GAME 28
Cal State Fullerton vs. UC Santa Barbara
Thursday, March 2 | 7:00 p.m.
Fullerton, Calif. | Titan Gym
Live Stream: ESPN3/WatchESPN
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: Stretch Internet
Series Record: UCSB Leads 48-35
FULLERTON, Calif. --- Cal State Fullerton hosts its final home game of the regular season Thursday night as UC Santa Barbara comes into Titan Gym.
SENIOR NIGHT
The Titans will honor their four seniors with a pregame ceremony. Fullerton's seniors are: Tre' Coggins, Lionheart Leslie, Richard Peters and Darcy Malone.
BUY A TICKET, GET IN FREE TO BIG WEST TOURNEY - CLICK HERE
Fans that buy a reserved seat to Thursday's game vs. UC Santa Barbara will receive a ticket to the Big West Conference Tournament! Valid for online purchases only and for the first 100 tickets sold.
TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
PARKING FOR HOME GAMES - CLICK HERE TO BUY ONLINE
Parking for games played Mon-Thurs. is $8. Permit machines located in lots A, D, G, S and on the ground level of the parking structures accept Discover, MasterCard, and Visa, only. The machines located in surface lots accept $1 & $5 bills only. Parking can also be purchased online by visiting the Cal State Fullerton Parking and Transportation website. Daily permits are valid in student lots and parking structures, unless restricted. After 4pm daily permits are valid in College Park Faculty/Staff. After 6pm daily permits are valid in Lots A Faculty/Staff, E Faculty/Staff, C-West, and C-East. Parking for Fullerton games played on weekends (Fri.-Sun) is free after 5 p.m. Friday through the weekend. Please plan accordingly when attending an athletic event at Cal State Fullerton.
ON THE AIR
Thursday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Trent Rush (PXP), Richie Schueler (Analyst) and Sanaz Tavassol (Sideline) on the call. The Titans will make a total of 11 television appearances during the 2016-17 season. The breakdown includes seven appearances via ESPN3, two on Fox Sports Prime Ticket, one on the Pac-12 Network, and one on the Mountain West Network.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
UC Santa Barbara | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3
Thursday, March 2 | Titan Gym
The Titans had their four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in Hawai'i but are still winners of six of their last eight games, which included a victory over the Gauchos on Feb. 2. As for the visitors, they have won two of their last three games, both at home. The Gauchos will be looking for their first road victory of the season as they close out the 2016-17 season at Fullerton and at Cal Poly.
Head-To-Head:
The Titans and Gauchos will meet for the 84th time on Thursday. Fullerton will be looking for its first season sweep of the Gauchos since the 2008-09 season. The Gauchos lead the all-time series 45-38.
Last Meeting:
Cal State Fullerton dominated UC Santa Barbara Thursday night en route to a 79-53 victory at The Thunderdome in Isla Vista, Calif. The Titans had five players score in double figures, led by guard Tre' Coggins and his 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Coggins was 6-for-9 from beyond the arc as the team collectively hit nine 3-pointers against the Gauchos (3-17, 1-7). Austen Awosika scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting in just 13 minutes off the bench while Jackson Rowe, Kyle Allman, and Khalil Ahmad each added 11 points.
TITANS AND CONFERENCE PLAY
Cal State Fullerton is in its 43rd season as a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West Conference and holds an overall record of 298-392 all-time. The PCAA changed its name to the Big West Conference in the 1988-89 season and since then, the Titans hold a 195-289 record. Fullerton won regular season titles in 1975-76 (PCAA) and 2007-08 (Big West) and conference tournament championships in 1977-78 (PCAA) and 2007-08 (Big West). From 1967-74, CSF played in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and posted a 24-36 mark.
LAST TIME OUT - HAWAI'I 64, CAL STATE FULLERTON 58 (OT)
Sheriff Drammeh hit the game-tying free throw with four seconds left and Hawai'i outscored Cal State Fullerton in overtime as the Titans five-game winning streak came to an end, 64-58, Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Titans led for the majority of the second half but the Rainbow Warriors were able to get to the free throw line in the second half and overtime to comeback and defeat Fullerton to snap the Titans winning streak. Tre' Coggins led the Titans with 15 points while Jackson Rowe recorded his second straight double-double and fifth of the season, scoring 10 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in 38 minutes of action. Arkim Robertson grabbed five boards for Fullerton and added three blocks.
THE WILD WEST
Fullerton currently sits in the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Big West Conference Tournament. The Titans are two games back of UC Irvine and UC Davis for first place and are tied with Hawai'i for the third best conference record in the Big West. Hawai'i is currently ineligible for the Big West Tournament this year pending an appeal to the NCAA.
MOST IMPROVED
According to Friday's NCAA stats report, the Titans are currently ranked as the 39th most improved team in the nation with two games left to play. Fullerton has four more victories than last season and seven fewer losses than 2015-16. The average difference of 5.5 ranks 39th.
FO', FO', FO'
Senior Lionheart Leslie has been terrorizing the passing lanes during the last five games. He's collected four steals in a game in three straight outings and has recorded 17 steals in his last five games, averaging a team-best 3.4 per game in that stretch. He ranks fifth in the conference with a 1.4 steals per game average while his 37 steals rank fourth in the Big West.
STEALING THE GAME
The Titans snagged 11 more steals against Hawai'i on Saturday night. Fullerton has now recorded 64 steals in its last seven games, an 9.14 per game average. It was the second most steals by the Titans in a game this season and marked the fourth time they've recorded double-digit steals in a game. Overall, Fullerton is now averaging 6.7 steals per game this season, which ranks second in the Big West behind CSUN's 6.9 spg average.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Titans are 2-3 in overtime games this season following Saturday night's loss at Hawai'i with both wins coming at home. While the Titans won a double overtime game against Portland State, the win over Portland on Dec. 22 marked Fullerton's first win in a single-OT game since Jan. 8, 2011 when the Titans defeated UC Riverside, 83-77, on the road. Under head coach Dedrique Taylor, the Titans are currently 2-8 in games that go into overtime. The five overtime games this year mark the most overtime games in a season in Taylor's tenure. This season also marks the second time a Fullerton team has played multiple overtime games in a season under Taylor. The Titans played three overtime games during the 2014-15 campaign.
TITANS TEAM RANKS
The Titans are second in the Big West Conference in blocks per game (3.9) and total blocks (105), defensive rebounds per game (26.67) and overall rebounding at 37.56 a game. Additionally, Fullerton is ranked third in the Big West in scoring average (73.3 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (44.6%), and second in field goal percentage defense (42.1%).
PAINT BY NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 860-673 in the paint this season. The Titans have been outscored in the paint four times this season after UCR outscored them 32-20 on Feb. 16. Prior to that, Fullerton had not been outscored in the paint since Jan. 14 at UC Irvine.
BIG WEST SUCCESS
The Titans eight victories so far in conference play mark the most wins in conference for Fullerton in the Dedrique Taylor era and the most Big West victories since the 2011-12 season when the Titans went 12-4 in the Big West to lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
The Titans wrap up the 2016-17 regular season Saturday night as they head to the Matadome to face CSUN at 7:30 p.m.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the basketball team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonHoops) and Instagram accounts (@FullerotonHoops).
