Saturday, November 10th, 8:30 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Save Mart Center (15,596) -- Fresno, California. Television: None. Home Record: Liberty 0-0, Fresno State 1-0. Away Record: Liberty 0-0, Fresno State 0-0. Neutral Record: Liberty 0-1, Fresno State 0-0. Conference Record: Liberty 0-0, Fresno State 0-0. Series Record: Fresno State leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: The Fresno State Bulldogs go after their second straight win to begin the 2007-08 campaign tonight as they face off against the Liberty Flames in the next round of the World Vision Classic at the Save Mart Center. On Friday night, the Bulldogs, who finished 2006-07 with a record of 22-10, held on to defeat the Pilots from the University of Portland in a 75-68 decision. As for the Flames, a team that produced 14 wins in 31 opportunities a season ago, they were extinguished by San Diego State last night in a 62-50 outing. Before all four teams in the tournament head their separate ways, the schedule will be shuffled once again on Sunday to allow each squad to play each other. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Bulldogs captured the only previous meeting with an 84-44 thrashing in November of 1996 at home.

The Flames shot just 6-of-22 from the field in the first half on Friday night, including 2-of-8 beyond the arc against San Diego State. While it did get better for Liberty in the second half with 10-of-25 from the floor and 5-of-15 behind the three-point line, it still wasn't nearly enough to dig the squad out of a huge hole. Rell Porter, who made 3-of-5 attempts beyond the arc, finished the night with a team-high 14 points and also cleared six rebounds for the Flames. Although he shot just 3-of-11 from the field, Anthony Smith added 11 points. Having a game he would much rather soon forget was TeeJay Bannister who tallied only seven points, matching his total of turnovers, before he fouled out. The team, which got accustomed to scoring more than 76 ppg a season ago, as a whole was guilty of 21 miscues. On a positive note, Liberty did manage to force 22 turnovers of its own, but the squad could do little else as SDSU knocked down 13-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Expected to be a major force for the Bulldogs this season after coming on strong late in 2006-07, Hector Hernandez had a disappointing start to the current campaign with a mere six points and six rebounds in 32 minutes of action on Friday night. Luckily the rest of the Bulldogs did not lose their bite as Dwight O'Neil dropped in a team-high 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range and Eddie Miller contributed 20 points as he too found success beyond the arc (4-of-9). Kevin Bell, while he finished with 12 points and a team-high five assists, was not as lucky with his accuracy from anywhere on the floor. Bell made just 3-of-13 from the field, missed all three of his triples, and was a mere 6-of-11 at the charity stripe. Overall, FSU made good on 13-of-26 behind the three-point line, but just 58.8 percent at the free- throw line. Last season, the program converted 64.8 percent at the stripe and 34.4 percent out on the perimeter.

Playing in their own building with talented returning performers, the Bulldogs should have no worries about this matchup. While it may not resemble the 40- point blowout in the only other meeting between the programs 11 years ago, it should still be rather easy for FSU.

Predicted Outcome

Fresno State 77, Liberty 54