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GAME NOTES: A rejuvenated Fresno State squad shoots for another Western Athletic Conference victory tonight, as the Bulldogs play host to the Idaho Vandals at the Save Mart Center.

On Thursday night, the Bulldogs celebrated the return of Paul George to the lineup with an overwhelming 83-64 victory over the New Mexico State Aggies, a team that was tied with Utah State for first place in the league standings heading into the game. The victory was the second straight for FSU and pushed the team to an impressive 10-3 mark at home.

As for the Vandals, they suffered their second loss in the last three games on Wednesday night when Nevada slipped by with a 67-66 win in the final seconds at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow. With the defeat Idaho, which recently won its 1,200th game all-time, fell to 5-5 at home and a mere 3-8 in league action.

In a series that dates back to 1927, the Bulldogs currently hold a 7-6 advantage over Idaho, although it was the Vandals who picked up the 74-59 win at the Cowan Spectrum last month in the first meeting of the season.

The Vandals fought back from a 16-point deficit in the second half against Nevada earlier this week in front of a national-television audience, but in the end Idaho simply could not complete the comeback bid. Mac Hopson led the way with his 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, but at the same time he shot only 3-of-12 from the floor. Kashif Watson tacked on 11 points and Kyle Barone nine and four boards in 18 minutes off the bench as the team shot a mere 37.7 percent from the field and 4-of-16 beyond the arc. Hopson, who is a 45 percent shooter from the floor on the season, is first on the team in both scoring (14.6 ppg) and assists (107) and is one of the top rebounders as well with better than five boards per contest. Watson checks in with 11.0 ppg and Steffan Johnson 10.5 ppg, the latter the most successful three-point shooter on the roster with his 43.3 percent accuracy.

Paul George made a triumphant return to the hardwood a couple nights ago after missing time with an ankle injury, by putting up a game-high 30 points and clearing seven rebounds in Fresno State's resounding win over New Mexico State. Greg Smith added 16 points and eight rebounds, Sylvester Seay 14 points, nine boards and three blocked shots and Mike Ladd 10 points in the win. Despite missing all four of his field goal attempts on the night, Steven Shepp still made his presence known with nine assists and four steals. Over the course of the seven conference games in which he has appeared, George has produced 19.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per outing, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 86.8 percent at the charity stripe. Having made his way through all 11 WAC games, Seay accounts for 14.8 ppg and 6.4 rpg, while Smith checks in with 12.7 ppg and 6.9 rpg and yet even with this trio manning the glass the group as a whole is being outrebounded by more than two boards per game.

Anxious to continue his strong season, expect to see George put up big numbers again tonight in front of the home crowd as he and the Bulldogs create a better outlook for the upcoming WAC Tournament.