Bulldogs’ Bell takes toll on UI
FRESNO, Calif. – Kevin Bell scored 14 points Thursday night to lead Fresno State past Idaho 60-41 in both teams’ Western Athletic Conference basketball opener.
Hector Hernandez added 11 points and Quinton Hosley had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who limited the Vandals to 26.3 percent shooting. Keoni Watson scored a game-high 17 points for Idaho (2-11, 0-1 WAC), and Darin Nagle had 15 rebounds.
Fresno State (12-2, 1-0) opened the second half with a 14-3 scoring run, keyed by six straight points by Bell and five by Hosley.
Ja’Vance Coleman’s fall-away 3-pointer with 11:36 left put Fresno State ahead 48-28, and the Bulldogs never looked back.
“We got the ball next to the basket I don’t know how many times and came away empty,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “We also went 3 for 21 from the arc and that isn’t going to help our cause any. And finally, we are 8 for 19 from the free-throw line. We’re missing the front end of one-and-one opportunities and if we make a decent percentage of those maybe we are in the single-digit area.”
Dominic McGuire had six points and seven blocked shots, giving the 6-foot-8 junior 17 blocks in Fresno State’s last two games. McGuire entered the game averaging 3.38 blocks per game, tops in the WAC.
Idaho struggled to find any rhythm on offense, shooting 21.9 percent in the second half and making just 3 of 21 3-pointers. Nagle, the Vandals’ 6-10 center, went 0 for 9 from the field. David Jackson had 10 points for Idaho. Watson and Jackson were the only Vandals with multiple field goals.
Fresno State led 29-21 following a sluggish first half highlighted by poor shooting and extended scoring droughts. Hernandez’s 3-pointer with 2 seconds left capped a 7-0 Bulldogs scoring run to close the half.
Fresno State led 20-13 following an 8-0 run but then went 5:35 without scoring. Idaho went 6:26 without scoring until Watson hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second coming with 3:08 left.