Taking a Look at Siena's CBI Foe, Fresno State

There's one MAAC team still playing at this late in the postseason, the Siena men.

The Saints are playing in the best-of-three championship round of the CBI Tournament, and here's a look at the event and the opponent, Fresno State.

FRESNO STATE'S EXPECTED STARTERS

- Tyler Johnson, a 6-4 senior guard. He averages team-highs of 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
- Marvell Harris, a 6-4 sophomore guard. He averages 14.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
- Cezar Guerrero, a 6-1 sophomore point guard. He averages 12.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and has a team-high 128 assists against 78 turnovers.
- Paul Watson, a 6-7 freshman forward. He averages 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
- Alex Davis, a 6-9 junior forward. He averages 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

FRESNO STATE'S TOP RESERVES:

- Allen Huddleston, a 6-1 senior guard. He averages 8.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
- Karachi Edo, a 6-6 freshman forward. He averages 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
- Tanner Giddings, a 6-11 sophomore center. He averages 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.


NOTABLE:

- Fresno State is coached by Rodney Terry, now in his third season. Terry had previously been the lead assistant at Texas. When he left the Longhorns for Fresno his replacement at Texas was former Siena coach Rob Lanier.

- The Bulldogs are 20-16 overall. They entered the CBI with the third-worst record (17-16) of any team participating in national post-season play. Siena, at 15-17 when CBI play began, was the only sub-.500 team in any national tournament.

- The CBI does not give its eventual winner a banner to commemorate its championship. Participants can create their own banner, at their own cost, if they desire.

- Siena is charging $36 per admission for adults at its home game on Wednesday night and the same fee for Saturday's Game 3, if necessary. Fresno is charging a top price of $28.30 for Monday's game at its facility.

- Fresno is playing for its first tournament championship since the 1983 season, when it won the NIT. Siena's furthers advancement in post-season tournament play in its Division I era came in 1994 when it reached the NIT's semifinal round.

- This is Fresno's first post-season appearance of any kind since 2007, and Siena's first 2010.

- There is a fairly impressive list of winners of the previous CBI events, including Tulsa, Oregon State, VCU, Oregon, Pitt and Santa Clara.

- A crowd of 3,916 attended Fresno State's semifinal-round victory over Old Dominion, played at the Bulldogs' Save Mart Center facility.

- Since a five-game mid-season losing streak that ended with a double overtime loss to Nevada, and a single OT setback to UNLV, Fresno State has been 12-3.

- The Bulldogs are balanced offensively with four players averaging in double figures and a fifth that averages 8.5 points. Only eight players have averaged more than 10.4 minutes of time per game this season.

- Fresno State's 9.8 turnovers per game is 12th nationally for fewest per game.

- Guerrero is 13th nationally in free-throw percentage at 88.8 percent, while Johnson (97 assists/39 turnovers) is 33rd nationally with a 2.49 assist-to-turnover ratio.