Dogs looking for a win vs. SJSU

Time to get back on track E Miller, five 3s at minimum!

The Fresno State Bulldogs return home Saturday night to take on rival San Jose State, the game will begin a home stand that will have 4 of the next 5 WAC games being played at the Save Mart Center. In the first meeting of the 2 teams this season the Spartans edged the Dogs in San Jose 69-65.

The Bulldogs football team will be honored at halftime with both players and coaches will be in attendance to be recognized for the 9-4 campaign that was capped off with a Humanitarian Bowl victory over Georgia Tech.

In the first meeting between the two teams SJSU was lead by Jamon Hill and his career high 14 points. The Spartans were able to keep the Dogs behind throughout the second half and the Dogs were not able to hit from three point range finishing 5-27.

The Spartans will also be without the services of guard Justin Graham for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.

The Spartans coming in:

The Spartans enter with a 9-9 record (2-4 conference) which is already 4 more wins than they were able to amass last season. Last outing the Spartans were beat in Moscow by Idaho 74-63. Idaho guard Mike Hall set a school record by making 9 three pointers. After SJSU was able to cut the lead to 4, Hall was able to knock out the Spartans by sinking back to back threes.

SJSU Players to watch for:

-Dashawn Wright (10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 43.8% 3pt)
-Tim Pierce (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 79.4% fts
-CJ Webster (10.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 47.6% fgs)
-Chris Oakes (9.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 54.4% fgs)

The Bulldogs coming in:

Fresno State enters after back to back losses on the road, the last being a 75-62 loss to Hawaii in Honolulu. Kevin Bell led the way with 21 points and 5 assists, and Ned Golubovic had a career high 13 points and added 5 rebounds. It was another very tough shooting night for Eddie Miller, he finished 0-5 from three. For the Dogs to get back in the win column they will need Eddie Miller to get back to his normal.

The starters will be forced to log big minutes the rest of the season, its how they can handle that adversity that will make the difference in the duration of the season. Can the Dogs find any consistency on the defensive end out of their post players? The Spartans were able to score many easy buckets around the rim in the first meeting which has to be minimized this time around.

The best thing the Dogs have going for them is the homecourt which is undoubtedly worth 10-12 points a game as has been the case over the first half of last season and the duration of this season.

MBs take:

Dogs win, they are at home.

Highlight of the night=announcing the football team at halftime. Only 7 months till UCLA