Fresno State could not get its momentum going. On a night when Utah State committed a season-high 20 turnovers, the basketball Bulldogs failed to capitalize.

The best the Bulldogs could do was put together a singular six-point run in the second half, falling to the Aggies 72-63 Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center in their Mountain West home opener. Meanwhile, Utah State put together several runs of seven points or more.

The Aggies improved to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West. The Bulldogs fell to 6-7, 0-2, and lost their fifth game in a row.

“If we took advantage of the turnovers, I’d be smiling,” Fresno State head coach Vance Walberg said.

Fighting a double-digit deficit for much of the second half, Fresno State closed within seven as late as 1:11 to go. The ball did not bounce their way. Late in the game, Utah State’s MJ Collins, the MWC’s leading scorer, missed a dunk. The ball bounced high in the air and into the outstretched arms of Karson Templin — the blond-haired, headband-wearing 6-foot-9 forward.

Five missed free throws in a row by the Aggies during the final minute gave the Red Wave a glimmer of hope — and a free chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A. However, Fresno State missed its final three field-goal attempts in the final minute.

It did not help that Utah State shot 47% from the field compared to the Bulldogs’ 34%. Utah State also won the rebounding battle, 41-34.

Heidbreder Leads Bulldogs With 21 Points

Jake Heidbreder started slowly, scoring 15 of his Bulldogs-leading 21 points in the second half. He entered the night as the Mountain West’s third-leading scorer. Wilson Jacques recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

“I think that’s pretty darn good, to be honest with you. And hopefully, he’ll keep doing that,” Walberg said of Jacques.

Walberg was impressed with Bastien Rieber coming off the bench. Rieber scored 12 points and went 3-for-4 from the free throw line.

“Bastien put the pressure on me to play him. You watch him in practice, he just goes hard and hard and hard. He drew nine fouls tonight. He keeps doing that, he’s going to play more,” Walberg said.

Collins led the Aggies with 18 points.

Strong Start, Struggling Since

The Bulldogs returned to the court after a 10-day holiday layoff. Fresno State fell 84-72 at UNLV on Dec. 20. In that game, after falling behind by 16 in the first half, the Bulldogs took a two-point halftime lead. The team led as late as 8:22 remaining but succumbed to the Runnin’ Rebels.

Fresno State opened the season with a 5-2 homestand against mid-majors. The Bulldogs followed with an impressive 76-53 blowout of Pepperdine on national television in a neutral-site game in Palm Desert.

Fresno State returns to conference action Saturday, Jan. 3, against Nevada at 4 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.