Cal State Fullerton (8-16, 3-7) at Cal Poly (9-15, 5-6)
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 | 7:00 PM
Mott Athletics Center • San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Game Coverage: Live Stats |Audio |Video | CSF Release      Cal Poly Release 

CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Webcast: www.FullertonTitans.com
Streaming Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at www.fullertontitans.com

ON  TAP: Cal State Fullerton returns to the road this week traveling to Cal Poly (Thursday) and UC Santa Barbara (Saturday).

PROMOTIONS: Cal State Fullerton returns to Titan Gym on Saturday, March 1, to host Long Beach State. Fans in attendance will receive a Titan Rally Buff while supplies last.

TICKETS: Single-game tickets for all home games can be purchased online at www.FullertonTitans.com as well as in person or by calling the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office at (657) 278-2783 from the hours of 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. On gamedays, tickets can be purchased one hour prior to tip-off at the Titan Gym ticket box office.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @FullertonHoops for updates during the 2013-14 season.

SCOUTING CAL POLY:  Cal Poly (9-15,  5-5) currently sits at fifth in the Big West Conference standings, but the Mustangs have lost five of their last six with a 62-55 win at Cal State Northridge on Feb. 13.

HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. CAL POLY:  Cal Poly leads the all-time series 34-25 against Cal State Fullerton, including a 16-12 edge over the Titans in San Luis Obispo, Calif. In league play, the Mustangs lead 19-16. The Mustangs and Titans have split their season series for the last two years, but Fullerton has not won at Mott Athletics Center since recording a 70-68 on Feb. 24, 2010.

LAST TIME OUT VS. CAL POLY:  Alex Harris' last-second jumper from the free-throw line fell off the mark as Cal State Fullerton came up excruciatingly short in a 58-56 loss to Cal Poly on Jan. 23 at Titan Gym.  Michael Williams led Fullerton with a game-high 20 points. Harris added 10 points, and rookie point guard Sheldon Blackwell dished a game-high four assists.

THE SECOND LEG...SORT OF: Cal State Fullerton has completed half of its Big West Conference schedule, although the Titans played UC Riverside twice during the first leg, and Fullerton will pay Hawai'i twice during the second leg. The Titans have split season series with UC Davis and UC Riverside.

ROSTER STATUS: Cal State Fullerton currently has 16 student-athletes listed on its roster, with 12 players having seen game action thus far in 2013-14. Corey Walker and Moses Morgan must redshirt the season due to NCAA transfer rules. Freshman guard Hidde Vos and junior guard James Douglas are expected to redshirt the season. 

INJURY UPDATE: Freshman Floris Versteeg will not be available this week due to a concussion. Jared Brandon is listed as day-to-day with an injured hip pointer.

EARLY SEASON NOTES: Head coach Dedrique Taylor earned his first win as a head coach after the Titans defeated Montana State, 84-55, in Bozeman, Mont., on Nov. 9...Taylor is the fifth Titan head coach to win his first game at Cal State Fullerton...Cal State Fullerton won its season opener against a Division I opponent for the first time since a 75-67 win at BYU on Nov. 22, 1996 (the 2007-08 season opener was played against CSU Bakersfield as the program was in transition to Div. I status)...Cal State Fullerton's 29-point victory at Montana State was its largest margin of victory on the road since an 81-50 win at Utah on Dec. 7, 2011.

TIDBITS: The Titans, who suffered a 92-83 loss at Cal State Northridge on Feb. 8, played in their first overtime game since an 83-77 win at UC Riverside on Jan. 8, 2011…in the loss to the Matadors, for the first time this year, Cal State Fullerton shot a higher percentage (.421-.410) than its opponent and lost…Alex Harris knocked down seven three-pointers at CSUN  setting a career high and Titan season high...as a team, the Titans knocked down 12 three-pointers at CSUN, setting a season high…Fullerton's 23 made free throws and 37 free-throw attempts set season highs at Northridge…Steve McClellan set career highs scoring 18 points and grabbing 15 rebounds at CSUN. McClellan's 15 rebounds also marked a Titan season high...Alex Harris' 29 points vs. Hawai'i last Saturday marked a career best as well as a Titan season high... Sheldon Blackwell scored a career-high 15 points vs. the Warriors...the crowd of 3,017 for Homecoing last Saturday was Fullerton's largest home crowd of the year.

CURRENT NOTES: Cal State Fullerton has used nine different starting lineups this season…Michael Williams has scored in double figures for 24 straight games...last Saturday, the Titans lost their fourth halftime lead of the year…Alex Harris has reached the 20-point threshold in five of Fullerton's last six games...the Titans have lost seven straight road games, and CSF has yet to win a Big West game on the road...Fullerton has not led in a game eight times this year...CSF completed non-conference action with a record of 5-9...Fullerton overcame a 10-point deficit against Sacramento State on Dec. 21 – the largest deficit the Titans have overcome this year...Fullerton's 59-point total against Sacramento State marked its lowest in a win this year...the Titans are 5-0 when scoring over 74 points and shooting 50 percent or more from the floor...Fullerton has also come back twice this season from halftime deficits to win: at Pepperdine (Dec. 4) and vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 21)...Cal State Fullerton won its third straight Big West Conference opener following a 78-73 win over UC Riverside on Jan. 9. Against the Highlanders, five Titans scored in double figures - a first for Fullerton during the 2013-14 season.

HOT HANDS:  Through the last six games, Alex Harris is averaging 22.7 points per game, shooting 48.2 percent from the floor while knocking down 21 three-pointers. The junior from Richmond, Calif., has led the Titans in scoring in four of the Titans' last six games.Senior Michael Williams is averaging 18.8 points per game over the last six games, while knocking down 19 three-pointers and dishing 24 assists.

INDIVIDUAL MARKERS: Michael Williams has scored in double figures in a team-leading 24 consecutive games. Williams has scored at least 20 points on eight occasions this year. His eight assists against UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 25 also set a Titan season high.Alex Harris scored a career-high 29 points in last Saturday's loss to Hawai'i. Harris drained seven three-pointers on Feb. 8 at Cal State Northridge - setting Titan season highs in both categories. Harris scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half against UCSB on Jan. 25, the most points a Titan has scored in a single half this year. Harris' 10 made free throws against UCR on Jan. 9 also marked a Titan season best as well as career high...Steve McClellan's 18-point, 15-rebound performance against CSUN on Feb. 8 marked the fifth Titan double-double of the season. Both marks were career highs for McClellan.

IN THE BIG WEST: Entering the week, Michael Williams' average of 16.6 points per game ranks fifth in the league, his 2.21 three-pointers per game rank fifth, and his three-point field goal percentage of .363 rates seventh...Alex Harris' 15.5 points per game rank ninth in the Big West and  his 1.95 three-pointers per game rank eighth in the league...Steve McClellan's 6.2 rebounds per game rank ninth in the Big West, and his 2.29 offensive rebounds per game rank ninth as well.

WIN-LOSS COMPARISONS: In eight wins, the Titans have shot 49.8 percent from the floor while averaging 77.5 points per game. Also in those wins, Fullerton holds a 35.9-32.4 rebounding advantage and holds opponents to a shooting percentage of .391 and an average of 66.5 points per game.In 16 losses this season, Fullerton is shooting a field goal percentage of .389 while averaging just 62.3 points per game while opponents average 73.6 ppg and shoot at a clip of .481. In addition, opponents outrebound CSF 36.3-33.7.

MORE COMPARISONS: The Titans have outscored opponents 688-654 in the paint this year as well as holding an advantage in bench points (444-434), but trail opponents in second chance points (241-251) and points off turnovers (320-356). In losses, the Titans have made just 323 trips to the free-throw line, compared to 412 opportunities for opponents.

ROOKIES: Freshman Sheldon Blackwell, a 6-foot-5 guard from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is second on the team totaling 50 assists while averaging 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Blackwell scored a career-high 15 points vs. Hawai'i last Saturday, and dished a career-best six assists vs. Miami on Nov. 29. Freshman Joe Boyd, a 6-foot-9 forward from Scottsdale, Ariz., is averaging 2.7 ppg while adding 3.1 rpg. Boyd scored a career-high 10 points in Fullerton's 87-80 win over Texas Southern on Dec. 15, and recorded 10 rebounds at USC on Nov. 19.

NEWCOMERS: Cal State Fullerton senior Michael Williams is playing in his first year as a Titan after redshirting the 2012-13 season following a transfer from San Francisco. Williams has experienced immediate success, averaging a team-leading 16.6 points per game, scoring in double figures in 24 straight games. Williams has also scored at least 20 points on eight occasions this season. Junior Steve McClellan, in his first year at Fullerton after transferring from Louisiana-Monroe, is averaging a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game, and has recorded four games with at least 10 rebounds.

AIR TIME: Currently, Cal State Fullerton has had 12 men's basketball games scheduled on television this year. The Titans post a 1-11 record in games that were broadcast during the 2013-14 season.

A NEW ERA BEGINS: Former Arizona State associate head men's basketball coach and long-time college assistant Dedrique Taylor was appointed the 11th men's basketball head coach in Cal State Fullerton history, Athletic Director Jim Donovan announced on April 3, 2013.

A NEW LOOK: Of the 16 players on Cal State Fullerton's roster, 10 had not suited up in a Cal State Fullerton uniform before the 2013-14 season.

REPLACING OFFENSE: Cal State Fullerton lost 60 percent of its scoring from last season with the departure of seniors Sammy Yeager (15.8 ppg), Kwame Vaughn (18.4 ppg) and D.J. Seeley (17.9 ppg).

TITANS IN THE NBA: Former Cal State Fullerton men's basketball player Josh Akognon became the 12th former Titan to appear in the NBA on April 10, 2013 playing four minutes and scoring two points to go with an assist for the Dallas Mavericks in their 102-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center. Akognon, who played two seasons for Fullerton from 2007-09, became the first Titan to appear in an NBA game since Bobby Brown (2003-07) competed for the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009-10 season.

2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy Attracts Record Crowds: With the attendance for the final four games of the 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy being 6,007 for the competition at Honda Center on Dec. 1, the three-day event over Thanksgiving weekend attracted a record 14,982 fans for the in-season college basketball tournament near Disneyland. The Dec. 1 total of 6,007 was a single-day record The 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy featured a Marquette vs. San Diego State championship game at Honda Center. Other schools in the event were Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, College of Charleston, Creighton, George Washington and Miami. With the first four sessions of the 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy being played November 28 and 29 at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, the final four games were combined into one session at Honda Center. The two days of action at Titan Gym drew 3,831 on Thanksgiving Day and 5,144 on Nov. 29.The previous tournament attendance record for the three days of competition at the Anaheim Convention was 14,212 set in November 2009.