Warrior Insider

FULLERTON, Calif. — Deshon Taylor scored a game-high 20 points and Braxton Huggins added 13 points this afternoon to help Fresno State pull away from Hawai’i, 79-64, for third place in the John Wooden Legacy men’s basketball tournament.

A sparse crowd of about 250 at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym watched Sam Bittner add 11 points as the Bulldogs improved to 3-2. Jack Purchase scored 14 points and Zigmars Raimo added 13 points to lead the Warriors, who fell to 4-3. Drew Buggs and Brocke Stepteau each contributed 10 points for UH.

The Warriors started strong and led, 21-18, after Raimo’s layup with 7:40 remaining in the first half, but Huggins banked in a short fadeaway shot in the key to ignite a 12-2 run capped by Noah Blackwell’s 3-pointer from the left corner four minutes later to put Fresno State ahead, 30-23. Stepteau then sank two free throws to close it to 30-25, but the Bulldogs finished the half with a 9-3 surge culminating in New Williams’ drive and finish with five seconds left to give Fresno State a 39-28 lead at the break.

Hawai’i opened the second half with back-to-back layups by Raimo and Purchase, and Stepteau later finished a driving layup to pull the Warriors to 47-43 with 13:36 remaining, but Huggins answered with a 3-point to start the Bulldogs on a 12-0 run capped by his own drop-in layup to make it 59-43 with 11:02 left. UH could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Warriors will remain in Southern California to prepare for their next game – Wednesday at UCLA, which was ranked No. 17 in the Top 25 polls last week.

More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.

Wooden Legacy
Sunday’s Results
Fifth place: Northwestern 79, Utah 57
Third place: Fresno State 79, Hawai’i 64
Seventh place: La Salle vs. Grand Canyon, 3:00 p.m.
Championship: Miami vs. Seton Hall, 5:30 p.m.