Bell's Career-High 31 Points Leads Dogs :: Fresno State returns home Saturday to take on defending WAC champion Nevada.

Bell's Career-High 31 Points Leads Dogs

Fresno State returns home Saturday to take on defending WAC champion Nevada.

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Kevin Bell scored 31 points in the contest.

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March 3, 2008

Final Stats

LOGAN, Utah (AP) -Kevin Bell scored a career-high 31 points, but it wasn't enough as Fresno State fell at Utah State.

Jaycee Carroll scored 33 points in his final home game to lead Utah State past Fresno State 79-66 Monday night.

Kevin Bell scored 31 to lead the Bulldogs (13-17, 5-10 WAC). Eddie Miller also scored 14 for Fresno State.

Utah State pushed the lead to 62-45 with 9:16 to play, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run behind Bell, who shot 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point line and 13-of-19 from the field.

Fresno later brought the USU lead down to seven points with less than five minutes to play, but Wilkinson, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, scored five consecutive points to bring the Aggie lead back to double digits.

USU burst out to a 21-9 lead in the first half, 15 points coming from Carroll. USU led by as much as 29-10 with 8:39 to play, but the Bulldogs ended the half on a 20-11 run behind 16 first-half points from Bell.

USU led at halftime 40-30.

Carroll came into the game leading the nation in 3-point shooting (50.3 percent) and leading the WAC in scoring at 22.3.

Head Coach Steve Cleveland
"I'm very proud of this team. There's no easy way to say it but we don't have all of the pieces to win a game like this on the road against a very good Utah State team. It was senior night with a great crowd. But our guys battled and never quit and I couldn't be more proud to coach a group of young men. "

"Kevin Bell had a special night. You saw the two best players in the league going at it tonight. It was something to see. I hope that people will come out on Saturday at the Save Mart Center against Nevada and honor Kevin and these seniors. They are giving a great effort every night and giving all we can ask of them."

Senior Kevin Bell
"I give a lot of credit to Utah State. They had their senior night and they played well. Their fans here are just like our fans in Fresno. They are crazy. It's what playing for your fans are all about. I appreciate Fresno so much. The fans are always there for me and have really supported me. We want to win every game for them. They had that tonight."

Notes

Two of the leading contenders for WAC Player of the Year, Fresno State's Kevin Bell and Utah State's Jaycee Carroll put on an exciting show and it started in the first half. Carroll scored 15 points in the first nine minutes of the game. He finished the first half with 17 points, making 4-of-5 threes. After trailing 29-10, Bell led a 27-8 run to pull the Dogs to within seven points, 37-30. He had 16 points on 7-of-10 from the floor and added a steal in the first half. Carroll finished with 33 and Bell with 31 on the night. His 31 points were a career-high.

The Aggies had a standing room-only crowd of 10,270, the eighth sellout of the season for Utah State.

Bell is averaging 24.2 points per game in his last five game, setting his career scoring high twice in that time. Before tonight, his previous career-high was 27 points in a win over Hawaii on Feb. 20. Bell has a dozen 20-point games this season and set a new career-high Monday with 13 field goals.

Bell's four assists in the game give him 590 for his career, tying San Diego State's Tony Gwynn for sixth place in WAC history. He needs nine to break the Bulldog career record of 598 set by Dominick Young.

Join the State - Fresno State! The Fresno State men's basketball team will host its last home game of the season on Senior Night, Saturday, March 8 against Nevada at 7 p.m. At halftime, Fresno State will honor the 1998 NCAA Softball National Championship team. All upper bowl seats on March 8 are $5 off at the Save Mart Center box office.