on another late-season run competing for the tournament title. No. 4 seed Fresno State advanced to Friday’s semifinals by defeating No. 5 New Mexico 65-60 on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Bulldogs will play top-seeded UNR (26-6) at 7 p.m. Friday. No. 2 Colorado State (22-10) will meet No. 6 San Diego State in the other semifinal at 9:30.
“We took a lot from that crew last year,” Hopkins said. “We knew they were a poised group, calm and confident in situations like this. Just learning from them and actually getting to watch Marvelle (Harris) and Cezar (Guerrero) and them guys, that was great for us. We learned a lot from them.”
Fresno State took a six-game winning streak into last season’s conference tournament and was seeded second. The Bulldogs advanced to the final and beat top-seeded San Diego State 68-63 to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This week, the Bulldogs (20-11) brought a five-game winning streak into the tournament, again getting hot at just the right time.
“We’ve predicated everything over the last month of the season of working hard defensively,” Fresno State coach Rodney Terry said. “And you win games this time of year with your defense. I thought our guys the last month of the season really tried to make a really good effort to be a better defensive team.”
During this now six-game winning streak, the Bulldogs have held opponents to an average of 60.2 points. Prior to the surge, opponents were averaging 69.8 points.
That defense came through against New Mexico (17-14) when Elijah Brown and Tim Williams combined to shoot 11 of 33 and score 31 points, five below their combined season average.
“Focusing on defense, that’s what we’ve been harping on,” Taylor said.
Now the Bulldogs will try to eliminate a No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. Win that one, and they’re one big step from another trip to the NCAAs.
Fresno State not only knows what it takes to get there but also what it takes to beat the Wolf Pack, having swept the regular-season series.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for their program,” Terry said. “A lot of respect for their coach (Eric Musselman) and how hard they play and how well they execute what they do. They’ve got five starters out there as good as anybody in the country. And they put a lot of pressure on you defensively because they can score at every position.
“We’ve got to come out and play a game where we defend hard without fouling, trying to play for 40 minutes. It’s going to be a big task for us, but we’re excited about the opportunity to play our best team in our league under these circumstances.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.