LAS VEGAS—Fresno State basketball Coach Justin Hutson announced his resignation after the Bulldogs dropped an 87–75, overtime decision to top-seeded Utah State in a Mountain West Conference quarterfinal game Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Hutson, 52, had been Fresno State’s coach for six years. The decision was mutual, and he will transition into a different role at the school, Hutson said.
“I want to express gratitude to everybody I’ve been around during these six years,” Hutson said. “It was a lot of fun.”
The Bulldogs went 12-21 this season for their second straight 20-loss campaign. They were 92-94 during Hutson’s tenure. Fresno State twice won 23 games under Huston. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs gave top-seeded Utah State a scare before wilting in the extra session.
Great Osobor scored 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Aggies. Utah State will play the winner of fourth-seeded UNLV and fifth-seeded San Diego State in Friday’s semifinals.
Darius Brown II finished with 17 points and 11 assists, and Javon Jackson scored 16 points off the bench for Utah State (27–5), which has won six in a row and eight of its past nine. Jalen Weaver scored 19 points off the bench, Isaiah Hill had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Isaiah Pope finished with 12 points for ninth-seeded Fresno State, which dropped eight of its final nine games.
The Aggies scored the first 11 points of overtime before Fresno State finally scored with 50 seconds left.
The Aggies gained some early separation with a 6–0 run that extended their lead to 16–8 with 12:18 left in the first half, but Fresno State came back with a 12–0 run to move ahead 20–16 with 8:31 remaining.
The Bulldogs took their biggest lead, 33–26, on two free throws by Pope with 2:52 left, but Utah State came back with seven straight points to tie the score at 33–33. Jackson picked up a loose ball and banked in a shot to put Utah State ahead 35–34 with 47 seconds remaining, but Jalen Weaver made two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 36–35 lead at the break.
Ian Martinez made a layup on the first possession of the second half for the Aggies to give them a 37–36 lead. Brown sank a 3 to beat the shot clock after recovering a loose ball to make it 51–42 with 14:41 remaining. The Bulldogs answered with seven straight points to knot it at 57–57 with 10:03 left.
The score remained close before Hill made a layup to tie it 70–70 with 1:24 left. That score remained until the end of regulation.