Fresno State vs Utah State men’s basketball game postponed

The Fresno State Bulldogs men’s basketball team’s game against the Utah State Aggies will not be played tonight. The Mountain West announced hours before tip-off that health and safety concerns will prevent the game from being played. The matchup has been declared postponed with the intent to be made up before the conference tournament. 

According to sources, Fresno State is in position to move forward with practices and is on track to play its next series. The Bulldogs will travel to Air Force for a pair of games on Thursday and Saturday. 

A release from the Mountain West said, “Due to health and safety concerns, the men’s basketball game between Utah State and Fresno State scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 6 has been postponed. Further updates and schedule adjustments by the Mountain West will be announced at a later date.”

Fresno State has had three previous COVID-19 related stoppages, causing the team to quarantine for about 42 combined days during the preseason and non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs missed out on all five non-conference games against Division-I competition that were canceled. 

The Bulldogs have not had any health issues since Mountain West Conference play has started, however. Saturday’s game versus Utah State is the second conference game to be postponed. In a two-game series at Boise State, the second game was postponed due to issues with the Broncos – which turned out to be a false positive.

The Bulldogs’ second postponement comes in very similar fashion to the first. Both Boise State and Utah State stand at the top of the conference standings. In the first game of the two-game series against both, Fresno State played competitively in the first half before ultimately falling by double digits. The ‘Dogs expressed an eagerness on both occasions to get back on the court for the second game in an attempt to play competitively for a full 40 minutes rather than 20 or 30, but will again not get the opportunity. Saturday’s game was also set for national television on FS1. 

Fresno State fell 69-53 to Utah State on Thursday. Head Coach Justin Hutson said, “Fresno State Head Coach Justin Hutson said, “We aren’t just trying to stay with the good teams, I appreciate the recognition we can play with the best teams for a certain amount of time, but we are just inconsistent with what we are doing. 

“It is not all on us, but those good teams when they step it up and they make good plays themselves also. We stepped up and made good plays, but we have to get rid of the ones where we shoot ourselves in the foot. If we are going to be able to beat good teams, we have to do things that deserve to beat good teams.”

Utah State stands at first in the conference standings at 11-2, followed by Boise State at 10-2 and Colorado State at 10-3. The Bulldogs stand at sixth with a conference record of 5-7. The Bulldogs are 5-1 against opponents in the bottom half of the standings and 0-6 against the top-half teams. 

Only three series remain for Fresno State in the regular season. The Bulldogs next play at 6 p.m. PT at Air Force on Thursday and a noon PT tip-off on Saturday. The ‘Dogs will then have a home series versus San Diego State, a road series at UNLV, and will wait to see when their two postponed games will be rescheduled.