FS Men's Basketball falls in OT to No. 22 Utah State

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- After a 32-point loss at home to No. 19 San Diego State on Saturday, Fresno State men's basketball found out they'd be shorthanded against No. 22 Utah State Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center.

With both Enoch Boakye and Eduardo Andre out with injuries, the Bulldogs fought until the end without a center in the lineup before falling 77-73 to the Aggies in overtime.

The Bulldog defense forced a shot-clock violation with 1:20 left in regulation and missed two shots, but each time got the offensive rebound before Senior Leo Colimerio was fouled and hit two free throws that gave Fresno State a 63-59 lead with 52 seconds left.

With two seconds left in regulation, Utah State's Darius Brown II hit an unlikely bank shot three-pointer to tie the game 65-65 and send the Mountain West foes into OT.

Tied 73-73 in OT, Brown II once again answered the call by hitting another three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining to pull ahead 76-73.

Bulldog point guard Isaiah Hill scored 21 points before fouling out in the opening minute of OT, and Xavier Dusell added 16 points. Leo Colimerio and Isaiah Pope each scored 15.

After the game, Fresno State Head Coach Justin Hutson was asked why the Bulldogs did not foul Darius Brown II before his last-second game-tying shot in regulation.

"We called them over to the side and said on the second dribble, go foul him, make sure you don't foul him in the act of shooting," Hutson said. "Didn't get it done."

Hutson was also asked about the lack of depth with so many injuries plaguing the team.

"We had 5-6 guys out there for the majority of the game against the 22-ranked team in the country, and we're asking why we gave up a bank shot at the buzzer when we told them to foul," Hutson said. "There were a lot of positive things that happened during that, so we look at that and say, hey look, it's basketball, stuff happens."

Hutson reiterated that despite the heartbreaking loss, his message to the team remains the same.

"We will focus on a lot of the good things we did," Hutson said. "We don't want to beat a dead horse. We want to focus on the positives here in March."

Bulldog Senior Leo Colimerio also spoke to the media after the game.

"We finally came together, fought hard together," Colimerio said. "I feel like we should've been doing that for a long time. We showed we can play with anybody."

Fresno State (11-17, 4-11 MW) heads back on the road to play Nevada on Friday.

The Wolf Pack are receiving votes to be ranked.

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