Fresno State Defeated by Texas Tech

It was a bad omen for Fresno State when the Bulldogs were named the visiting team against Texas Tech in the first round of the Holiday Bowl basketball tournament Sunday.

Texas Tech defeated Fresno State, 58-55, to hand the Bulldogs their 21st straight loss away from home. Fifteen of the losses have been on opponents’ courts and six have been at neutral sites.

After Texas Tech guard Todd Duncan missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds to play, Fresno State had the ball trailing by just one point. After a Fresno State timeout, Bulldog guard Kevin Stevenson’s pass was stolen by Sean Gay with seven seconds to play. Gay passed to Jerry Mason, whose breakaway dunk gave Texas Tech the three-point victory.

Duncan led Texas Tech (4-4) with 13 points. Gay had 12 and Steve Miles added 10. Center Derrick Barden led Fresno State (3-5) with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and forward Mike Mitchell had 12 points.

Texas Tech outshot Fresno State 53% to 34%, but Fresno State was 19 for 23 from the free throw line, and Texas Tech was 1 for 3.

“We hung in there and our guys played hard, but we were pretty fortunate,” said Gerald Myers, Texas Tech coach.