Cal State Fullerton Game Notes (PDF)
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team returns to the Bay Area to square off at War Memorial Gym against the University of San Francisco at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday.
FROM THE TIP
• Cal State Fullerton returns to the Bay Area this weekend after suffering a loss at Saint Mary's on Monday night.
• Senior guard Khalil Ahmad, the Nov. 19 Big West Player of the Week, is tops on the team and second in the Big West in scoring at 18.8 points per game. He had a strong showing at the Myrtle Beach Invitational as he earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Over the three-game tournament he averaged 25.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals, including a 40-point outburst against Monmouth. He's also second in the league in steals per game at 2.10.
• Senior guard Kyle Allman, Jr., Allman is second on the team and third in the league in points per game at 18.8. He's third on the squad in assists and tied a career-high against Wake Forest (Nov. 16) with eight helpers. The Brooklyn native has scored has scored 10+ in 29 of his last 30 games. Allman has scored 30+ six times over the course of this season and last season.
• Ahmad became the 24th Titan in program history to score 1,000 points in a career after scoring 31 at UC Davis (Feb. 10, 2018). He has totaled 1,337 points in his career, the eighth-best mark in the program. Allman joined him in the 1K Club on Feb. 28 when he scored 23 points at CSUN (Feb. 16, 2018). He sits 1,271 points for his career, No. 12 all-time.
• Junior forward Jackson Rowe has been doing a bit of everything on the floor. He is averaging 10.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. He leads the team in both rebounds and blocks, and had a career-high four rejections against Monmouth (Nov. 18). He's shooting an impressive 58.6% (34-58) from the field this year. Rowe has played 39 minutes for the Titans this year and the team has out-scored the opponent by 69 points (+11.50 per 40 minutes) in that timeframe, the best mark on the team.
2018 BIG WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
The Titans won the league tournament for the third time in program history. In the quarterfinal round, the No. 4 seeded CSF defeated Long Beach State by a score of 76-74 with the Titans getting a defensive stop on the final possession to secure the win. In the semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed UC Davis, the Titans came back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to beat the Aggies 55-52. After two nail biters, CSF cruised to a 71-55 victory over UC Irvine in the final, leading for over 36 minutes of the game and played what head coach Dedrique Taylor called, the team's best game of the year. The trio of Allman, Ahmad and Rowe combined to score 145 of the 202 points CSF scored in those three games.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16 AT SAN FRANCISCO || 1 PM PT
Series Record: 4-5
Home Record: 1-2
Away Record: 2-3
Neutral Record: 1-0
Current Streak: L1
First Meeting: 3/16/78 vs. USF (N), W, 75-72
Last Meeting: 12/10/05 at USF, L, 93-91 (OT)
SAN FRANCISCO NOTES
The San Francisco Dons are 9-1 on the year and their only loss came to No. 21 Buffalo by a score of 85-81.
The Dons have the No. 28 defense in the country, allowing just 94.3 points per 100 possessions. As a team, they are No. 8 in the country in rebounding margin at +12.4. and they have the No. 11 three-point field goal defense, forcing opponents to shoot just 26.8 percent from distance.
On the offensive end, the Dons have the No. 8 ranked scoring margin in the country at 22.1. Charles Minlend leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game but three other players average double figures as well.
JACK OF ALL TRADES
For CSF, junior guard Austen Awosika is fourth on the team in scoring (7.6 points per game), first in assists (4.1 per game), third in blocks (9 total, 0.90 per game), third in steals (1.0 per game) and second in rebounding (4.8 per game). He led the team in the category last year and is tops on the team again this year in assist percentage (an estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals assisted while on the floor) at 24.1%.
FINDING THE RIGHT LINEUPS
The Titans are still early in the season and have dealt with key players missing some games early on but the Titans have found success with the quintet of Kyle Allman, Jr., Austen Awosika, Khalil Ahmad, Jamal Smith and Jackson Rowe. In 28:56 on the floor together, that group has a plus/minus of +23, scoring 71 points and allowing 48. Allman, Awosika, Ahmad, Rowe and sophomore forward Johnny Wang are +22 in 32:44 on the floor.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS
In addition to Khalil Ahmad and Kyle Allman, Jr. climbing the rankings of all-time points as a Titan, the duo added their names to the list of individual scoring performances in a single game this season. Ahmad scored 40 points against Monmouth (Nov. 18) and had a historic day, setting career highs in points (40), field goals made (13, on just 22 shots) and three-point field goals made (8). He is just the fifth Titan to ever score 40 points or more in a game, joining Bobby Brown, Tre' Coggins, Josh Akognon and Kyle Allman, Jr. Ahmad's 40 points was the highest point total ever in a men's basketball game at the HTC Center, breaking the previous record of 36 set by Quinton Wood on Dec. 13, 2013.
Allman scored 38 points at Hofstra (Nov. 21), tied for the seventh-best scoring performance in a single game in program history and just two points off his career-high. He knocked down a career-high eight three-point field goals, improving on his previous best of five.
Allman now has four of the top 30 scoring performances in CSF history while Ahmad has two.
ONLY TWO NEW FACES
The Titans just two newcomers to the squad this season in freshman guard Wayne Arnold and forward Amel Kuljuhovic. Arnold prepped at Dominguez High School in Compton while Kuljuhovic is a transfer from Lake Land College. Arnold is a high-level shooter he showed against West Coast Baptist when he scored 23 points to lead all scorers, including four three-point field goals. He is averaging 4.3 points and 12.8 minutes per game. Kuljuhovic has the size to work down low but can also stretch the defense with his jump shot. He is averaging 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game.
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 (@FullertonMBB) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonMBB).