CSUB running on empty after loss to Fresno State
| Monday, Feb 07 2011 10:29 PM
Last Updated Monday, Feb 07 2011 10:30 PM
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Bakersfield's Stephon Carter, center gets trapped between Fresno State players Tim Steed, left, and John Ryan in the first half of their game with Fresno State at the Save Mart Center in Fresno Monday, February 7, 2011.
The woes continue for Cal State Bakersfield, and Monday night was arguably the most frustrating game of the season for the Roadrunners.
Fresno State raced to a 9-1 lead before the game was four minutes old and pulled away from there in a 79-49 rout of CSUB at Save Mart Center.
A fastbreak dunk by Fresno's Tyler Johnson with 7:48 left in the first half put the Bulldogs ahead 24-13, and Fresno State maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game.
"It's definitely frustrating," said senior guard Donavan Bragg after Bakersfield (9-14) lost for the 10th time in 11 games since Christmas. "The last eight games we're not doing enough and we're getting beat in transition."
"There's nothing you can say," said sophomore guard Stephon Carter, who continued to struggle with his shoooting. Carter had 11 points, but was only 3-of-13 from the field and had five turnovers. He is 10-of-52 in his last four games. "You've just got to compete in the game you love. You can't dwell on the losses."
CSUB had a season-low 14 field goals, shot a season-low 24.6 percent from the field (14-of-57) and suffered its third-worst loss in points differential, behind only the 102-62 loss at New Mexico and the 79-46 loss at UOP in successive games in early January. It was Bakersfield's second-lowest point total this season.
The Roadrunners didn't hit their third field goal of the game until Cory Brown's layup with 5:20 left in the first half. CSUB hit only two of its first 16 shots.
At halftime it was 43-28. At that point, CSUB was outrebounded 28-9 and Fresno State had 16 fastbreak points to the Roadrunners?226-130? two.
Fresno (11-12) finished with a season-best 52 rebounds.
"Their length in multiple positions shows up in a game like this," CSUB coach Keith Brown said. "We've got to fight through this and it's not an easy thing. There's no question there's a psychological point to this."
CSUB had a second-half rally that pulled it within 13 points when Carter sank a layup with 11:54 left. The Bulldogs had four straight turnovers in that stretch, and Brown called it a potentially pivotal point of the game.
"We had a big possession -- we were down 13 and had the ball," he said. "We ended up with a turnover and it went downhill from there."
Poor shot selection contributed to CSUB's low shooting percentage, but once the misses piled up, the Roadrunners couldn't even hit their open shots with any consistency.
"We know we're a better shooting team than we showed tonight," Brown said.
During this multiple-game rut, Brown said the opportunities are there. "We're getting good possessions. We're getting open shots. We're just not getting points. And then we have those possessions where we don't get a good shot. Our guys are pressing. ... Right now we've got to grind it out."
Alex Johnson had 12 points to lead CSUB. Nedeljko Golubovic had 14 points to lead a balanced Fresno attack. Fresno's 6-foot-10 sophomore center Greg Smith had 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Carter added four steals and six assists to his 11 points for CSUB.
The Roadrunners get a rematch with Fresno State a week from Wednesday in Rabobank Arena. CSUB officials say 2,000 tickets have already been sold for that game, which would ensure it as the highest attendance of any home game this season.
"We're going to have a big crowd and hopefully that'll help the guys bounce back," Brown said.
