Fresno State on Saturday to close out the regular season

It's Fresno State coming to town on Saturday night for a matchup that will be important to the Bulldogs. Finishing in sixth place is at stake with the theory being the higher the finish the 'easier' the matchup come Mountain West Conference tourney time next week.

Also, the Tyler Johnson Brigade will be out in full red force as the former St. Francis High grad will be performing in front of family and friends for what will be for many viewers the last time to see him play college basketball.

After starting MWC play with a a miserable 1-7 record, the Bulldogs have fashioned a 7-2 slate since thus amplifying the reality that tangible improvement can be made over the course of the schedule.

Our February 8 game report on these two teams:

Fresno State wasted no time in putting a hurt on the Spartans and ended up leading 50-29 after the initial 20 minutes. The final score was 82-56. For FSU, former St. Francis High guard Tyler Johnson went for 15 points, 10 rebounds and a quartet of assists. Fellow backcourter Cezar Guerrero, who entered the matchup averaging 13.8 points on 41% and 37% shooting finished with 23, going 8-13 overall and 5-9 from beyond the arc.

In what is now becoming a bit of a broken record, the Bulldogs shot 49% for the game, the Spartans 30%.

Our game preview of that matchup:

It's Fresno State on Saturday afternoon (remember when this was THE rivalry?) down in the San Joaquin.

The Bulldogs are 10-13 overall, 3-7 in conference play and, to some unmeasurable degree, that record can laid at the missing bodies of Robert Upshaw and Braden Anderson.

No, there isn't anything macabre about the preceding sentence so let's explain.

The former is now on the roster at Washington after a tumultuous freshman season of suspensions and his 6-foot-10, 240 frame is missed. His late departure didn't allow time for a replacement recruit. The 6-foot-9 Anderson suffered season-missing injuries in an auto accident early this school year so Coach Rodney Terry has been forced to play small ball.

Senior guard Tyler Johnson stands just 6-foot-4 but he is not only the leader scorer for Fresno State (15.9) but tops in rebounding too (7.2). Also second in assists as he has staked out a mighty impressive claim for all-conference honors.

Another backcourter, 6-foot-4 sophomore Marvelle Harris is playing the Avis role -- second in scoring (14.6) and boardplay (5.3) but he is rather streaky. When on, he's near unstoppable but he still endures periods of disappearances.

A third guard, 5-foot-11 sophomore Cezar Guerrero checks in third in scoring (13.8) plus is the team assist leader with 95. 6-foot-7 freshman wing Paul Watson boasts of 10.1 points plus 4.8 boards per game.

The nominal big for the the Bulldogs is 6-foot-9, 205 junior Alex Davis and he provides 5.5 points plus 4.4 rebounds an outing but leads in blocked shots with 36...

...This certainly is a matchup-able team for the Spartans but also one that possesses a greater degree of experience. It will be tough to win if Fresno State is allowed to get into a flow so San Jose State University's singular goal is not to allow any point runs and make the Bulldogs have to grind it out. Such is the best chance for success.