Game 18
Cal State Fullerton vs. Cal Poly
Date: Saturday, Jan. 23
Time: 4:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
TV: ESPN3
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Internet Radio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal Poly leads 36-26
Tickets: FullertonTitans.com/Tickets
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton plays host to Cal Poly on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. The Titans-Mustangs game will be televised on ESPN3.
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 HERE.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Cal Poly | 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 23 | Titan Gym
Cal Poly comes into Titan Gym with a 7-10 overall record and a 1-3 conference mark, which is identical to that of Cal State Fullerton. The Mustangs' only conference win thus far was a double overtime victory against Long Beach State, 96-92, on Jan. 16. David Nwaba is the Mustangs' leading scorer with 11.6 points per game. He sets the tone for Joel Awich and Reese Morgan who average 10.3 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Nwaba also leads the team in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game to go along wiht a team-best 76 assists and 26 steals.
Head-To-Head: Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton will meet for the 63rd time in program history and the Mustangs lead the all-time series 36-26. Last season, Cal Poly swept Fullerton in the two games they played. The Titans' last victory over the Mustangs came in 2014 when Fullerton defeated Cal Poly 67-59 in San Luis Obispo.
Last Meeting: Junior Reese Morgan brought a hot hand off the bench to score a season-high 21 points and Maliik Love added 12 to lead Cal Poly to a 65-54 Big West Conference victory over Cal State Fullerton. Morgan made 6-of-8 shots including 4-of-6 from the three-point line and all five free throw attempts as the Mustangs defeated Fullerton despite a season-high of 16 points plus six rebounds from Kennedy Esume.
FOLLOW THE TITANS
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.
LAST TIME OUT
Khalil Ahmad turned in his third 20-point performance of the season, but Cal State Fullerton could not contain UC Irvine's offensive attack as the Titans fell to the Anteaters 72-59 at the Bren Events Center Wednesday night.
The Anteaters (16-5, 5-0 BWC) have not lost a game when playing at home as they held the Titans (8-9, 1-3 BWC) to 36 percent shooting and just 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Fullerton did out-shoot Irvine from the free throw line as the Titans shot 73.1 percent to the Anteaters' 64.3 percent. However, UC Irvine's 45.8 percent shooting from the field was enough to earn the hosts the win.
Ahmad finished the game with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds. He also added one assist and one steal in another solid outing by the freshman. Kyle Allman Jr., notched a career-high 16 points for the Titans, while Kennedy Esume grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
UC Irvine had four double-figure scorers in Jaron Martin (22 points), Mamadou Ndiaye (13 points), Luke Nelson (12 points) and Mike Best (11 points).
The Anteaters started the game with a jumper from Ndiaye and never looked back as they held the lead for all 40 minutes of action.
The Titans kept things close in the first half as they shot 37 percent to the Anteaters' 41.4 percent. By halftime, Ahmad had already racked up 12 points and five boards to lead all scorers. However, CSF was down by seven (31-24) going into the locker room.
Despite the Titans' efforts, the Anteaters came out from the break on an offensive tear starting the frame on an 11-4 run. UC Irvine pushed its lead to 10 several times before opening up their advantage to 16 points (55-39), which forced Cal State Fullerton to call for a timeout.
Following the break in action, UC Irvine managed to extend its lead to as many as 25 (67-42) by the 5:21 mark. Although down by more than 20, Cal State Fullerton stayed on UCI and cut the Anteaters' lead to 13 (70-57) with just under one minute left to play.
But, the Titans began chipping away too late in the game and dropped the contest by a score of 72-59.
ENTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Redshirt junior guard Tre' Coggins etched his name into the Cal State Fullerton record books with a career-best performance against CSUN in which he poured in 41 points to rank second all-time in the single-game annals. He also went 17-for-17 from the free throw line to set a Big West Conference record. Coggins is the first Titan to reach 41 points since Josh Akognon did it against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 13, 2008. With 41 points, Coggins now ties for second for most points scored in the CSF record single-game record book. He is tied with Akognon, who reached the feat twice in 2008, and sits behind Bobby Brown who tallied 47 points in 2006 against Bethune-Cookman.
DOUBLE VISION
Freshman guard Khalil Ahmad recorded his first double-double of his collegiate career in an 88-56 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. Ahmad tallied 15 points as he shot 60-percent overall (6-of-10) and led the squad with a career-high 12 rebounds. Senior center Kennedy Esume notched a double-double of his own as he registered a season-high 11 points to go along with 14 rebounds against Cal State East Bay. Most recently, Lionheart Leslie joined the double-double group notching his first double-double as a Titan against Hawai'i with 17 points and 10 rebounds - both career-highs for Leslie.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
The Titans have had a pair of post players who have done their job cleaning up the glass. Senior Kennedy Esume and sophomore Jamar Akoh are leading the team in rebounding. Esume has grabbed 102 boards to average 6.0 per game, while Akoh has pulled down 95 rebounds for an average of 5.9. The duo have combined for four of the Titans' six games with double-figure rebounds.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Tre' Coggins leads the Big West Conference with a free throw percentage of 85.5 percent after connecting on 53-of-62 free throws this season.
• The freshmen duo of Khalil Ahmad and Kyle Allman Jr., led the Titans at UC Irvine combining for 37 of the team's 59 points (nearly 63 percent).
• Lionheart Leslie recorded the first double-double of his Titan career with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Hawai'i - both of which are new career-highs.
• After four conference game, Tre' Coggins leads the league in scoring averaging 20.8 points per game.
• Kennedy Esume has gotten off to a solid start in conference action as the 6-foot-10 center leads the league with 4.0 offensive rebounds per game.
• Junior forward Rashard Todd has decided to leave the team.
• Redshirt senior guard Lanerryl Johnson has decided to leave the team.
BWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - TIMES TWO
Tre' Coggins has been named Big West Player of the Week on two occasions this season. He and Hawai'i's Roderick Bobbitt are the only two players in the league who have earned the honor more than once this season.
Coggins collected his second honor after posting a career-best 41 points against CSUN to rank second in the Cal State Fullerton single-game record book, while becoming the first Titan in eight years to reach the 40-point plateau.
His performance was the first 40-point effort by a Big West player since Corey Hawkins of UC Davis in January 2013. Additionally, he is the first Titan to reach 41 points since Josh Akognon did it against CSU Bakersfield on December 13, 2008.
Coggins is now tied with Akognan for second for most points scored in the CSF single-game record book and sits behind Bobby Brown, who tallied 47 points in 2006 against Bethune-Cookman.
Additionally, Coggins tied a Big West single-game free throw percentage record as he connected on all 17 attempts. He is just the second player in league history to accomplish such a feat. He finished the week shooting 95.7 percent (22-of-23) from the free throw line.
HELPING HANDS
The Titans have done a soild job this season of playing as a team and sharing the assist duties. Leading the way for Cal State Fullerton is Lionheart Leslie with 38 assists on the year, while Tre' Coggins is second on the team with 30 helpers. As a team, the Titans have accumulated 184 assists for an average of 10.8 per game.
ADDITIONAL TV GAME
ESPN has selected Cal State Fullerton's men's basketball game against UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 30, as a wild card selection for broadcast. The 7 p.m., contest will be played at Titan Gym and broadcast live on ESPN3. The game is also the Titans' homecoming game.
AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of 10 television appearances during the 2015-16 season.
The breakdown includes seven appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network and one on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
BIG WEST BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ALL-SESSION TICKETS ON SALE
All-session school reserved tickets will be available for $69.00. These seats will be 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 will be 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.
Fans can call the Cal State Fullerton ticket office to purchase all-session tickets as well at: 657-279-CSUF.
The 2016 Big West Tournament will be hosted for the sixth straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim. The men's tournament begins on Thursday, March 10 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 at Honda Center.
Additional ticket information for the 2016 Big West Basketball Tournament is available at HondaCenter.com. For up to date team schedules and general information regarding the 2016 Big West Basketball Tournament, please visit BigWestTournament.com.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton heads to UC Davis for a midweek, Big West Conference match up on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available on FullertonTitans.com.