Orlando Johnson fights through three Fresno State defenders as he goes up for two of his 35.
Fresno State was UCSB’s featured guest at the Thunderdome on Saturday night, but it was Orlando Johnson who stole all of the attention.
The junior forward scored 25 of his career-high 35 points in the first half, while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out three assists, to lead the Gauchos to a 69-54 victory in their home opener.
The Gauchos improved their season record to 2-2, while the Bulldogs dropped to 1-2.
The Gauchos opened the game with an 11-0 run, with Johnson scoring seven, as they took full advantage of the Bulldogs’ early turnovers. The Gaucho defense went on to steal the ball 13 times.
“I thought we got out of the gate obviously pretty quick,” said coach Bob Williams. “Orlando was hot early, he was sensational.”
Fresno State focused their offense around center Greg Smith, who finished with 15 points and eight boards. The Gauchos used this to their advantage, employing the combined forces of their big men – Jaime Serna, Greg Somogyi, and Lucas Devenny – to contain Smith and force the Bulldogs to the perimeter. Fresno St. shot 22 percent from behind the arc on 4-18 shooting.
“Shooting the three is not their forte,” said Williams. “They want to get the ball to their big horse and go to work. I thought our bigs as a whole did a pretty good job on Smith. When he didn’t get dunks, he didn’t get anything.”
Orlando Johnson drained this 3-pointer with a defender in his face.
“That’s why we play that zone,” said Johnson. “When we commit to defense and rebounding, that’s when we’ll realize how good we can be.”
While the defense shut down the Bulldog offense, the Gaucho offense stalled when the ball was not in Johnson’s hands. James Nunnally fought off an early ankle injury and an early shooting drought, as he started the game 0-6 before finishing with 12 points, shooting 5-12 from the floor. No one else reached double digits.
“Orlando scored 52 percent of our points tonight. That’s an unusual night and it’s not what’s going to win you a league championship,” said Williams. “We’re not offensively very fluid at this time.”
Williams knows that this trend needs to be bucked for the Gauchos to progress as a team, and wants the production from the supporting cast to pick up. And yet, according to Williams, the key to their success will not be on the offensive side.
“My main concern at this time is we have to know where our bread’s buttered,” said Williams. “If we’re defending at a high level and rebounding then we’re pretty good. When we don’t defend at a high level and we give up offensive rebounds, they hurt us every time.”
The star of the supporting cast had to be Somogyi, who only scored four points and grabbed four rebounds, but his imposing size and presence in the low post was more than the Bulldogs could handle.
“When Greg went in, they didn’t do anything,” said Williams. “We shut down the inside (when he was in).”
“I feel like last year’s game was haunting him a little bit,” said Somogyi, referencing his record setting eight blocks last time the Gauchos played Fresno St. “It just part of my game, to come in and have a presence. I come in and intimidate guys a little bit and show them who’s boss.”
Johnson’s 35 points were four off the school mark set Scott Fisher, with 39 at Montana St. in 1985.
“That’ll be broken one day,” said Johnson of the record. “It might not be me, but it will be broken.”
The Gauchos play again next Saturday in Oregon against the University of Portland.
