SportsLine.com Report
March 16, 2000

Round 1: Shark's return ends with a whimper

After five years at Fresno State and four consecutive trips to the NIT, Jerry Tarkanian's return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991 didn't last long. A second-round matchup with Arizona and longtime rival Lute Olson wasn't to be, with the ninth-seeded Bulldogs falling 66-56 to No. 8 seed Wisconsin in Salt Lake City.

"It was great being back," Tarkanian said. "I just wished we were able to finish the game."

The Bulldogs built an early seven-point lead in the second half, but the offense came to a screeching halt down the stretch. Most of the bricks were laid by star guard Courtney Alexander, the nation's leading scorer, who hit just 5 of 19 shots and scored a mere 11 points -- well below his 25.3-point average.

"We had it going so well and then we just died," Tarkanian said. "Our kids were very tired."

That's because Tarkanian had just two bench players in his rotation. Even a pro-Fresno State crowd couldn't help down the stretch. Wisconsin went on a 26-2 run to turn a tight game into a 61-46 lead with 4:31 remaining. The Bulldogs would not pose a challenge after that.

"Our zone stopped moving. We just ran out of gas," Tarkanian said. "I took two timeouts to give them rest, but they just didn't have anything left."

How They Got There

Fresno State's uneven season didn't keep the Bulldogs from receiving an at-large bid from the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Considered a bubble team for most of the year, Fresno State finished a game behind Tulsa for the WAC regular-season title. The Bulldogs beat the Golden Hurricanes twice by a total of three points, but two losses to Southern Methodist and one to Texas-El Paso kept them from winning it all.

Starting Lineup

• PG Demetrius Porter (6-0, 170, Jr.): While he isn't considered one of the stars of the team, he is an important commodity just the same. He leads the WAC in assists, averaging 6.24 a game. He's also best in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 2.81.
• SG Courtney Alexander (6-6, 210, Sr.): The transfer from Virginia has proved to be Tarkanian's best player since taking over the Fresno State program five years ago. He leads the nation in scoring and has a penchant for taking over late in a close game.
• C Melvin Ely (6-9, 240, Jr.): The big man leads the WAC and is seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage at .613. He is also 12th in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 3.1 a game. The Bulldogs are 7-1 in games where he has a double-double.
• SF Terrance Roberson (6-7, 215, Sr.): Coming out of college, many believed Roberson was the best small forward in the country. While he hasn't lived up to that billing, Roberson is still critical to Fresno State's success. He needs only 135 points to become Fresno State's all-time leading scorer.
• PF Larry Abney (6-8, 220, Sr.): This is the double-double king of the league. He has managed double figures in rebounding and scoring a dozen times this season. He also had 35 rebounds in a loss to SMU, the most by any player in WAC history.

Keys to Success

Alexander is not only the WAC Player of the Year, he was also the nation's leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 25.6 points a game. He is the key to the Bulldogs' success.

"Courtney is the best all-around player I've ever coached," said Tarkanian, which is saying something when considering he has coached nine first-round NBA Draft picks in his career. "We need him to be shooting well and creating shots off the dribble in order for us to compete."

Fortunately for Fresno State, Alexander won't have to go it alone.

Abney and Ely are strong from in close, while Terrance Roberson is a wing man who can beat you on the perimeter or off the dribble if you let him. Throw point guard Demetrius Porter into the mix and you have the makings of a pretty good team.

The coach

No coach deals with controversy better than Jerry Tarkanian. He has managed to hold this team together well enough to get the Bulldogs into postseason play for a fifth consecutive season.

Tarkanian's experience in the NCAA Tournament should come in handy. He went to the Final Four four times, winning a national championship in 1990 with the likes of Larry Johnson and Greg Anthony. He'd like nothing more than to win one more before he's through.

The Bench

What bench? The Bulldogs are averaging only 4.7 points a game from bench players this season. The top two guys coming in are Noel Felix and Nick Irvin, but they play so little, they rarely get into the flow of the game.

Offense

Fresno State likes to get it up and down the floor. The Bulldogs are fifth in the nation in scoring, averaging 83.2 points a game. Get into a transition match with them and look out.

Defense

As always, Tark enjoys playing a pressure man-to-man defense. If his team gets into foul trouble, he employs a matchup zone that goes hard at players on the perimeter. The Bulldogs are yielding 76.7 points a game.