Fresno State, with two players back on the court, shreds UNLV to snap a losing streak

Fresno State had been without point guard Isaiah Hill since a Jan. 10 game at San Jose State and without Jemarl Baker even longer. He last played Jan. 7, at Colorado State.

But with both guards back from injuries and in the lineup, the Bulldogs put together their best offensive game of the season in a 76-63 victory over UNLV on Saturday at the Save Mart Center, taking advantage of mismatches and open shots created by the Rebels’ switching defense.

“It’s going to be tough for us without Hill and Baker,” coach Justin Hutson said. “I’ll tell you that. We had six guys last game. We’d like to be at full strength, and not everybody is always going to be at full strength, but we can’t lose Hill and Baker. I think in any sport, everybody knows who you can’t lose.”

Hill, coming off a five-game absence, scored a career-high 28 points and had five assists. Baker hit 1 of 8 shots in scoring three points, but had four assists.

Center Eduardo Andre had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds and the Bulldogs’ bench players were a combined 8 for 8 with Jordan Campbell going 4 of 4 including a big 3-pointer with the Bulldogs’ lead down to four points and 4:12 to go, and Destin Whitaker and Donavan Yap both going 2 of 2.

Fresno State (7-11, 3-4 Mountain West) hit a season-high 54.3% of its shots and hit 47.4% of its 3-pointers, which is its second highest this season.

The Bulldogs, who seldom get to the foul line, also were 17 of 22 there. They had not made more free throws since going 18 of 26 in their season-opening victory over Fresno Pacific, and there are eight teams in the Mountain West going into Saturday that had made more free throws than the Bulldogs had attempted.

Hill was the key piece, taking advantage of those mismatches in creating a shot and finding Andre.

“We watched it on film all week, practiced it all week,” Hill said. “We kind of already knew what was coming and tonight either I was going to shoot the shot or I was going to kick it out for my teammate because we had a mismatch or I was going to throw it in to E, who had a guard on him.”

The result were some easy baskets. Andre was 6 of 11 working around the basket and 11 of the Bulldogs’ 25 baskets were layups or dunks, with nine coming at the 3-point line.

The Bulldogs center, emerging with Isaih Moore sidelined in concussion protocol, has scored 10 or more points in three consecutive games and has back-to-back double-doubles after going for 14 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to Air Force.

“We spent a lot of time on trying to take advantage of the switch and Eduardo was a willing participant,” Hutson said. “He was a student. He wanted to learn, and it was great.

“When he caught it on the block, it was a double team. We were trying to get him opportunities in the paint and opportunities to kill their small guy on the boards, and he did that.”

BULLDOGS NOTES

Hutson on Hill, who is averaging 5.0 assists over his past seven games: “He played a lot of minutes and he hung in there defensively, too, which is tough, and his ball went in. But if it wasn’t going in I think Isaiah would have kicked it a little bit more and got people shots, but his ball was going in so he’s turning into a guy who knows when he can score and when he can facilitate.”

Hill got to the line 12 times, doubling his season-high of six against New Mexico. He was 10 of 12. His career-high is 16, set Nov. 23, 2021 against Pepperdine.

Fresno State had 16 assists on its 25 made baskets, 64%. That is the fourth-highest assisted basket percentage of the season, but it has been at 50% or lower in nine of 18 games this season.

The Bulldogs rose into a tie for sixth place in the 11-team Mountain West. UNLV (12-7, 1-6) is tied for last.

Next for Fresno State

Tuesday at Boise State (15-5, 5-2), 6 p.m., FS1