# 2018–19 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball team represented California State University, Fresno in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by first-year head coach Justin Hutson and played their home games at the Save Mart Center as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 23–9, 13–5 in Mountain West play to finish in third place. They defeated Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament before losing in the semifinals to Utah State. Despite having 23 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the season 21–11, 11–7 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament to San Diego State. Despite having 21 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.
On March 12, 2018, head coach Rodney Terry left Fresno State to become head coach at UTEP. He finished at Fresno State with a seven-year record of 126–108. On April 5, it was announced that the school had hired San Diego State assistant coach Justin Hutson as head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jaron Hopkins | 1 | G | 6'6" | 210 | RS Senior | Mesa, AZ | Graduated |
| Jahmel Taylor | 5 | G | 6'0" | 175 | RS Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Bryson Williams | 11 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Sophomore | Fresno, CA | Transferred to UTEP |
| Gilles Dekonick | 15 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Freshman | Diest, Belgium | Walk-on; transferred to UTEP |
| Ray Bowles Jr. | 22 | G | 6'5" | 205 | RS Senior | Modesto, CA | Graduated |
| Terrell Carter II | 34 | C | 6'10" | 290 | Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous college |
| Chris Seeley | 1 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Junior | Fresno, CA | Transferred from Utah. Under NCAA transfer rules, Seeley will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Christian Gray | 11 | F | 6'6" | 221 | Sophomore | San Bernardino, CA | Junior college transferred from Salt Lake CC |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Assane Diouf #43 C | Denver, CO | East High School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Apr 23, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Aguir Agau SG | Los Angeles, CA | Middlebrooks Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 11, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Fresno State Commit List for 2018". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 3, 2018. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 3, 2018. "ESPN – Fresno State Bulldogs Basketball Recruiting 2018". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 3, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 3, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 3, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 2, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Humboldt State | W 78–50 | | 15 – Williams | 7 – Tied | 3 – Gray | Save Mart Center (4,795) Fresno, CA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Alaska Anchorange | W 91–63 | 1–0 | 23 – Huggins | 8 – Gray | 6 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (4,614) Fresno, CA |
| Nov 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, FSSW | | at No. 21 TCU | L 69–77 | 1–1 | 18 – Huggins | 7 – Bittner | 8 – Blackwell | Schollmaier Arena (6,315) Fort Worth, TX |
| Nov 22, 2018* 1:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Northwestern Wooden Legacy quarterfinals | W 78–59 | 2–1 | 17 – Huggins | 9 – Grimes | 5 – Taylor | Titan Gym Fullerton, CA |
| Nov 23, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPN2 | | vs. Miami (FL) Wooden Legacy semifinals | L 76–78 | 2–2 | 28 – Huggins | 15 – Grimes | 6 – Bittner | Titan Gym Fullerton, CA |
| Nov 25, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Hawaii Wooden Legacy 3rd place game | W 79–64 | 3–2 | 20 – Taylor | 7 – Grimes | 5 – Taylor | Titan Gym Fullerton, CA |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Pacific | W 81–78 $^{OT}$ | 4–2 | 22 – Taylor | 9 – Rojas | 7 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (5,494) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 1, 2018* 4:00 pm | | Cal Poly | W 76–67 | 5–2 | 32 – Taylor | 7 – Bittner | 6 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (4,724) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Weber State | W 71–52 | 6–2 | 17 – Huggins | 8 – Taylor | 5 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (4,597) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 8, 2018* 4:00 pm | | Long Beach State | W 92–71 | 7–2 | 22 – Blackwell | 14 – Grimes | 6 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (5,945) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | California | W 95–73 | 8–2 | 19 – Williams | 7 – Blackwell | 9 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (5,836) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 22, 2018* 4:00 pm | | UT Martin | W 93–53 | 9–2 | 20 – Huggins | 7 – Williams | 8 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (4,988) Fresno, CA |
| Dec 29, 2018* 4:00 pm | | Utah Valley | L 60–64 | 9–3 | 19 – Huggins | 13 – Grimes | 5 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (5,217) Fresno, CA |
| Mountain West regular season |||||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 73–53 | 10–3 (1–0) | 19 – Grimes | 12 – Grimes | 6 – Blackwell | Event Center Arena (1,886) San Jose, CA |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Colorado State | W 78–67 | 11–3 (2–0) | 21 – Taylor | 10 – Grimes | 7 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (5,481) Fresno, CA |
| Jan 9, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Utah State | W 78–77 | 12–3 (3–0) | 33 – Huggins | 8 – Grimes | 6 – Blackwell | Smith Spectrum (6,379) Logan, UT |
| Jan 12, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 10 Nevada | L 64–74 | 12–4 (3–1) | 25 – Huggins | 11 – Grimes | 5 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (9,586) Fresno, CA |
| Jan 19, 2019 2:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Boise State | W 63–53 | 13–4 (4–1) | 15 – Taylor | 8 – Grimes | 4 – Taylor | Taco Bell Arena (6,437) Boise, ID |
| Jan 22, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | San Diego State | W 66–62 | 14–4 (5–1) | 20 – Huggins | 16 – Grimes | 5 – Huggins | Save Mart Center (5,792) Fresno, CA |
| Jan 26, 2019 1:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State | L 65–74 | 14–5 (5–2) | 24 – Taylor | 12 – Grimes | 7 – Taylor | Moby Arena (2,877) Fort Collins, CO |
| Jan 30, 2019 6:00 pm | | at Wyoming | W 75–62 | 15–5 (6–2) | 24 – Williams | 6 – Bittner | 3 – Blackwell | Arena-Auditorium (3,606) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | New Mexico | W 82–70 | 16–5 (7–2) | 22 – Huggins | 19 – Grimes | 4 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (7,657) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 5, 2019 7:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | Utah State | L 81–82 | 16–6 (7–3) | 26 – Huggins | 6 – Huggins | 4 – Blackwell | Save Mart Center (5,091) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 9, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNLV | W 83–65 | 17–6 (8–3) | 31 – Huggins | 11 – Grimes | 3 – Taylor | Thomas & Mack Center (8,324) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | Boise State | W 65–63 | 18–6 (9–3) | 26 – Huggins | 15 – Grimes | 3 – Huggins | Save Mart Center (5,548) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 16, 2019 4:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at New Mexico | W 81–73 | 19–6 (10–3) | 26 – Taylor | 6 – Bittner | 5 – Taylor | Dreamstyle Arena (12,494) Albuquerque, NM |
| Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Air Force | L 61–64 | 19–7 (10–4) | 23 – Taylor | 9 – Grimes | 5 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (5,190) Fresno, CA |
| Feb 23, 2019 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 6 Nevada | L 68–74 | 19–8 (10–5) | 30 – Taylor | 11 – Grimes | 8 – Taylor | Lawlor Events Center (11,019) Reno, NV |
| Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm | | Wyoming | W 71–60 | 20–8 (11–5) | 30 – Huggins | 14 – Grimes | 5 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (5,339) Fresno, CA |
| Mar 6, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | W 76–74 | 21–8 (12–5) | 25 – Taylor | 7 – Gray | 5 – Taylor | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| Mar 9, 2019 4:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 121–81 | 22–8 (13–5) | 37 – Taylor | 12 – Grimes | 8 – Taylor | Save Mart Center (7,615) Fresno, CA |
| Mountain West tournament |||||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (6) Air Force Quarterfinals | W 76–50 | 23–8 | 18 – Taylor | 8 – Williams | 10 – Taylor | Thomas & Mack Center (7,518) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 15, 2019 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (2) Utah State Semifinals | L 60–85 | 23–9 | 21 – Grimes | 6 – Grimes | 5 – Taylor | Thomas & Mack Center (8,764) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||