FRESNO, Calif. – Fresno State ended its five-game skid on Saturday afternoon, defeating San Diego 73-65 at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs held the Toreros to their second-fewest second-half points this season with 28.
Jalen Weaver had a game-high 19 points, matching his career high. Alex Crawford added a career-high 18 points with 14 of those coming in the second half as the Bulldogs outscored USD by 13 during the final 20 minutes.
How It Happened
Trailing 9-5 early, Pierre Geneste Jr. entered the game to make his first appearance since Nov. 20. The big man's energy at both ends helped spark a 9-0 run. Zaon Collins provided five of the points, with three of them coming after crossing over his defender, stepping back and draining an open 3.
The Bulldogs extended the advantage up to seven but San Diego answered as the 'Dogs went cold. Fresno State missed on its next 11 attempts from the field, going more than nine minutes without a bucket. The Toreros scored 19 points during the stretch but the Bulldogs kept the game close with 10 points at the line, and trailed by four at 30-26 with under two to go in the half.
USD took a 37-32 lead into the locker room.
With the Bulldogs upping the tempo they chipped away and erased the five-point deficit less than three minutes into the half. On USD's next possession after leveling the score, Geneste Jr. sent a shot back the other way, turning into an alley-oop on the break with Jalen Weaver finding Amar Augillard in transition. It gave Fresno State its first lead in more than seven minutes (44-42).
With 14:01 on the clock David Simon retook the lead for the Toreros with an open look in the corner. USD used that to start a 7-0 spurt.
Forcing stops and running off the rebounds, Fresno State countered with a 10-0 run after back-to-back dunks from Elijah Price and Alex Crawford prompted a timeout from USD. The 56-51 lead with 9:43 was its largest of the half.
The Bulldogs never looked back, outscoring the Toreros 15-7 during the next five minutes to grab their largest lead of the day at 71-57 with 3:12 remaining.
Notes
Fresno State won its first game of the year when getting outrebounded (41-40) after previously losing its first six when that happened. The bulldogs were +6 on the glass in the second half.
San Diego's 28 points in the second half was the second-fewest allowed by the Bulldogs in a half this season.
Fresno State was +12 in the scoring column from the free-throw line.
Alex Crawford finished with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Fourteen of those points came in the second half.
In his first game since Nov. 20, Pierre Geneste Jr. posted eight points, nine rebounds and two blocks. In 17 minutes. He had played a total of 18 minutes in four games this season.
The nine rebounds were a career high while the two blocks matched his career high. The eight points was one shy of his career high.
Seven of his rebounds were on the offensive end.
Jalen Weaver matched his career high in points with 19.
Elijah Price recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Zaon Collins finished with 10 points. The sophomore has scored double figures in every game he has appeared in.
Up Next
Fresno State remains at home this week, hosting CBU next Saturday at the Save Mart Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT.