A special day was spoiled by a rough second half, as Fresno State fell 6-3 following a 76-71 loss to Cal State University Bakersfield on Sunday afternoon at Selland Arena in front of several alumni and one of its biggest crowds of the season (4,374 attendance). Head Coach Vance Walberg expressed his frustration after the game, on not being able to deliver the Red Wave a victory.
“I’m just disappointed for the fans,” Walberg said. “We’ve been playing pretty darn good basketball, and today we kind of laid an egg.”
Walberg said that practicing more zone defense will be an emphasis. Protecting the interior was a struggle against the Roadrunners, stopping Dailin Smith in particular.
The 6’6” guard was flowing in and out of the key without much trouble at all, scoring 30 points (21 in second half). He made 6-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line to lead the game in scoring.
A big chunk of his production came late in the half when Bulldog guard DJ Stickman came out of the game holding his hip. The freshman returned to the game about five minutes later but it was too little, too late.
“DJ is probably our best defensive player,” Walberg said. “(Losing him) hurt a bit, but we got to find a way to get it done.”
Fresno State made just 24-of-65 (37%) of its field goal attempts, something Walberg would certainly like his squad to improve upon.
“I feel like we cut a lot better the last couple games. This game, a little bit of pumping and so forth took us out,” Walberg said.
He added that they are a much better shooting team, particularly from beyond the arc than they showed. They made just 8-of-33 of their attempts on Sunday. If you removed point guard Zaon Collins, that number goes to just 5-of-27 (18.5%).
Key players
- Zaon Collins (FS): 17 points, 4 assists, 4 steals
- Jake Heidbreder (FS): 20 points, 3 rebounds
- Dailin Smith (CSUB): 30 points, 6 rebounds
- CJ Hardy (CSUB): 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
What happened
A back-and-forth affair early on. The Roadrunners got a three from AJ George. A minute later, CJ Hardy pulled up for a midrange jumper. Then former Bulldog Pierre Geneste Jr. quieted the Red Wave with an alleyoop dunk.
The Bulldogs responded with a trio of threes from Jake Heidbreder, Zaon Collins and Jac Mani. Collins would drain another one from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs an 18-15 lead 10 minutes into the half.
Following a stepback jumper from Hardy, Fresno State went on a 9-0 run thanks to a pair of layups from DeShawn Gory and Collins. Wilson Jacques also added a dunk. The run forced a Roadrunners timeout with Fresno State leading 25-17.
Fresno State’s offense being able to not completely fall apart when Heidbreder is on the bench has been a struggle all season, but they were able to manage for a few minutes in the first half on Sunday, finding open threes for Cameron Faas and David Douglas Jr.
Bakersfield kept themselves in it however. Tom Mark nailed a jumper off the key to cap off an 8-0 run to draw the Roadrunners deficit to just 31-28.
Fresno State used a pair of driving layups from Heidbreder and Stickman to take a 40-34 lead into halftime. Collins led all scorers with 13 points. He also had 4 steals.
The Bulldogs only led by six points despite a 27-12 rebounding advantage at halftime, something Walberg has pushed as an area of emphasis they need to improve on.
Scoring was hard to come by in the second half for both teams. The Bulldogs were able to get Heidbreder going a little though after a quiet first half. The Clemson transfer passed out to Mani, only to then cut backdoor for a give and go layup to give Fresno State a 53-45 lead with 12:34 left before a media timeout.
Out of the break, Gory converted an and-one and a driving layup to extend the ‘Dogs lead to 10. A pair of free throws from Dailin Smith and a coast-to-coast layup, and-one from Hardy cut it to 5. Smith added another layup and two more makes from the charity strip to give the Roadrunners a 10-0 run, cutting the deficit to just one.
Smith made an off-balance jumper while getting fouled by Heidbreder, then converted the and-one to tie the game at 62 with 4:38 remaining. A pair of baskets from Smith and Hardy gave the Roadrunners a 66-64 lead a minute later.
Fresno State struggled to make shots down stretch, while not being able to prevent baskets going in on the other end resulting in Bakersfield taking home the victory, 76-71.
What’s next
Fresno State will play at #22 Arkansas next Saturday, Dec. 6. at Bud Walton Arena. This will be the only non-conference game played outside of California this season. Walberg and Associate Head Coach John Welch are both familiar with Razorbacks Head Coach John Calipari during their time at Kentucky together.
“One of the most talented coaches in our country who has been ahead of the trends. His style of play will help get recruits and be appealing to fans. He is a gatherer who will bring people together for a common cause,” Calipari said in a statement, following Walberg’s hiring in April of last year. Now he’s going up against Walberg.
“John’s a very good friend. I appreciate him getting us a chance to go out there and play them,” Walberg said.
Fresno State will wrap up non-conference play at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, Dec. 10 before beginning Mountain West Conference play at UNLV on Saturday, Dec. 20. The Bulldogs will return to the Save Mart Center on Dec. 30 to host Utah State.
Walberg added that despite the loss, he enjoyed the atmosphere and would like to be able to make the ‘Return to Selland’ game an annual thing.
Recap written by Al Scott, cover photo by Vincent Ordonio (Fresno Sports Magazine)