Fresno State’s Jemarl Baker ties Save Mart Center scoring record while shredding Chicago State

How Chicago State ended up on the schedule, and when, can be a touchy subject for Fresno State and its basketball program.

A lack of buy game money and communication certainly contributed to it, and it’s worth noting that the Bulldogs played only 14 home games this season, which was between one and five fewer home contests than their Mountain West Conference rivals.

But that aside, the Cougars ended up providing the perfect Senior Day tomato can — diced and sliced by guards Jemarl Baker and Isaiah Hill in a 108-72 victory on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State — coming off a rough trip to New Mexico that included a lengthy flight delay on the way there, a lengthy layover on the way back, and a double-digit loss in between — ripped Chicago State.

Baker had a stat line worthy of a frame and a mantle: 13-of-14 shooting, including 10 of 11 from the 3-point line, and 7 of 8 at the free throw line for 43 points, with six rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes.

He tied the Save Mart Center scoring record set by guard Kevin Olekaibe in a 2012 win over Seattle, and did it much more economically. Olekaibe took 25 shots in getting there and Baker 14, the last a three with 1:31 to go.

“I just wanted to stay aggressive and not think about it too much,” Baker said. “I mean, when you start to think about it, that’s when you really start missing and stuff like that. I didn’t want to think about it, and then at some point, Zay came up to me and told me to get 40. So I was like, um, might as well since I’m here.”

Baker was not the only one taking advantage of Chicago State and its junky defenses, an ineffective mix man and zone.

The Bulldogs hit 35 of 55 shots (63.6%), including 21 of 32 from the 3-point line (65.6%).

That is a fairly absurd number for a team that went into the game ranked 344th of 352 programs in the nation in 3-point shooting.

Hill also hit three threes in scoring 13 points with 10 assists. Jordan Campbell hit 2 of 3 threes in scoring 14 points, his third game in a row scoring in double digits.

So Fresno State (11-19) has that to take into the Mountain West Conference Tournament, where it will open with a first-round game against Colorado State at 11 a.m. on Wednesday in the No. 8-No. 9 game in Las Vegas.

“Anytime you see the ball going into the net, it’s good, in a game setting,” Bulldogs coach Justin Hutson said. “But I’m not big on this- game-is-going-to-help-us-with-the-next-game (thinking). Because if I was, when we had all those hard games, that means that would have impacted us where we would have come back and pouted the next day.

“I don’t, when we have hard games, say ‘Woe is me. Everything is bad.’ And we come back and pout. And, when we win a game, I don’t say, ‘We won that one. That means we’re going to win five in a row.’ But every time you see the ball go through the net, it’s always going to give you a level of confidence going into the next one.”

Bulldogs notes

The 10 3-pointers by Baker also tied a Save Mart Center record that was set by guard Braxton Huggins against San Jose State in 2019 and tied by guard New Williams against the Spartans in 2020. Huggins was 10 of 16 in scoring 34 points and Williams 10 of 18 in scoring 32 points.

Fresno State lost to Colorado State twice during the regular season, a 22-point loss at Moby Arena and a 3-point loss at the Save Mart Center when leading by five points with 39 seconds to go.

“We’ve had a lot of success on a lot of people in this conference, but Colorado State has not been one the past few years,” Hutson said. “We had them beat here, though. We can go back and look at that and see some things. Those games, it’s going to be 0-0 when we start with them on Wednesday and we’re going to bring these eight or nine guys that we’ve got healthy out there and be ready to fight.”

Eduardo Andre had a double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while playing only 20 minutes. He again was in some foul trouble, with four, the eighth time in nine games he has had four or more fouls.