KEY PACK RUN

The Wolf Pack was clearly not ready to play this game on the third day of the new year. The Pack didn’t seem to have enough energy, desire, focus or consistency to put together a run that drastically changed the flow of this game. The Pack’s longest unanswered spurt (6-0) of excellence left them trailing 35-34 with 15:38 left in the game. The Wolf Pack’s biggest leads were 4-2 (16:33 in the first half) and 12-10 midway through the first half. They also had four one-point leads in the second half (two in the final 38 seconds) to steal the victory.

KEY PACK PLAYER

Tyler Rolison came off the bench to save his teammates from an embarrassing loss on the road. Rolison scored a team-high 16 points in his 24 minutes, including the game-winning layup with 10 seconds to play. Rolison had just two points in 11 first-half minutes but caught fire after the break by scoring 10 points in his first six-plus minutes in the second half to keep the Pack in the game. His final four points came on a layup to cut Fresno’s lead to 59-57 with 3:43 to play followed by his game-winner with 10 seconds left. The 6-foot junior from Los Angeles has finally rediscovered his offense the last two games, scoring 37 points combined against Colorado State (Dec. 30) and Fresno State in road wins after scoring just 50 points over his first 11 appearances this year.

KEY HIDDEN PACK PLAYER

Vaughn Weems, a 6-5 transfer from North Idaho College, played an efficient and timely game for the Pack. Weems finished with a season-high 13 points in his 26 minutes, scoring 10 points in the final 17 minutes. He had a pair of threes about 90 seconds apart to cut Fresno’s lead to 35-34 with 15:38 to go and then added two free throws with 2:42 to play and an offensive rebound and layup for a 64-63 lead with 38 seconds left. Weems, making just his fifth start (all since Dec. 7), was 3-of-6 on threes (the rest of the team was a combined 3-of-15) and also had six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. He is maybe the biggest reason why the Pack has now started its Mountain West season 3-0.

KEY RETURN

Corey Camper, playing in his first game since Dec. 2, returned to the floor with six points in 23 minutes off the bench. The 6-5 transfer (two years in junior college, two years at UTEP), who started his first nine games this year, was clearly rusty, missing five of seven shots from the floor and one-of-two free throws with a turnover. Camper, though, did hit a 3-pointer seven minutes into the game and had a steal and a dunk to tie the game 19-19 four minutes before halftime.

KEY PACK CONCERN

Tayshawn Comer was missing in action for the second game in a row. The 6-1 transfer from Evansville had just two points in 17 minutes against Fresno State, missing seven-of-8 shots. Comer, who averaged 21.3 points over three consecutive games against Washington State (Dec. 7), Duquesne (Dec. 13) and Boise State (Dec. 20), has scored just four points on 2-of-17 shooting combined in his last two games (39 combined minutes) against Colorado State and Fresno State. He’s also just 1-of-8 on threes over his last four games combined after going 4-of-6 beyond the arc in a 78-64 win over Washington State. He was 13-of-14 from the line against Boise State and has gone just 0-for-2 combined the last two games.

KEY SLOW START

The Wolf Pack suffered through its worst first-half offensive performance (21 points) of the year on Saturday. It is the Pack’s lowest first-half output since also scoring 21 in the first half of an 80-61 loss at San Diego State on March 8, 2025. The Pack missing 20-of-29 shots from the floor, nine-of-12 threes and never getting to the free throw line once in the first half. It was just the second time this year the Pack has scored fewer than 31 points in the opening 20 minutes (28 in an 83-66 loss in Palm Springs to Washington). The Pack found its shooting touch in the second half with 45 points (tied for the third most after the break this year), making 15-of-27 (56 percent) from the floor, 3-of-9 threes and 12-of-18 from the line.

KEY HIDDEN POINTS

Elijah Price was the only Pack player to score during a pivotal five-plus minute stretch when the game could have gotten away from the Pack. Price had a layup and a free throw for a 3-point play to cut Fresno’s lead to 49-48 with 8:18 to play and did it again to slice the Bulldogs lead to 54-53 with 5:35 left. He also had a free throw with 6:02 to go to pull the Pack to within 54-50. Price was the only Pack player to score (seven points) in between Jeriah Coleman’s jumper in the paint with 10:14 to go and Kaleb Lowery’s layup with 4:29 to go.

KEY FACTOR

The Wolf Pack had a decided 27-1 edge in bench points, led by Tyler Rolison’s 16 points. The Pack bench was 10-of-22 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line in 87 combined minutes. Fresno State, which had four starters play 32-plus minutes, only gave 37 minutes to its bench. The Bulldogs reserves were just 0-of-6 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the line.

KEY HIDDEN FACTOR

The Wolf Pack also had a 19-12 edge in points in turnovers (10-2 in the second half). The two turnovers that hurt Fresno State the most took place in the final six minutes of the game. Tyler Rolison’s steal from Fresno’s Zaon Collins with 5:46 to go eventually paid off in a layup and free throw by Elijah Price with 5:35 remaining to cut Fresno’s led to 53-53. Price then stole the ball from Jake Heidbreder with 2:14 left, leading to two free throws of his own 15 seconds later to tie the game 61-61 with 1:59 to play.

UP NEXT

The Wolf Pack (11-3, 3-0), which has now won seven games in a row, will host San Diego State (9-4, 3-0) on Tuesday night (8 p.m., Fox Sports 1) in a key early-season Mountain West matchup. San Diego State, winners of five in a row, won a 110-107 triple-overtime thriller over Boise State on Saturday at home to share the conference lead with Nevada and Utah State (12-1, 3-0).