Bryan Cole / The Collegian

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Wednesday, January 28, at 7 p.m., Save Mart Center

Fresno State Bulldogs (8-12, 1-5 WAC) vs. Houston Baptist Huskies (2-18, Independent)

Breakdown: Bulldogs

Coming off a disappointing loss last Saturday to San Jose State, the Bulldogs’ matchup with the Houston Baptist Huskies might have come at just the right time.

Fresno State’s loss to the Spartans dropped its conference record to 1-5 and left the Bulldogs with little confidence for the remaining WAC schedule.

But the Huskies come into Save Mart Center with an disastrous 2-18 record and have yet to win a game on the road.

While the Bulldogs should not schedule teams with the intent of a guaranteed victory, Fresno State should take any win it can get at this point.

Look for the Bulldogs to try and outrun the short bench of the Huskies and hopefully get the team back into a scoring and defensive rhythm.

Forward Paul George has been consistently strong this season, but expect a breakout performance from the freshman that exploits the Huskies’ weaknesses.

If George can play both ends of the court for Fresno State and keep the boards lean, expect the ’Dogs to get a much-needed victory and some confidence back.

Breakdown: Huskies

The Houston Baptist Huskies are coming off a 26-point loss to Santa Clara, and losing is something the Huskies have come accustomed to this season.

Houston Baptist enters the game against the Bulldogs with a record of 2-18, and has yet to win back-to-back games in its short basketball program’s existence.

In order for Houston Baptist to pick up a win on the road, they will have to do something different than what it’s done all season.

The Huskies are winless on the road this year (0-11), and get dominated in almost every statistical category.

Houston Baptist gets outshot on average each game by nearly 10 percent, out-rebounded by nine, and out-assisted by seven by its opponents.

While the Huskies average 8.5 three-point field goals made a game, they still manage to get outscored by an average of 16.

The main weapon for Houston Baptist is forward Gordan Watt who leads the team in scoring (17.6) and rebounding (8.6).

If Watt fails to score around 30 points, it is highly unlikely the Huskies have a chance to win. Watt might be the only Husky that will score more than 10 on the Bulldogs.

Keys to Victory

The Bulldogs win if …
Freshman forward Paul George can play strong defense and keep Gordon Watt off the boards, while scoring 15 points of his own.

The Huskies win if …
their combo of Gordon Watt and Baron Sauls can ignite the offense and combine for 50 points.

Player to watch:
Paul George, Forward

By Logan Hopkins and George Stepanoff Jr. / The Collegian