FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fresno State men's basketball team delivered a strong showing on the road in Big XII country, but the Bulldogs couldn't find enough answers in a 77-69 loss to a potent No. 21-ranked TCU Horned Frog squad, who will also contend for a NCAA Tournament bid in March.
Fresno State (1-1) was led by senior guard Braxton Huggins, who had a team-high 18 points, and junior guard New Williams, who finished with 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
Deshon Taylor added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who also got eight points and six rebounds off the bench from Nate Grimes and eight assists by Noah Blackwell.
TCU (3-0) remained undefeated by relying on its starting five for all but two of its 77 points. Desmond Bane scored a game-high 23 points and Kevin Samuel (14 points/10 rebounds) and Alex Robinson (13 points/14 assists) each had double-doubles for the Horned Frogs.
How it happened: Fresno State and TCU played a tight opening half, which included three different leads for the Bulldogs. Huggins drained a long jumper at the buzzer before halftime to give the 'Dogs a 31-29 lead over the Horned Frogs at the break.
In the second half, TCU started taking and making better shots and plays at critical times. The Horned Frogs turned their two-point halftime deficit into a 12-point advantage in less than seven minutes. The Bulldogs dialed up their defensive pressure and pulled back within two possessions at 71-65 with 2:08 to go.
TCU continued to attack the paint and closed out the single-digit win by converting key free throws.
Fresno State kept the rebounding battle fairly even, as were many of the stat lines aside from TCU's efficient 51.7 field goal shooting clip, 10 blocks by the Horned Frogs and the Bulldogs' bench outscoring the TCU reserves 31-2.
Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins (18 points, 7-for-14 shooting, three 3-pointers)
Recorded his second straight game with at least 18 points ... also had at least seven field goals and three 3-pointers in both of his games this season ... had one of three Fresno State blocks in the game.
New Williams (17 points, 6-for-10 shooting, five 3-pointers)
Recorded a career-high 17 points ... also had career-highs in made field goals (6) and 3-pointers (5) ... has recorded at least four rebounds and three steals in each of the Bulldogs' games this season ... had one of three Fresno State blocks in the game.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On New Williams and Braxton Huggins...
"New and Braxton shot the ball well. If we can gets some post touches and keep sharing it, I'm confident those guys can make shots when they shoot good ones."
On the Bulldogs' improvement rebounding...
"We worked a lot on rebounding and boxing out and that translated a little better. We missed a couple in crucial points and it had a lot to do with TCU's size and athletic ability, but we have to get better and finish possessions."
On the Bulldogs' defense and playing on the road against a ranked opponent...
"We did not play as well defensively as we needed to in the second half, and a lot of that had to do with TCU and being on the road, but we definitely have to get better. The first half we held them to 35 percent, but they shot 66 percent from the field in the second half and we're not going to win any games on the road playing like that."
New Williams, Fresno State junior guard
"It was a learning experience for us and we're going to get better from it. We played some pretty good defense in the first half and we needed to pick it up on offense and then in the second half we needed to pick it up on defense. We've got to play 40 minutes and we have to play hard the entire way through. I believe we're a really good offensive team and when we're locked in, that we're a really hard team to guard. "
Up Next: Fresno State will face Northwestern on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22) at 1:30 p.m. PT in the opening round of the 2018 Wooden Legacy, which will be held in Fullerton, Calif. The contest will be broadcast on ESPNU and 940 AM ESPN Radio.
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