FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's basketball faces Utah Valley for the second time this season, but this matchup will take place in Orem, Utah. The final game of 2017 and the final non-conference matchup of the year for the Titans will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT in the UCCU Center.
FROM THE TIP
• The Titans secured a win at Loyola Marymount before Christmas and had one of their best outings of the season in the process. CSF has won six of its last seven games, including a win at home over Utah Valley on Dec. 9 by a score of 91-83.
• Junior guard Kyle Allman, Jr. is tops on the team and fourth in the Big West Conference in scoring at 16.7 on 49.2 percent shooting from the field. He's tied for second on the team in assists at 2.5 per game (28 total) and is first on the team in steals with 15 (1.4 per game). Allman has scored 20+ points four times this season and 30+ points on two occasions. The Brooklyn native has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games.
• Junior guard Khalil Ahmad, the Big West Player of the Week on Dec. 11, is second on the squad and fifth in the Big West in scoring at 15.9 points per game. He has been on a tear lately, scoring 24 points, 34 points, 21 points and 25 points in each of the last four games. He is the team's most prolific three-point shooter at 25-66 (37.0%) from beyond the arc. Ahmad has made at least four three-point field goals in three of the last four games.
• Sophomore forward Jackson Rowe is third in the conference in field goal percentage at 60.8 (45-74). Rowe is one of three Titans to average double figures in scoring at 12.4 per game. He leads the team in rebounding at 6.0 per game and is also shooting a remarkable 66.7 percent (14-21) from beyond the arc, the top mark in the Big West.
• The Titans have one of the best defenses in the Big West Conference and rank very well in statistical categories such as opponent field goal percentage (41.5%, No. 3 in BWC), opponent three-point field goal percentage (30.1%, No. 35 in the country, No. 2 in BWC) and points allowed per game (69.5, No. 3 in BWC).
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30 AT UTAH VALLEY || 5 PM PT
Series Record: 1-0
Home Record: 1-0
Away Record: 0-0
Neutral Record: 0-0
Current Streak: Won One
First Meeting: 12/09/17 vs. Utah Valley, W, 91-83
Last Meeting: 12/09/17 vs. Utah Valley, W, 91-83
UTAH VALLEY NOTES
• The Wolverines are 9-5 this season but they are 6-1 at home. All five starters average double figures in scoring but they are led by Akolda Manyang who scores 14.6 points a night and shoots 64.8% from the field. His field-goal percentage is the 19th-best percentage in the country.
• Utah Valley is sixth in the nation in rebounding margin at +10.5. They average 12.6 offensive rebounds per game, a top-50 mark in the country.
• Manyang blocks 2.71 shots per game, the No. 22 mark in the NCAA.
• In the first matchup this season on Dec. 9, each of Utah Valley's five starters came into the game averaging double figures and all five of them scored double figures. Kenneth Ogbe led the team with 17 points while Akolda Manyang and Jake Toolson each had 15 points. There were 14 lead changes and the score was tied seven times before CSF pulled away in the end.
SET THE TABLE
For CSF, Sophomore guard Austen Awosika is third on the team in rebounding at 4.8 per game and leads the squad in assists at 3.4. He has hauled in at least three rebounds in every game this season. He has assisted on a team-high 24.5% of his teammates field goals while he's on the court and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.85, also the best mark on the team. Awosika also leads the team in +/- rating at a cumulative total of +65 for the season. Essentially, when Awosika has been on the court this seasons, CSF outscores its opponent by 65 points.
MOVE THE BALL
Head coach Dedrique Taylor has emphasized ball movement to the team and it is still a work-in-progress as the team is fourth in assists per game in the conference at 13.5. At this point in the season, the Titans average 16.0 assists in their seven wins and only 9.0 in their losses. The Titans dished out a season-high 20 assists on Dec. 22 at Loyola Marymount.
CHARITY STRIPE
CSF entered The Wooden Legacy ranked 351st in the nation in free-throw percentage at 49%. Since then, the team has shot better than 70% in seven of eight games, including three games greater than 83%. The Titans have shot 74.9% in their seven wins and 62.4 in their four losses on the year. The squad is 6-0 when it makes more free throws than the opponent and 5-2 when it has more attempts.
TURNOVER WOES
Taylor has a whiteboard at practice that faces the court and a student manager tracks turnovers and deflections for each individual. It is a point of emphasis for him and the team as he mentions it after every game. The Titans average 15.6 turnovers per game and are still looking to cut that number down.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS
Jackson Rowe and Kyle Allman, Jr. both had their names etched into the Cal State Fullerton record book after The Wooden Legacy over Thanksgiving weekend. Allman poured in a career-high 34 points against Georgia (Nov. 23), one of the best scoring performances in program history. Rowe tied a 37-year old school record for the best field goal percentage in a single game, as he shot 10-10 from the field against Harvard (11/26/17) for a career-high 25 points.
Khalil Ahmad had one of the best scoring performances as well, tying Allman with 34 points of his own against Utah Valley (Dec. 9) with a career-high six three-point field goals.
PICK YOUR SPOTS
The Titans have tried to pick their spots better in transition and slow the game down in order to get better shots and try to cut down on the turnovers. Taylor is still looking for the team to push the ball when they can but after 11 games, the team averages 71.1 possessions per 40 minutes (KenPom) which is 107th in the country.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Khalil Ahmad was named Big West Player of the Week on Dec. 11 for his play over the week of Dec. 4-10. Ahmad earned his first career Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week award after helping Cal State Fullerton win its fourth and fifth straight games. The 6-4 guard averaged 29.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as the Titans defeated Portland (76-66) on the road and Utah Valley (91-83) at home. He poured in a career-high 34 points against the Wolverines, aided by a career-best six three-point makes in 10 attempts. He shot 11-for-21 overall against Utah Valley. He scored 24 points at Portland, hitting on 8-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-7 from three-point range. He shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from distance for the week.
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