Second Half Run Spells Difference As Fresno State Downs Upstate
12/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2008
Fresno, Calif. - Bobby Davis finished with his third double-double of the season, but Fresno State made a decisive run coming out of halftime and used its three-point shooting to distance itself from USC Upstate as the Bulldogs took a 72-47 victory over the Spartans Saturday night in the Save Mart Center in both team's second game of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.
Upstate fell to 0-9 on the year with the loss. The Spartans make the trip to Las Vegas for the final two games of the Las Vegas Classic. Upstate will face 0-10 Southern Monday at 12:00 p.m. Pacific. Fresno State improved to 6-5 on the year.
"We've pretty much been on the road all year and it has taken its toll," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "We've faced adversity the last four days with bad weather, flight delays, lost baggage and missing bags and we didn't respond. We didn't handle the adversity and we kind of caved into it. This was our worst performance of the year.
"It's an accumulation of time and our team is very fragile. We are going to have to do our best to try and regroup."
The adversity the team has faced since leaving St. Louis included having a flight cancelled in Seattle on the way to Oakland. The cancellation caused the team's bags to be delayed getting to the travelling party with some of the players not getting their bags until earlier Saturday and some of the coaches and staff still missing bags.
Upstate dug itself a hole early by connecting on just three of its first 18 shots in the game and committing six turnovers in the first 12 minutes of play as Fresno State opened a 22-8 lead. Early on, Upstate was able to withstand its cold shooting from the floor as Fresno missed shots, often from right at the rim. However, the Bulldogs hit their stride midway through the half and built the 14-point advantage.
After the under-eight media timeout and with Fresno State leading by 14, Upstate rattled off seven straight points to get within seven, 22-15, with 5:45 to play before halftime. The spurt energized the Spartans and set the tone for the rest of the half. After missing 15 of its first 18 shots in the game, Upstate closed out the half 8-of-14 to spark the comeback.
Bobby Davis' fastbreak layup at the 2:22 mark brought Upstate within one, 26-25. Despite making just one basket the rest of the half, the Spartans went into the intermission down just four, 31-27.
Davis was solid in the half to lead Upstate even after picking up two fouls in the first five minutes of the game. He finished the half with eight points and five rebounds to lead the way for the Spartans. Josh Chavis hit a pair of three-pointers to help the Upstate cause as well.
Upstate finished the half shooting 34.4 percent. The Spartans did grab nine offensive rebounds in the half, accounting for an 11-0 margin in second-chance points over Fresno State. After Fresno State caught fire midway through the half, Upstate's defense clamped down and held the Bulldog offense to 39.9 percent from the field for the half. Dwight O'Neil paced the Fresno State attack with 11 points in the first half.
Just as in the first half, Upstate did not shoot the ball consistently enough to open the half and Fresno State capitalized. Unlike the first half, though, Upstate was unable to make a run and Fresno State maintained its consistency from the floor, hitting over 50 percent from the field for most of the half to spell the difference in the game.
Fresno State opened the second half by outscoring Upstate 10-1 to open a 41-28 lead. The Bulldogs connected on three three-pointers in the opening four minutes and after Brian Seals tipped in his own miss, Fresno State held a 46-30 lead.
Upstate could not counter Fresno State's tempo early in the second half. When Seals scored a layup after a Spartan turnover, the Bulldogs built a 53-32 lead with 14:26 to play. Upstate scored the next six points to cut the Bulldog lead to 16. The Spartans managed to cut the lead to 16 after Gabor Boros' three-pointer with 9:57 to play in the game, and despite Upstate battling until the end, Fresno State's lead was never threatened the rest of the way.
Upstate shot 24.2 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game at just over 29 percent from the field. The Spartans connected on 6-of-24 shots from behind the three-point arc. Fresno State finished the second half shooting 45.8 percent from the field and was 43.9 percent from the floor for the game. The Bulldogs connected on 11-of-24 from behind the arc.
Davis led the way for Upstate, finishing with his third double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Boros added nine points on three three-pointers. Chalmers Rogers added a career-high six points off the bench for the Spartans.
Paul George led Fresno State with a double-double as well, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Nedeljko Golubovic, Sylvester Seay and O'Neil each finished with 13 points for the Bulldogs.
