GAME 30
No. 6 CSUN vs. No. 3 Cal State Fullerton
Thursday, March 9 | 2:30 p.m.
Anaheim, Calif. | Honda Center
TV: FOX Sports West
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Fullerton Leads 42-35
Game Notes (PDF)
THIS WEEK
The Titans (16-13, 10-6) finished the regular season winners of eight of their last 10 games and with the most overall and conference victories in a season since the 2011-12 campaign. The Titans, the No. 3 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament, will tangle with the No. CSUN 6 Matadors (11-18, 7-9) Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Honda Center.
TICKETS
The Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office is selling All Session and Thursday Session tickets to the Big West Men's Basketball Conference Tournament at Honda Center. Click HERE for more information.
OPPONENT & HISTORY
CSUN | 2:30 p.m. | FOX Sports West
Thursday, March 9 | Honda Center
Play-by-Play: Kevin Barnett | Analyst: Corey Maggette | Sideline: Kaileigh Brandt
The Titans enter the 2017 Big West Tournament on a roll, winning eight of their last 10 games after defeating CSUN, 86-78, at The Matadome on Saturday night. The Matadors are trying to put a halt to their current five-game losing streak.
Head-To-Head: The Titans and Matadors are slated to meet for the 78th time on Thursday afternoon. The Titans currently hold the edge in the all-time series, 42-35, and Saturday's victory over CSUN snapped a four-game losing streak to the Matadors.
At the Big West Tournament: Fullerton is 3-2 against CSUN at the Big West Tournament, meeting four times in the first round and once in the semifinals. The last Big West Tournament meeting took place between the two teams in 2011 as the Matadors were the No. 3 seed and Fullerton was the No. 6 seed. CSUN won 75-54 at Honda Center.
Last Meeting: Kyle Allman, Jr., hit his first seven shots of the game while Tre' Coggins and Khalil Ahmad combined for 38 points as Cal State Fullerton defeated CSUN 86-78 Saturday night at The Matadome. Fullerton handed the Matadors their fifth straight loss to end the year after shooting 50 percent (27-for-54) from the field and out-rebounding the Matadors 37-34.Allman set a new career high with 28 points on 9-for-14 shooting and did not miss his first shot until the second half, going 7-for-7 to start the game. Coggins added 21 points and tied his career high with eight rebounds while Ahmad added 17 points and five boards.
LOOKING FOR 300
Cal State Fullerton is in its 43rd season as a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West Conference. The team landed its 300th conference victory all-time on Saturday night. The Titans currently hold an overall record of 300-392 all-time. The PCAA changed its name to the Big West Conference in the 1988-89 season and since then, the Titans hold a 197-289 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.
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Cal State Fullerton has an overall record of 22-35 (.386) at the Big West Tournament, and the Titans enter the tournament having lost six in a row dating back to 2010.
• Fullerton did not advance to the Big West Tournament in 2015, and in 2016 as the No. 8 seed, suffered a 75-44 quarterfinal loss to the 2015-16 Big West regular season champion and No. 1 seed, Hawai'i.
• Fullerton's last win at the Big West Tournament came in 2010 when the Titans, the No. 5 seed, opened the tournament with an 84-76 win over eighth-seeded CSUN in the first round of play.
• The last time the Titans were the No. 3 seed at the Big West Tournament was 2008. Fullerton defeated UC Riverside, 81-69, in the quarterfinals, upset No. 2 CSUN, 83-68, in the semifinals and in the championship game, beat fifth-seeded UC Irvine, 81-66, to win the Big West Tournament championship and earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
• More Notes: Fullerton is 3-5 in the quarterfinals...the Titans are 0-5 at Honda Center....the Titans have been the No. 3 seed six times with a 12-4 record...Fullerton has played the No. 6 seed five times with a 4-1 record.
BACK-TO-BACK BIG WEST ALL-CONFERENCE
Freshman forward Jackson Rowe was named the 2016-17 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year, while senior guards Tre' Coggins and Lionheart Leslie were named Big West First Team and Honorable Mention, respectively, as voted on by the league's nine coaches, it was announced on Monday.
Rowe is the fourth Cal State Fullerton player to be voted Big West Freshman of the Year and the second in a row for fourth-year head coach Dedrique Taylor, as sophomore Khalil Ahmad took home the honor last season.
In his first year with Fullerton, Rowe is averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He is ranked third in the Big West in rebounding average and leads the conference in field goal percentage (.546).The native of Toronto has totaled 17 double-figure scoring games, two 20-point games, six double-figure rebounding games, five double-doubles, and has led the team in rebounding on 14 occasions.
For the second straight season, Coggins received all-conference honors, named to the Big West First Team in his senior year after leading Cal State Fullerton and the Big West Conference averaging 17.5 points per game.
Furthermore the San Juan Capistrano, Calif, native has totaled 23 double-figure scoring games, including 12 20-point games and two 30-point efforts. He has also led the team in scoring 17 times this season.Coggins logged his 21st career 20-point game as a Titan on Saturday night. He also has surpassed the 900-point mark, giving him 925 points in 56 career games at Fullerton.
Leslie was named honorable mention after averaging 10.1 points per game and leading the Titans in both assists (67) and steals (44) as well as getting to 4.0 rebounds per game.
This season the native of Houma, La., totaled 11 double-figure scoring games, including four 20-point efforts. He led the team in scoring on six occasions, led the Titans in rebounding seven times, and led Fullerton in assists 11 times.
Entering the Big West Tournament, Leslie has recorded 24 steals in his last seven games.The Titans have received 68 Big West all-conference honors, including first team, second team and honorable mention, dating back to 1976. Coggins is the first Titan since D.J. Seeley in 2012 to be named to the Big West First Team.
AVOIDING THE BROOM CLOSET
Cal State Fullerton accomplished something on Saturday night that it had not done since the 2011-12 season; avoid a season-sweep in conference play. Fullerton split six of its season series with conference opponents (CSUN, UC Irvine, UC Davis, Long Beach State, Hawai'i and UC Riverside) and swept two (UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly) series.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Cal State Fullerton wrapped up the 2016-17 home schedule on Thursday night with a victory and thus finished the year with a 12-3 record at Titan Gym, Fullerton's best home record since the Titans went 13-1 in 2011-12. It's also the 13th time since the 1974-75 season that the Titans have recorded double-digit home victories in a season. The Titans have won 12 games two times (2006-07 the last) and 13 games twice (2011-12, 1982-83).
NEWS ON THE BBC: BUCKING THE TREND
Fullerton recorded it's 16th victory of the season on Saturday night. It is the most wins by a Titans team since the 2011-12 season when they went 21-10 and finished as the No. 2 seed in the conference. Furthermore, Fullerton recorded it's 10th win in conference, locking up a winning record in the Big West for the first time since the 2011-12 season and just the second time since the 2008-09 season. In fact, it's just the fifth time since the 1999-2000 season that Fullerton has logged a winning record in conference.
MOST IMPROVED
According to last Wednesday's NCAA stats report, the Titans are currently ranked as the 39th most improved team in the nation. Fullerton has six more victories than last season and seven fewer losses than 2015-16.
DON'T FEED THE LIONS
Senior Lionheart Leslie had a memorable senior night on Thursday as the Houma, La. native set a new career best with six assists while committing no turnovers. Also, the 5-foot-9 guard recorded four steals in a game for the fourth straight time in the win over UCSB. He's now recorded 24 steals in his last seven games and has upped his season average to 1.5 steals a game, which along with his 44 total steals ties him third in the Big West Conference.
TRE' X 300 = EXCELLENCE
Senior Tre' Coggins logged his 21st career 20-point game as a Titan on Saturday night. He also surpassed the 900-point mark on Thursday night, and has now reached 925 points in 56 career games at Fullerton. His 16.5 points per game career average currently ranks him No. 15 on the Cal State Fullerton all-time scoring list. Including his time at Air Force, Coggins has scored 1,431 points in his NCAA Division I career and that mark would place him seventh on the Fullerton all-time points list had they all come with the Titans.
INJURY REPORT
Freshman Jackson Rowe has missed Fullerton's last two games with a foot injury. He is currently listed as day-to-day. In his first season with Fullerton, Rowe is averaging 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He is ranked third in the Big West in rebounding average and leads the conference in field goal percentage (.546).
THIS IS A HOLDUP!
The Titans have turned up the pressure on the passing lanes of late and that trend continued on Saturday night against the Matadors. Fullerton recorded seven more steals on Saturday and have now tallied 78 steals in its last nine games, an 8.66 per game average. They've recorded double-digit steals in a game four times this season including 11 at Hawai'i. 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.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Cal State Fullerton recorded a season-low eight turnovers on Thursday night against UCSB. It was only the second time this season that Fullerton has recorded single-digit turnovers, with the other occasion coming on Feb. 2 at UCSB, when the Titans turned it over nine times.
WORKING OVERTIME
The Titans are 2-3 in overtime games this season, 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 field goal percentage (.447), free throw attempts per game (23.9), defensive rebounds per game (26.7), total rebounds per game (37.4), rebound margin per game (3.5), steals per game (6.7), and blocks per game (3.8). Fullerton ranks third in points per game (73.4), field goals made per game (25.6), free throws made per game (16.1), and opponents' field goal percentage (.423).
PAINT BY NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 920-743 in the paint this season. The Titans have been outscored in the paint five times this season after CSUN outscored them 48-32 on Saturday. Prior to that, Fullerton had not been outscored in the paint since UCR outscored them 32-20 on Feb. 16.
SNAPPING STREAKS
Cal State Fullerton has eliminated a pair of long and dubious losing streaks this season. Earlier this year, Fullerton defeated Hawai'i to snap a 10-game losing streak to the Rainbow Warriors. On Feb. 22, the Titans eliminated another streak with a 56-54 win over UC Irvine, putting a halt to their 10-game losing streak to the Anteaters. On Saturday night, Fullerton snapped a four-game losing streak to CSUN.
20/20 VISION
Tre' Coggins and Kyle Allman each recorded 20-point games in the Titans win at CSUN on Saturday. It was the fourth time this season the Titans had a pair of 20-point scorers. Coggins and Allman each recorded 20-plus in a 106-100 double overtime win over Portland State on Nov. 13.
THUNDER UP
The Titans victory over UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 2 snapped a five-game losing streak to the Gauchos and marked the first time Fullerton has won in The Thunderdome since Jan. 10, 2009. It also tied for Fullerton's biggest victory over UCSB in program history. The Titans beat UCSB 84-58 on Feb. 12, 1983 in Santa Barbara. Thursday also marked the Titans biggest win over the Gauchos since March 1, 1997, a 74-60 win at Titan Gym. It was also the biggest win in Santa Barbara since Feb. 18, 1984 when Fullerton scored a 77-57 win.
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.
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