With less than 20 seconds remaining, Fresno State had the shot they wanted. But sophomore guard Mychal Ladd opted to step up and take the jumper instead of the open shot beyond the arc.
The miss was rebounded by San Diego State G Tyrone Shelley who iced the game with two free throws after being fouled by Bulldog F Ned Golubovic with 2.9 seconds left on the clock.
“Our guys played with great effort. I thought we kept our composure and competed,” said Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland
The key turning point in the game came off a badly missed Aztec shot.
SDSU F Kawhi Leonard missed a three-point shot badly that failed to hit rim. SDSU F Billy White picked up the uncontested rebound to tie the game at 56 with 2:02. The ‘Dogs would not regain the lead again.
“It’s a little unfortunate, we had two or three stops late that we were in a situation where two of them were air balls. But you got to get a body into people. It would have been nice to see the ball hit the rim to see how that would have played out.”
“I thought throughout the game we kept them from scoring inside. I thought zone was effect. I thought we did a nice job getting the ball in the post. End of the day, it’s going to be three or four offensive rebounds that really hurt us.”
Fresno State started slow falling behind 8-0 to start the game but went on an 8-0 – part of a 21-9 run to end the half – to tie the game at 16 behind consecutive Ladd three-pointers and a Smith baseline jumper.
The Aztecs went cold the final 10 minutes of the first stanza scoring just seven points over the last nine minutes, including going scoreless the final 4:50 of the half.
Bulldogs took their first lead, 27-25, at the 3:27 mark on a Steven Shepp 3-pointer. The Bulldogs would go on a 7-0 run over the final 4:12 to take a 29-25 lead at the half.
SDSU continued their scoreless run almost two minutes into the second half. The Aztecs went six and a half minutes without a point but the Bulldogs could only muster a six-point advantage, 31-25. Shelley hit a three-pointer to answer Sylvester Seay’s second-half opening basket cutting the lead in half. It sparked a 10-2 run that gave SDSU the lead back at 35-33 with 16:56 remaining in the second half.
The ‘Dogs retook the lead at the 13:34 mark on Ladd’s fourth three-pointer of the game. A lead FS would hold for 10 of the next 11 minutes off the ball game until White’s layup at the 2:02 mark.
Ladd finished with 14 points, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Paul George added 12 points.
Game Notes
Greg “JuJu” Smith notched his third double-double in four games. His only game without one was versus Northern Arizona (7 points, 5 rebounds).
JuJu had two thunderous dunks within two minutes of each other in the second half. The first came at the 14:04 mark off an ally-oop pass from Mychal Ladd. The second off a Paul George assist at the 12:34 mark.
JuJu left the game at the 4:03 mark after taking an elbow to the ribs on a rebound. He returned less than a minute later.
Sylvester Seay fouled out with 1:19 remaining in the game. He finished with just eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Paul George played the entire 40 minutes, his first full regulation game. His career high is 42 minutes, however, last year versus Utah State in overtime.
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