Fresno State (4-0) and Santa Clara (5-0) meet late on Wednesday night for the 2021 Venue Twin SoCal Challenge championship.
Game 5: Fresno State (4-0) vs. Santa Clara (5-0)
Nov. 24, 2021 • 10 p.m. PT • San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (The Pavilion at JSerra)
TV: CBS Sports Network (Alex Del Barrio, Tim Doyle, Erica Weston)
RADIO: Bulldog Sports Network (BSN) Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM (Fresno-Visalia) and Fox Sports Radio 870 AM (Bakersfield) and the iHeartRadio App (Paul Loeffler & Marc Q. Jones)
SERIES HISTORY: Fresno State trails 19-9 (overall) • Second Neutral Site Meeting
LAST MEETING: Santa Clara 74, Fresno State 67 [11/28/09 • Santa Clara, CA]
NEXT UP: at California (11/28); vs. San Diego (12/1); vs. CSUN (12/4)
ON THE HARDWOOD
Fresno State returns 90.2 percent of its scoring and 89.3 percent of its minutes played from last season.
Fresno State is one of 18 schools nationally to return at least 90 percent of its scoring from last season.
Fresno State forward Orlando Robinson (19.0 ppg/9.8 rpg) is one of four Bulldogs averaging at least nine points per game this season [Isaiah Hill (12.5 ppg), Jordan Campbell (10.8 ppg) & [Deon Stroud (9.0 ppg)].
OPENING TIP
The Fresno State men's basketball team will face the Santa Clara Broncos on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. PT at The Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, Calif in the championship game of the 2021 Venue Twin Southern California Challenge.
The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network (television) and the Bulldog Sports Network (radio).
Fresno State trails the all-time series with Santa Clara 19-9 (second neutral site meeting in series).
This will be the first game between the programs since a 2009 meeting in Santa Clara.
2021 VENUE TWIN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHALLENGE
In the first two games of the 2021 Venue Twin SoCal Challenge, Robinson is averaging 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 15-for-27 shooting (55.6 percent).
Robinson scored a game-high 27 points with 10 rebounds in the Bulldogs' 69-62 win over Idaho on Nov. 15.
Isaiah HIll tied a career-high with 19 points in the Bulldogs' 70-63 win over Pepperdine on Nov. 22.
Hill averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the first two games of the SoCal event.
Fresno State has a +10.5 rebounding margin in the SoCal Challenge (21 to 9 on the offensive glass).
TRENDING
Fresno State is 4-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2015-16 season when the Bulldogs opened 5-0, later won the 2016 MW Tournament and played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Fresno State's Orlando Robinson has scored in double figures in a career-best 13 consecutive games and the most by a Bulldog since Deshon Taylor did so in 2018.
Fresno State is 11-0 when Anthony Holland has scored at least eight points in that game.
Fresno State contending in the Mountain West
Since joining the Mountain West in 2012, Fresno State has won the 2016 conference tournament championship and finished as high as second in the regular season. The Bulldogs have finished no lower than seventh in league play in its first nine seasons in the Mountain West, which includes four top four finishes in the past six seasons. In those last six MW campaigns, the 'Dogs won an average of 10.8 MW contests per year -- twice going 13-5 against MW opponents, including Hutson's first season at Fresno State during the 2018-19 season. Fresno State averaged nearly 10 conference victories per season in Hutson's first three seaso