LAS VEGAS – For the second time in the last three years, Fresno State saw its season come to an end in the first round of the Mountain West Championships, falling 86-71 to Nevada on Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Wolf Pack controlled the game on the glass with a 42-33 rebounding advantage which resulted in +11 differential in second-chance points.
Four Bulldogs were in double figures, led by a season-high 17 from Elijah Price. The redshirt freshman also registered his 11th double-double of the season, grabbing 11 points. The Wolf Pack also had four in double digits, paced by Kobe Sanders who had 17.
How It Happened
After Alex Crawford got the Bulldogs on the board first, six straight missed attempts turned into an 8-0 run for Nevada heading into the opening media timeout. That run was extended to 12 out of the break until Elijah Price got inside to break Fresno State's five-plus minute scoring drought.
Following Chuck Bailey III's third triple in less than two minutes, which gave Nevada a 28-7 lead, Brian Amuneke answered back with two of his own. The freshman got the offense going as buckets from his teammates on consecutive trips brought the deficit down to 14 with 5:32 on the clock.
With less than four to go in the half, a reverse layup from Amuneke rolled into a 3-pointer on the right wing from Jasir Tremble. Another stop and Zaon Collins got to the line to bump the Bulldogs' run up to seven unanswered, trimming their deficit to 36-27.
Xavier DuSell stopped the run with a 3-ball. Following one for Alex Crawford a minute later, Nevada got a pair at the line in the final seconds. Fresno State trailed 44-32 at half.
A near three-minute drought early in the second saw Nevada score on three straight possessions to extend its advantage to 55-36 with 15:15 on the clock. Back-to-back buckets for the 'Dogs brought them back within 14, but Price was then whistled for his fourth foul, sending the Bulldogs' best inside presence to the bench.
Fresno State was able to trim it to 13 following a corner 3 from Tremble with 12:37 to go but the Wolf Pack grew its lead back to 18 three minutes later.
The Bulldogs drew only as close as 14 the rest of the way.
Notes
Fresno State dropped to 4-3 all-time in first round games at the Mountain West tournament.
Fresno State dropped its second first round game since 2020.
The Bulldogs moved to 0-2 against Nevada in the Mountain West tournament.
The 15-point defeat was Fresno State's largest in the tournament since an 85-60 semifinal loss to Utah State on March 15, 2019.
Elijah Price recorded a season-high 17 points, posting his 18th double figure scoring game of the year.
With 11 rebounds, Price collected his 11th double-double of the season.
Brian Amuneke posted his ninth double-digit scoring game in his last 14 appearances, and 10th total, with 16 points.
Amuneke dropped in three 3-pointers for the fourth time in the last five games.
Zaon Collins reached double figures in the scoring column for the fourth straight game with 15 points to go with a team-high eight assists.