Ags come out flat, bulldogs win in Spectrum
Third place in the Western Athletic Conference. An undefeated home record. A 14-year winning streak in Senior Night games. A lot of things went up in smoke when the Fresno State Bulldogs put the finishing touches on a win over the Aggies Saturday night. Hopefully a bid to the NCAA tournament won’t be among them.
Hangover effect from the huge win against Nevada on Thursday was a common topic among players and coaches in the post-game interviews.
“Shots were there, we just didn’t make them. I don’t know if it was hangover from the Nevada game or what,” Chaz Spicer said.
Spicer, along with Durrall Peterson and Chris Session, was honored in a traditional Senior Night ceremony before the game, and his father thrilled the sold-out Spectrum crowd with a stirring rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” according to eyewitnesses.
“Well, you don’t play very good, you lose. That’s the way it works,” USU Head Coach Stew Morrill said.
Both coaches used only seven players. Fresno State’s Steve Cleveland stuck with his starters for nearly the entire game, except for one minute for Ajay Riding and seven minutes for Alex Blair. Morrill used only Nick Hammer and Stephen DuCharme off his bench.
Fresno State made it clear from the opening tip that they would live and die by the 3-pointer. Seven out of the Bulldogs’ first eight field goal attempts were from three-land, and the visitors finished 10-27 shooting from long range, including 4-11 by Eddie Miller.
USU was unable to match Fresno’s prowess from deep, finishing 5-23 on three attempts. In fact, the Aggies shot a poor percentage from the floor overall, with the chief culprit being the usually reliable Jaycee Carroll, who hit just 2-12 from the floor and finished with a season-low six points.
“I thought he was like our whole team,” Morrill said of Carroll. “We didn’t have as much energy as we usually do. This isn’t my first rodeo. We talked a ton about energy, we went short in practice, but we didn’t have enough of it.”
Spicer led the Aggies with 22 points. Peterson, with 12, and DuCharme, with 13, were the only other Aggies to reach double figures in scoring. Peterson led USU in rebounding with nine, all while splitting time with Kris Clark as point guard.
“Just because we beat Nevada doesn’t mean we can’t get beat,” Peterson said. “Sometimes you have to play the game on the defensive end, and tonight we didn’t. All the credit goes to Fresno State.”
USU had myriad chances to win the game. Fresno was an abysmal 11-28 from the free-throw line, and the lead changed hands 10 times before the Bulldogs pulled away in the final minutes.
With 6:48 to go, Miller knocked down the first of four straight Fresno State threes, triggering a run of exciting basketball in which the teams traded baskets and raced up and down the Spectrum floor. As late as 3:00 remaining, USU had a one-point lead, but Fresno’s shooters remained hot while USU’s couldn’t keep up the pace.
“Second half, it didn’t matter what we did,” Morrill said. “Man, zone, we couldn’t get them stopped. It was a mystery which defense to try because it didn’t matter. We lost track of guys on lobs, we had guys drive past us. They deserve to win. They came in and took it from us.”
Kevin Bell, Fresno’s diminutive point guard, shrugged off the Spectrum crowd’s chants of “Gary Coleman” to lead his team in scoring with 25. On several occasions, Bell mystified USU defenders with his speed, driving to the hole for uncontested layups.
“We had no answer for Kevin Bell,” Morrill said.
Now the Aggies must travel to Las Cruces, N.M., and make a strong run in the WAC Tournament to overcome a 1-3 swoon down the stretch of regular season play.
“Now we’ve got a one-week opportunity to get to the NC 2A tournament,” Morrill said.
Spicer said that while it was disappointing to lose his final game on the Spectrum floor, the opportunity is there for the team to leave this loss in the past with a strong WAC Tournament.
“It’s a different season now. We’ve got to go to the WAC Tournament and get some wins any way we can,” Spicer said.