Santa Clara (2-0) at Cal State Fullerton (1-1)
Saturday, November 16, 2013 | 3:00 p.m.
at Fullerton, Calif. • Titan Gym
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Video | Audio | CSF Release 
| Santa Clara Release
SERIES RECORDS
Overall: Santa Clara Leads 1-0
Titan Gym: 0-0
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Television: NA
Streaming Video: Streaming video will be available at www.fullertontitans.com
Audio Webcast: www.fullertontitans.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at www.fullertontitans.com
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for all home games can be purchased online at www.FullertonTitans.com as well as in person or by calling the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office at (657) 278-2783 from the hours of 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. On gamedays, tickets can be purchased one hour prior to tip-off at the Titan Gym ticket box office.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @FullertonHoops for updates during the 2013-14 season.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Santa Clara (2-0) will be making its first road trip of the season, while the Titans (1-1) will be hosting their first regular season home contest at Titan Gym, tipping off at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Broncos recorded an 89-77 win over San Jose State on Tuesday, and opened the year with an 84-39 victory over Bethesda University on Nov. 8.
Santa Clara is scoring 86.5 points per game, led by freshman guard Jared Brownridge, who is averaging 20.0 points and 4.5 assists per game.
Last year, Santa Clara completed the year with a record of 26-12 as the program won its second postseason title in three years, the CBI at George Mason on April 5 (80-77). The Broncos graduated five seniors, as Santa Clara must replace 13,455 minutes, 6,188 points, 2,149 rebounds, 705 assists and 492 steals.
HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. SANTA CLARA: Saturday's home opener against Santa Clara will mark just the second meeting between the Broncos and Titans. The first meeting occurred on Dec. 2, 1994 in Fresno, Calif., as the Broncos defeated Cal State Fullerton, 79-65, at the Coors Light Classic.
HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. THE WCC: Santa Clara is one of two West Coast Conference opponents for the Titans this season. Fullerton will also travel to Pepperdine on Wednesday, Dec. 4. All-time, the Titans hold a 97-102 record against current teams in the WCC.
HOME OPENERS: Cal State Fullerton boasts a record of 27-14 in home openers at Titan Gym, including nine straight. During that stretch, which dates back to the 2004-05 season, the Titans have averaged 37.3 points as a margin of victory. In the last nine home openers only one game featured a Division I opponent - an 85-75 victory over CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 27, 2010. Fullerton last failed to win a home opener on Nov. 29, 2003 as the Titans suffered a 78-71 overtime loss to Sacramento State.
HOME SWEET HOME: Cal State Fullerton is playing four of its first five games on the road - having already traveled to Montana State and Seattle - the Titans return to Titan Gym on Saturday to host Santa Clara at 3 p.m. The Titans will then make the short trip to USC on Tuesday before packing their bags for a game at San Jose State (Nov. 23). Following the team's return from the Bay Area, Titan Gym will host the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy tournament, and Fullerton's first game will be played against currently 17th-ranked Marquette.
INJURY UPDATE: Cal State Fullerton senior forward James Johnson is currently listed as day-to-day with a left foot injury.
ROSTER STATUS: Cal State Fullerton currently has 16 student-athletes listed on its roster, with 11 players having seen game action thus far in 2013-14. Corey Walker and Moses Morgan must redshirt the season due to NCAA transfer rules. Freshman guard Hidde Vos and junior guard James Douglas are expected to redshirt the season.
EARLY SEASON NOTES: Head coach Dedrique Taylor earned his first win as a head coach after the Titans defeated Montana State, 84-55, in Bozeman, Mont., on Saturday…Taylor is the fifth Titan head coach to win his first game at Cal State Fullerton…Cal State Fullerton won its season opener against a Division I opponent for the first time since a 75-67 win at BYU on Nov. 22, 1996 (the 2007-08 season opener was played against CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners as the program was in transition to Div. I status)…Cal State Fullerton's 29-point victory at Montana State was its largest margin of victory on the road since an 81-50 win at Utah on Dec. 7, 2011.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES: In the first half this season, Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 87-53 while shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent from three-point range. In addition, Fullerton is near perfect from the free-throw line, knocking down 11-of-12 attempts. In the second half, Cal State Fullerton has been outscored 77-68 and the Titans' shooting percentage has dropped to 41.5 percent including just 23.5 percent from three-point range and 69.0 percent (20-of-29) from the free-throw line.
TAKING ADVANTAGE: Cal State Fullerton held an 18-point second-half lead at Seattle on Wednesday night before the Redhawks ended the game on a 24-6 run for the come-from-behind victory. Despite the loss, Cal State Fullerton is still leading opponents in several categories: points scored (155-130), field goal percentage (.486-.396), three-point field goal percentage (.400-.311) and rebounds (73-57).
DOUBLE UP: In two games, Cal State Fullerton has totaled seven double-digit scoring performances as veterans Marquis Horne and Alex Harris have reached double figures on two occasions along with senior transfer Michael Williams.
FINAL PASS: The Titans have knocked down 54 buckets this year, but only 20 were led by a final pass as Fullerton has totaled just 20 assists. In comparison, Titan opponents have 23 assists on 40 made field goals.
MORE COMPARISONS: Cal State Fullerton has scored 20 second-chance points compared to opponents who have scored 11 second-chance points…the Titans have outscored opponents 50-32 in the paint this year.
AIR TIME: Currently, six Cal State Fullerton men's basketball games are set to be broadcast on television, starting with last Wednesday's game in Seattle, which was aired on ROOT Sports Northwest. In addition, Fullerton's game at USC on Tuesday will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. Each of Fullerton's three games at the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy Tournament will be aired on the ESPN family of networks. Fullerton's contest against UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 25 will be aired on Fox Sports Prime Ticket from Titan Gym.
A NEW ERA BEGINS: Former Arizona State associate head men's basketball coach and long-time college assistant Dedrique Taylor was appointed the 11th men's basketball head coach in Cal State Fullerton history, Athletic Director Jim Donovan announced on April 3, 2013.
"I think Dedrique is a perfect fit for the Cal State Fullerton program," Donovan said at the time. "His ties to Southern California will help us immensely in our recruiting efforts and his experience in a major conference like the Pac-12 will serve him well in helping bring our program into the upper echelons of the Big West Conference and compete for championships."
A NEW LOOK: Of the 16 players on Cal State Fullerton's roster, 10 had not suited up in a Cal State Fullerton uniform before the 2013-14 season. Two of those 10 players, Corey Walker and Moses Morgan, are not eligible to play this season due to NCAA Transfer rules.
Last Saturday at Montana State, freshman Sheldon Blackwell (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS), freshman Joe Boyd (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral HS), junior Josh Gentry (Indianapolis, Ind./Trinity Valley CC), junior Steve McClellan (Fresno, Calif./Louisiana-Monroe), freshman Ian Spruce (Playa Vista, Calif./Price HS), senior Michael Williams (Van Nuys, Calif./San Francisco) and freshman Floris Versteeg (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Canarias Basketball Academy) each made their Titan debuts.
REPLACING OFFENSE: Cal State Fullerton lost 60 percent of its scoring from last season with the departure of seniors Sammy Yeager (15.8 ppg), Kwame Vaughn (18.4 ppg) and D.J. Seeley (17.9 ppg).
Junior Alex Harris averaged 10.5 points per game last season, but averaged 14.3 points per game over the final eight games of the year, including a season-best 22 points at Cal Poly on March 9, 2013.
TITANS IN THE NBA: Former Cal State Fullerton men's basketball player Josh Akognon became the 12th former Titan to appear in the NBA on April 10, 2013 playing four minutes and scoring two points to go with an assist for the Dallas Mavericks in their 102-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center.
Akognon, who played two seasons for Fullerton from 2007-09, became the first Titan to appear in an NBA game since Bobby Brown (2003-07) competed for the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers in the 2009-10 season.
DIRECTV WOODEN LEGACY: Tickets for the seventh annual Wooden Legacy, a multi-team collegiate basketball tournament are currently on sale. Eight teams are competing in the highly anticipated event: Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, College of Charleston, Creighton, George Washington, Marquette, Miami and San Diego State.
The tournament will be held at two sites over the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend, with the opening two rounds being played at Cal State Fullerton November 28 & 29, and four placement contests featuring the championship game Sunday, December 1 at Honda Center.
All-session tickets and individual tickets for Championship Sunday are available at www.ticketmaster.com, via phone at (800) 745-3000, and all Ticketmaster outlets, and at the Honda Center Box Office.