All across the United States Thursday afternoon, millions of people opened Thanksgiving dinner by carving a plump turkey.

On the hardwood of Titan Gym, the only carving was done by Fresno State’s offense, as the Bulldogs tore apart Northwestern’s defense in route to a 78-59 victory in the opening round of the Wooden Legacy.

Fresno State (2-1) held the lead for over 36 minutes with the only lead changes occuring before the first media timeout. The Bulldogs used a 30-13 run over a ten-minute first-half stretch to open up a double-digit lead. NU (3-1) was able to cut the deficit to 14 points at the half, but were unable to bring the gap to single digits.

All five Fresno State starters — Sam Bittner, Nate Grimes, Braxton Huggins, Deshon Taylor and New Williams — scored in double figures and had a plus-minus above 10.

On the other hand, the Cats struggled from the field all day. NU shot only 35.3 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from three-point territory and was 1-for-3 on dunk attempts.

“We wanted to come in not just having tempo on the offensive end, we wanted to have it on the defensive end also,” Bulldogs coach Justin Hutson said to the Fresno Bee.

Senior forward Vic Law and senior center Dererk Pardon were the only two Cats in double figures. Law scored 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting with five assists, but dealt with foul trouble in the first half and finished the game with a team-low plus-minus of -19. Pardon had 11 points, but only had one field goal attempt in the second half.

Graduate guard Ryan Taylor had his third straight game of shooting less than 34 percent from the field as he struggled to get in the flow of the offense. In his second consecutive start, junior forward A.J. Turner shot only 3-for-12 from the field in 29 minutes of action.

With the loss, NU now enters the consolation bracket and will play La Salle tomorrow.

The Explorers played right before the Cats against Miami and were run off the floor. The Hurricanes won the game 85-49 after leading by 31 points at the half.

La Salle shot only eight percent from beyond the arc and 55.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Explorers have yet to win a game this season and have given up at least 75 points in each of its five games.

The winner of the La Salle v. NU game will advance to the fifth-place game Sunday.

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