Win could help with WAC tourney placement.
It was five weeks ago now, that trip to Ruston, La., when the Fresno State Bulldogs lost a game they had won.
Six seconds remaining, they were up a point when Jonathan Wills got a hand on the basketball as Louisiana Tech was trying to inbound from the baseline. Wills tipped it to Kevin Olekaibe, who wrapped the ball up in his arms as best he could and waited for a foul.
Louisiana Tech guard Brandon Gibson did reach in there with both hands and whistles were blown. But one official overruled another and called a jump ball, possession going back to the home team, and Tech won it when Gibson hit a runner just ahead of the buzzer.
It was 59-58, and it was awhile before the Bulldogs made it final. Even Olekaibe -- the shooter, a job with a long list of requirements including an ability to forget and to move on -- said that one hurt maybe a little longer than usual: "It was tough after the fact, after the game," he said.
But the focus tonight is far from that first game against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, at 3-9 in seventh place in the WAC, could go into the conference tournament next week in Las Vegas as the sixth, seventh or even the eighth seed. To secure the sixth seed, the Bulldogs need to beat Louisiana Tech and on Saturday beat New Mexico State while Louisiana Tech loses at Nevada.
In that scenario, the Bulldogs and Bulldogs would be 5-9 in league play and Fresno State would win the tie-breaker with a better head-to-head record over the teams at the top of the conference, in descending order.
Both teams are 0-2 against Nevada, which has clinched at least a share of the conference championship. Fresno State in getting to 5-9 would split with New Mexico State, which is in second place, while Louisiana Tech has lost both its matchups against the Aggies.
"They're ahead of us right now, so it is a very important game in terms of seeding, plus giving us momentum going into the tournament," Olekaibe said.
The Bulldogs are catching Louisiana Tech in its best stretch this season, with a four-game winning streak that includes WAC victories last weekend at home against San Jose State and Hawaii.
Louisiana Tech has averaged 75.3 points over those four games and again could be a difficult matchup for the Bulldogs -- over Tech's past six games, it has had five players lead the team in scoring.
Gibson and Raheem Appleby scored a team-high 15 points in a loss at Utah State, and Cordarius Johnson led the team with 21 in a loss at Idaho. Appleby had 19 and 18 to lead the Bulldogs to victories over North Dakota and Central Arkansas, and forward Romario Souza led with 19 points against San Jose State, and Trevor Gaskins with 22 against Hawaii.
Fresno State cannot afford any defensive lulls that have hurt the team at times this season -- including the first matchup at Louisiana Tech, when Fresno State was outscored 11-3 to end the first half and 14-5 through a stretch early in the second half.
"Going into this game, like Coach [Rodney] Terry said, we have to play for 40 minutes not for 30 or whatever because in those 10 minutes you take off, if you want to use that word, that's when the game is decided," Fresno State guard Tyler Johnson said.
"The game is not always decided by that last play. If we had made a free throw earlier in the game or got a stop, maybe we wouldn't have been in that situation."
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WAC seed scenarios
With two games remaining, the Fresno State men's basketball team can still end up as the sixth, seventh or eighth seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament next week in Las Vegas.
As the sixth seed, the Bulldogs would play the third seed (Idaho, if there are no changes at the top of the standings) in the first round. As the seventh seed, they would play the No. 2 seed (New Mexico State). And as the eighth seed they would play the top seed (Nevada).
Here are the scenarios for the Bulldogs, who play Louisiana Tech tonight at the Save Mart Center:
Sixth seed: Fresno State must beat Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, and have Louisiana Tech lose at Nevada. The Bulldogs would own the tiebreaker against Louisiana Tech based on a better head-to-head record against New Mexico State.
Seventh seed: Fresno State beats Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, and Louisiana Tech beats Nevada; OR Fresno State beats New Mexico State and loses to Louisiana Tech, and San Jose State loses to either Utah State or Idaho; OR Fresno State loses to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State and Fresno State finishes with a higher Ratings Percentage Index than San Jose State in the NCAA RPI on Saturday.
Eighth seed: The Bulldogs lose to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, San Jose State defeats Utah State and Idaho, and San Jose State finishes with a higher Ratings Percentage Index than Fresno State. In the most recent RPI, Fresno State is 208th and San Jose State is 274th.
It was five weeks ago now, that trip to Ruston, La., when the Fresno State Bulldogs lost a game they had won.
Six seconds remaining, they were up a point when Jonathan Wills got a hand on the basketball as Louisiana Tech was trying to inbound from the baseline. Wills tipped it to Kevin Olekaibe, who wrapped the ball up in his arms as best he could and waited for a foul.
Louisiana Tech guard Brandon Gibson did reach in there with both hands and whistles were blown. But one official overruled another and called a jump ball, possession going back to the home team, and Tech won it when Gibson hit a runner just ahead of the buzzer.
It was 59-58, and it was awhile before the Bulldogs made it final. Even Olekaibe -- the shooter, a job with a long list of requirements including an ability to forget and to move on -- said that one hurt maybe a little longer than usual: "It was tough after the fact, after the game," he said.
But the focus tonight is far from that first game against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, at 3-9 in seventh place in the WAC, could go into the conference tournament next week in Las Vegas as the sixth, seventh or even the eighth seed. To secure the sixth seed, the Bulldogs need to beat Louisiana Tech and on Saturday beat New Mexico State while Louisiana Tech loses at Nevada.
In that scenario, the Bulldogs and Bulldogs would be 5-9 in league play and Fresno State would win the tie-breaker with a better head-to-head record over the teams at the top of the conference, in descending order.
Both teams are 0-2 against Nevada, which has clinched at least a share of the conference championship. Fresno State in getting to 5-9 would split with New Mexico State, which is in second place, while Louisiana Tech has lost both its matchups against the Aggies.
"They're ahead of us right now, so it is a very important game in terms of seeding, plus giving us momentum going into the tournament," Olekaibe said.
The Bulldogs are catching Louisiana Tech in its best stretch this season, with a four-game winning streak that includes WAC victories last weekend at home against San Jose State and Hawaii.
Louisiana Tech has averaged 75.3 points over those four games and again could be a difficult matchup for the Bulldogs -- over Tech's past six games, it has had five players lead the team in scoring.
Gibson and Raheem Appleby scored a team-high 15 points in a loss at Utah State, and Cordarius Johnson led the team with 21 in a loss at Idaho. Appleby had 19 and 18 to lead the Bulldogs to victories over North Dakota and Central Arkansas, and forward Romario Souza led with 19 points against San Jose State, and Trevor Gaskins with 22 against Hawaii.
Fresno State cannot afford any defensive lulls that have hurt the team at times this season -- including the first matchup at Louisiana Tech, when Fresno State was outscored 11-3 to end the first half and 14-5 through a stretch early in the second half.
"Going into this game, like Coach [Rodney] Terry said, we have to play for 40 minutes not for 30 or whatever because in those 10 minutes you take off, if you want to use that word, that's when the game is decided," Fresno State guard Tyler Johnson said.
"The game is not always decided by that last play. If we had made a free throw earlier in the game or got a stop, maybe we wouldn't have been in that situation."
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WAC seed scenarios
With two games remaining, the Fresno State men's basketball team can still end up as the sixth, seventh or eighth seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament next week in Las Vegas.
As the sixth seed, the Bulldogs would play the third seed (Idaho, if there are no changes at the top of the standings) in the first round. As the seventh seed, they would play the No. 2 seed (New Mexico State). And as the eighth seed they would play the top seed (Nevada).
Here are the scenarios for the Bulldogs, who play Louisiana Tech tonight at the Save Mart Center:
Sixth seed: Fresno State must beat Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, and have Louisiana Tech lose at Nevada. The Bulldogs would own the tiebreaker against Louisiana Tech based on a better head-to-head record against New Mexico State.
Seventh seed: Fresno State beats Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, and Louisiana Tech beats Nevada; OR Fresno State beats New Mexico State and loses to Louisiana Tech, and San Jose State loses to either Utah State or Idaho; OR Fresno State loses to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State and Fresno State finishes with a higher Ratings Percentage Index than San Jose State in the NCAA RPI on Saturday.
Eighth seed: The Bulldogs lose to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State, San Jose State defeats Utah State and Idaho, and San Jose State finishes with a higher Ratings Percentage Index than Fresno State. In the most recent RPI, Fresno State is 208th and San Jose State is 274th.
