Cal State Fullerton Game Notes (PDF)
FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's basketball will face the UC Irvine Anteaters on Saturday night at the Honda Center with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Titans and Anteaters will tip at 9 p.m. PT with the game being broadcast live on ESPN2. This is just the third time in program history that the Titans have reached the final of the conference tournament.
FROM THE TIP
The Titans came back from 13 down in the second half to defeat the reigning Big West Champions and defending Big West Tournament Champions in UC Davis on Friday night. The win put CSF in the BWT final for the first time since 2008, the last time the program made the NCAA Tournament. That final was also against UC Irvine.
• It was announced on March 5 that junior guard Kyle Allman, Jr. was named to the All-Big West Conference first team, junior guard Khalil Ahmad was named to the second team and sophomore forward Jackson Rowe was an honorable mention.
• Junior guard Kyle Allman, Jr., the Jan. 8 and Jan. 29 Big West Player of the Week, is first in the league in scoring at 19.2 points per game overall and in just BWC play, he led the way at 21.6 ppg. Allman is shooting 48.8 percent from the field, the No. 1 mark in the league (per NCAA). He's second on the team in assists at 2.3 per game (70 total) and is second on the team in steals with 33 (1.1 per game). Allman has scored 20+ points 15 times this season, including five of the last seven games, and 30+ points on four occasions. The Brooklyn native has scored in double figures in 26 of 30 games in 2017-18. Allman has made eight or more free-throw attempts 11 times this year.
• Junior guard Khalil Ahmad, the Big West Player of the Week on Dec. 11 and Feb. 12, is second on the squad and sixth in the Big West in scoring at 15.1 points per game. He's made the most three-point field goals on the squad at 53. He has made four or more three-point field goals in eight games this season. Ahmad is shooting 82.5% percent from the free-throw line this year, which is the No. 6 mark in the BWC.
• Ahmad became the 24th Titan in program history to score 1,000 points in a career after scoring 31 at UC Davis (Feb. 10). Allman joined him in the 1K Club on Feb. 28 when he scored 23 points at CSUN.
• Sophomore forward Jackson Rowe is first in the conference in field goal percentage (per Big West) at 58.7(132-225). Rowe is one of three Titans to average double figures in scoring at 12.4 per game. He leads the team and is fifth in the league in rebounding, hauling in 6.9 per contest. For the year, Rowe is also shooting 41.8 percent (23-55) from beyond the arc. Rowe has recorded four double-doubles during the season and was flirting with a triple-double against CSUN (Feb. 17) when he had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He is the team's leading shot blocker with 29 on the season.
TITAN FANS
For tonight's game, There will be 200 complimentary tickets for the first 200 students and 200 free shirts to the first 200 fans who come through the CSUF Player Guest Table which is located at the Player Guest Entrance on the East Side of the Arena. Gates open to the arena at 8 p.m. PT.
SATURDAY, MARCH 10 VS. UC IRVINE || 9 PM PT
Series Record: 54-53
Home Record: 24-25
Away Record: 24-26
Neutral Record: 6-2
Current Streak: Lost one
First Meeting: 01/15/66 at UC Irvine, L, 74-68
Last Meeting: 02/03/18 vs. UC Irvine, L, 63-58
UC IRVINE NOTES
• The Anteaters, who have been to the BWT Final two years in a row and three times in the last four years, boast an overall record of 18-16 and have gone 10-2 in their last 12 games. Evan Leonard, a second-team All-Big West honoree this year, leads the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game and right behind at 11.3 points per game is Eyassu Worku. Worku is the team's leader in assists at 3.8 per game and was named to the All-Big West honorable mention team.
• Tommy Rutherford, a first-team All-Big West honoree, averages 10.2 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. Jonathan Galloway, the only Anteater to start all 34 games this season, was named the Big WEst Defensive Player of the Year.
• UCI leads the league and is 92nd in the nation in blocks per game at 3.9. Four student-athletes have 20+ blocks and they are led by Galloway who has blocked 44 on the year and 1.29 per game.
• UC Irvine owns the backboard, it has a rebounding margin of +7.6 (No. 10 in the country) for the season and is sixth in the nation in total rebounds per game at 41.24.
• The Anteaters are fourth in the country and first in the league at field goal percentage defense with a mark of 38.8. Per KenPom, UCI has the 47th-best defense in the nation, allowing just 98.0 points per 100 possessions.
SET THE TABLE
For CSF, sophomore guard Austen Awosika is fourth on the team in scoring (7.5 ppg), third on the team in rebounding (3.8 rpg) and leads the squad in assists at 2.7. He has hauled in at least three rebounds in 23 of 30 games this season. He has assisted on a team-high 18.9% of his teammates field goals while he's on the court. Awosika also leads the team in +/- rating at a cumulative total of +107 for the season. Essentially, when Awosika has been on the court this season, CSF outscores its opponent by 107 points.
MOVE THE BALL
Head coach Dedrique Taylor has emphasized ball movement to the team and it is still a work-in-progress but has been better later in the season as the team is third in assists per game in the conference at 12.8. At this point in the season, the Titans average 14.8 assists in their wins and only 9.5 in their losses. The Titans dished out a season-high 21 assists on Feb. 17 against Cal State Northridge.
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 all but five games, including seven games greater than 83%. The squad is 12-2 when it makes more free throws than the opponent and 12-5 when it has more attempts. In 22 of 30 games, CSF had 20 or more attempts at the line. CSF is second in the league in both free throws attempts (709) and free throws made (519) on the year.
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 14.4 turnovers per game and are still looking to cut that number down. On Feb. 17 against Cal State Northridge, the Titans had a season-low eight turnovers.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS
Allman had his name 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. He then had the fifth-best scoring performance in CSF history on Jan. 27 at Hawai'i when he scored 40 points on 16-19 shooting.
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.
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 threes made. He also recorded the third-best performance in program history from the free-throw line in a single game. He shot 100% from the stripe on 14 attempts at Utah Valley on Dec. 30.
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 and after 30 games, the team averages 69.9 possessions per 40 minutes (KenPom) which is ranked No. 95 in the country.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After scoring a career-high 40 points on Saturday night, junior guard Kyle Allman, Jr. was recognized as the Big West Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season and the third time in his career. He averaged 32.0 points per game in a 1-1 split at home against UC Santa Barbara and at Hawai'i. He scored a career-high 40 points, one point off the Stan Sheriff Center single-game points record. Allman dished out a team-high four assists, meaning he had a role in 49 of the team's 69 points in a 69-66 victory.
Allman also earned Big West Player of the Week honors on Jan. 8 after averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in a pair of Titan victories. Over the two wins against UC Riverside (68-65, Jan. 3) and Cal Poly (101-97, Jan. 6), the guard shot 55.2 percent (16 of 29) from the field and connected at 72.2 percent (13 of 18) from the charity stripe.
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 shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from distance for the week.
Ahmad also earned the honor on Feb. 12 after averaging 26.5 points on 70.4% shooting in a pair of Titan victories last weekend. Ahmad shot a remarkable 70.4% (19-of-27) from the floor overall, including five made three-pointers (in 10 attempts) while sinking all but one of his 11 free throw tries.
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 (@FullertonHoops).
