Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine
Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 7:05 PM
Bren Center • Irvine, Calif.
Video: http://bit.ly/17OcwdL
Audio: http://bit.ly/1Ndlsdy
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/17Oqlco
Hawai'i at Cal State Fullerton
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | 5:03 PM
Titan Gym • Fullerton, Calif.
Video: http://es.pn/1LQZ4mx
Audio: http://bit.ly/1B5nTsa
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/18itYqY
THIS WEEK
The Titans (9-20, 1-13) complete the 2014-15 season with a road game at UC Irvine on Thursday night and then a home game at 5:03 p.m. on Saturday vs. Hawai'i.
SENIOR NIGHT
Cal State Fullerton will stage a pre-game recognition Saturday for the five seniors who will be concluding their Titan careers. One-season players Corey Walker and Moses Morgan will be followed by two-year men Josh Gentry and Steve McClellan and three-year man Alex Harris.
BIG WEST TOURNEY ABSENCE
The Titans are locked into ninth place in the Big West Conference and will not qualify for the post-season tournament for only the fourth time (also in 1996, 2000 and 2002) in its 40-year history. The Titans have made more appearances (36) than any other current member (Long Beach 34, UC Irvine 32, UCSB 31) and are tied for the lead with Pacific (36) among the all-time membership.
BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's basketball team has established its own Twitter presence @FullertonHoops.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card. Additional ticket information can be found by clicking http://bit.ly/1wl9y6t. Fullerton is 6-7 in Titan Gym this season. Last season the Titans were 8-6 at home and 5-3 in home Big West contests.
LAST WEEK
The Titans went 0-2 on the road, squandering a 12-point lead before losing at CSUN, 82-72, and then never leading in a 70-47 loss at Long Beach State. Alex Harris returned from a 3-game absence with a strong game at CSUN, leading the team in scoring (18), assists (7) and rebounding (6, tie with Steve McClellan).
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at UC Irvine
Thur., March 5, 7 p.m. | Bren Events Center
The Anteaters
UC Irvine is in second place in the Big West, two games behind UC Davis with two games to play. UCI hosts Fullerton and visits Davis while the Aggies are home to UC Riverside and the Anteaters. UCI is coming off a 54-51 loss at UC Santa Barbara Saturday that snapped a 3-game winning streak. Forward Will Davis II leads the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) but he gets plenty of scoring help from Mamadou Ndiaye (10.4 ppg), Luke Nelson (10.0 ppg) and Alex Young (9.9 ppg). Ndiaye, the 7-foot-6 center, missed two-thirds of the season with a foot injury but is healthy again.
Head-to-Head
The Titans lead the all-time series, 52-48, but UCI has won the last five meetings. There has been minimal home-court advantage since UCI joined the PCAA/Big West in 1977-78. Fullerton is 19-17 in Irvine (14-14 in the Bren Center) and 20-18 in Titan Gym (plus 1-0 when UCI hosted at the Anaheim Convention Center in 1983). Long Beach State (111 games) is the only more frequent CSF opponent.
Last Meeting
In the second week of Big West games, Irvine survived a second-half Fullerton rally for a 63-58 win on Jan. 15. The Titans trailed at the half, 42-26, but got within 3 points on a couple of occasions in the closing minutes and had the ball. Lastly, UCI turned the ball over on an inbounds play with 17 seconds to play but Lanerryl Johnson stepped out of bounds 3 seconds later and Alex Young hit two clinching free throws with 12 seconds left. Will Davis II scored 21 points and had 7 rebounds. Alex Harris had 17 points and Steve McClellan grabbed 10 rebounds. Mamadou Ndiaye did not suit for the game.
vs. Hawai'i - ESPN3
Sat., March 7, 5:03 p.m. | Titan Gym
The 'Bows
Hawai'i is in the crowded pack at the middle of the Big West standings with a chance to finish anywhere from third to seventh place. Hawai'i hosts UCSB on Wednesday in Honolulu, where it has won three in a row, before heading to the Mainland, where it has lost three in a row. Hawai'i leads the Big West in scoring (72.3 ppg) and turnover margin (+3.53) mainly because of a big margin in steals -- 10.10 per game, more than 3 more per game than runnerup UC Riverside.
Head-to-Head
Hawai'i has won all five Big West Conference meetings to take a 7-2 lead in the series. Fullerton's last win was in Honolulu on Nov. 16, 2008, by a 90-76 count behind in an arena-record 41 points by Josh Akognon in a season-opening tournament.
Last Meeting
Fullerton lost on Feb. 14 despite a game of attrition for the Rainbow Warriors, who were down five regulars late in the game but had a large lead. Fullerton played its first game without injured Alex Harris. Hawai'i began the game without Aaron Valdes, lost Isaac Fleming and Mike Thomas to injuries and Stefan Jovanovic to five personals and then saw Garrett Nevels ejected late in the game after a pair of technical fouls. Fullerton was within a point at 42-41 with 18 minutes to play but went cold, making only 3 of its next 20 shots. Negus Webster-Chan made 6-of-12 3-point tries for a team-high 18 points and Roderick Bobbitt aded 17. Lanerryl Johnson led the Titans with 23.
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LOSING STREAK
Fullerton has lost its last seven games, its longest losing streak since the 2001-02 team lost 10 in a row. That same team went 2-16 in Big West play, the worst Div. I conference mark in school history.
OVERTIME BLUES
Fullerton has lost three overtime games this year and Coach Dedrique Taylor is 0-4 in his brief Titan tenure. All-time, Fullerton is 44-55 in extra time games.
CLOSE IN SEVEN BWC LOSSES
Fullerton has usually been very competitive despite the results in Big West play. Seven of the closest losses in one sentence each:
• at UCR, they rallied from 18 points down to lead by 3 at 1:30 of regulation only to lose in overtime
• vs. UCI they rallied from 17 down to close within 3 points as late as the 0:15 mark
• vs. UC Davis they rallied from 16 down to close within 5 points as late as 2:08
• at Cal Poly they rallied from 15 down to close within 5 as late as 4:42
• vs. Long Beach State, the Titans let an 11-point lead with 4 minutes to play get away and lost in overtime
• vs. UC Riverside they overcame a 13-point second-half deficit, took a 4-point lead with 4:17 to play, twice in the last minute of regulation came from 2 down to tie only to lose in OT after scoring first
• at UC Davis they were down 51-47 with less than 7:00 to go but surrendered an 8-1 spurt
BIG WEST STATS
(in All games)
• the Titans rank 4th in rebound margin at +1.0
• individually, Josh Gentry ranks 1st in free-throw percentage (.932)
• Steve McClellan ranks 2nd in rebounding (8.3)
• Alex Harris ranks 7th in scoring (15.8), 7th in assists (3.46) and 4th in steals (1.46)
• Lanerryl Johnson ranks 4th in free-throw percentage (.837), 13th in scoring (12.1), 10th in made 3-pointers (1.79) and 6th in 3-pt percentage (.419)
(in Big West games only)
• Steve McClellan is 1st in rebounding (9.5)
• Josh Gentry is 1st in free-throw percentage (.939 - 31 of 33)
• Lanerryl Johnson is 10th in scoring (12.6) and 4th in FT percentage (.857)
• Alex Harris is 6th in scoring (16.3), 5th in steals (1.55) and 7th in assists (3.45)
WELL EXPOSED
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team will make its 11th television appearance of the 2014-15 season Saturday vs. Hawai'i on ESPN3. The breakdown includes six appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network, two on Prime Ticket and one on ROOT Sports.
HARRIS IN CLUB 1,000
Senior guard Alex Harris enters the final week of his college career with 1,166 points. He became the 23rd Titan to score 1,000 with a late first-half jumper at UC Riverside on Jan. 8. Despite missing three games with a thigh contusion, he has climbed up to No. 12 in the rankings, passing Bruce Bowen (1,155), Frank Robinson (1,161), Kevin Heenan (1,164) and Gary Davis (1,165) last week. Sitting at No. 11 with 1,240 points is Keith Anderson (1975-79).
MORE ON ALEX HARRIS
Alex Harris is averaging a team-leading 15.8 points per game. But "average" is a deceiving number. Over the last eight games in which he played, his point totals have been 8, 4, 28, 10, a career high of 31, 11, 18 and 7. His non-start (coach's decision) vs. CSUN on Feb. 5 snapped a streak of 44 consecutive starts.
ALSO FROM THE PERIMETER
Fullerton's top three scorers are all guards. Behind only Harris' 15.8 points per game are junior Lanerryl Johnson (12.1 ppg) and senior Moses Morgan (8.4 ppg).
SPEAKING OF THE ARC
Fullerton has made at least one 3-point field goal in each of its last 570 games, a streak dating to Feb. 1, 1996. That night the Titans went 0-for-13 from behind the arc in a loss to Long Beach State. That zero snapped a previous string of 105 consecutive games.
THE STARTING FIVES
Cal State Fullerton has used 11 different starting lineups this season including eight different ones in the past 13 games. The most common (8 games, consecutively Dec. 11 thru Jan. 15) put senior Alex Harris at the point guard position with Moses Morgan, Josh Gentry, Joe Boyd and Steve McClellan completing the starting five.
McCLELLAN CLEANING THE GLASS
Forward Steve McClellan leads the Titans averaging 8.3 rebounds per game. The redshirt senior was leading the Big West Conference until UCSB center Alan Williams (11.7 rpg) played enough games after returning from an injury to qualify. McClellan, who missed his career high by one with 14 rebounds on Jan. 8 at UCR and again on Feb. 5 vs. CSUN, also tops the Titans shooting 55.6 percent (84-of-151) from the floor. He has produced all five Titan double-doubles this season. He matched his season-high with 15 points vs. CSUN on Feb. 5 but since then has scored only 40 total points in the last 7 games.
JOHNSON HOT AND COLD
Lanerryl Johnson has been dramatically up-and-down at the offensive end. He came off the bench to average 17.0 points over 4 games (Dec. 30-Jan. 15 while shooting 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from three-point range. The next two games he totaled only 14 points in two starts but bounced back to net 37 (21 & 16) in the following two. Then he went scoreless at home vs. CSUN and UCR but in the last six games (3 starts) has averaged 13.7 points.
MORGAN, TOO
Moses Morgan scored 10 points at UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 24 for his first double-digit game since Jan. 3 vs. Seattle when he netted 17 points. He scored 10 again vs. Long Beach State and 11 vs. CSUN but since then has totaled only 32 points in the last seven games.
ESUME EMERGING
Kennedy Esume has averaged 7.0 points over the last seven games topped by a season's best 16 (on 8 of 11 shooting) vs. Cal Poly on Feb. 19.
MASON CHIPS IN
Jordan Mason has averaged 7.5 points over the last six games and his 45 total points are second on the squad over the last six to only Lanerryl Johnson (82).
IT'S IN THE GENES
Nine players on the Titans' roster have relatives who are competing or have competed in college, international and/or pro athletics:
Sheldon Blackwell's brother, Perris, played basketball at San Francisco (3 yrs.) and Washington (1 yr.); his sister, Jada, played two years at Arizona State and is now a senior at Cal Poly Pomona where she was a finalist for NCAA Div. II player of the year in 2013-14; and his father, Henry, played defensive end at East Carolina.
Tre' Coggins' father, Sanford, played quarterback and wide receiver at Texas (1977-80) and his uncle, Rich, was a major league outfielder for Baltimore (1972-74), Montreal (1975), New York AL (1975-76) and Chicago AL (1976).
Josh Gentry's parents, Derrick & Gretchen Gentry, both competed in track and field at Illinois in the early 1980s.
Lanerryl Johnson's great grandfather is former ABA and NBA star and Naismith Hall of Famer Gus Johnson. Lanerryl's cousin, Ricky, is a third-year starting point guard at Bethune Cookman.
Jordan Mason's father, Jerry, played basketball at Texas Tech.
Steve McClellan's brother, Darshawn, played in 95 games (2008-2011) of basketball at Vanderbilt.
Moses Morgan's father, Winston, played four seasons (1981-86) of basketball at Indiana.
Temjae Singleton's father, Eldridge Hudson, played four seasons (1982-83; 84-87) of basketball at UNLV after being selected the L.A. City's 4A Player of the Year in 1982 at Carson High School.
Corey Walker's brother, Taylor, played two seasons (2011-13) of basketball at LMU.
2013-14 RECAP
Cal State Fullerton's 2013-14 campaign came to a close on March 13, 2014, when the Titans suffered a 66-56 loss to Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament held at Honda Center. Fullerton completed the year with a record of 11-20 overall as well as a 6-10 mark in Big West play, which secured CSF the No. 6 seed at the Tournament.
• The Titan offense averaged 67.5 points per game last season, the lowest average for a Titan team since the 2002-03 season (62.9 ppg).
• The Titans completed the 2013-14 season with a winning record of 8-6 at Titan Gym, but a struggling mark of 3-12 on the road and a record of 0-2 at neutral site games.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Big West Basketball Tournament All-Session Tickets On Sale...
Honda Center and the Big West Conference have announced that all-session tickets for the 2015 Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament are now on sale.
All-session school reserved tickets are available for $69.00. These seats are located within a school's section and can be purchased through each institution's box office.
Premium all-session tickets located in the first four rows of seating are available for $149.00. General admission all-session tickets are also available for $69.00. These seats can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster retail outlets, or by calling 800-745-3000.
The 2015 Big West Tournament will be hosted for the fifth-straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim. The women's tournament first round and quarterfinal games will be played at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11. The men's tournament begins on Thursday, March 12 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place Friday and Saturday at Honda Center.
TITANS IN THE NBA
Former Cal State Fullerton guard 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 in 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.
Out of uniform, the Titans are represented in the NBA by former manager Wes Wilcox, now assistant general manager of the Atlanta Hawks; former administrative assistant Eric Glass, video coordinator for the Miami Heat; and former assistant coach Mark Warkentien, director of player personnel for the New York Knicks. Former guard Leon Wood is a veteran NBA official and former Daily Titan reporter Marc Stein is ESPN's NBA reporter.
NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE DRAFT
Four former members of the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball program were selected in the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on Nov. 1. D.J. Seeley (2012-13) was the first Titan selected as the first pick of the second round by the Delaware 87ers and he has made the final roster.Omondi Amoke (2012) was selected as the fifth pick of the second round by the Grand Rapids Drive. Michael Williams (2014), the 2014 Big West Newcomer of the Year, was selected as the 15th pick of the second round by the Sioux Fall Skyforce and he is listed on the final roster. Sammy Yeager (2013) was chosen as the ninth pick of the seventh round by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
