No. 25 Marquette (3-2) at Cal State Fullerton (2-3)
Thursday, November 28, 2013 | 1:30 PM
Titan Gym • Fullerton, Calif.

Game Coverage: Live Stats | Audio | Video | CSF Release   Wooden Legacy Bracket 

SERIES RECORDS
First Meeting

CATCH ALL THE ACTION

Television: ESPN2

Streaming Video: WatchESPN

Streaming Audio: www.fullertontitans.com

Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at www.fullertontitans.com

TV Talent: During the Wooden Legacy opening session, Roxy Bernstien will provide the play-by-play, while Miles Simon  will offer analysis. Jeff Goodman will serve as the ESPN sideline reporter.

TICKETS: Individual session tickets featuring two games each for the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy went on sale Monday for the in-season college basketball tournament being played on Thursday and Friday  at Titan Gym.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office or by telephoning 657-278-2783.  Individual session tickets are $20 each for general admission seating.  Each session ticket is good for both games within the session.  After completion of each day's first session, Titan Gym will be cleared out and the next session ticket will be needed for entry. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @FullertonHoops for updates during the 2013-14 season.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES:  Marquette (3-2) enters the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy with a No. 25 ranking in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Golden Eagles suffered a close 79-77 loss at Arizona State on Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. Marquette averages 69.4 points per game and holds opponents to 62.2 points per game. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. MARQUETTE: Thursday's game will mark the first meeting between Cal State Fullerton and 25th-ranked Marquette. In the second game of the tournament on Friday, Fullerton will play Miami or George Washington, also first-time Titan opponents.

HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. THE BIG EAST: Against the teams currently in the Big East Conference, Cal State Fullerton has recorded two wins in seven games. The Titans are an undefeated 2-0 at Titan Gym against Big East opponents, but have lost five games on the road. The Titans last played a current Big East opponent on March 22, 2005, falling 74-57 at Georgetown competing in the postseason NIT. Fullerton's last win against an opponent from the current Big East Conference was a 79-76 victory over Butler on Dec. 1, 1990.

SCOUTING MIAMI AND GEORGE WASHINGTON: Miami enters Thursday's game against George Washington with a record of 3-2, recording wins over Georgia Southern (81-80), Texas Southern (84-69) and College of Charleston (70-54). The Hurricanes are averaging 71.0 points per game and are returning to the floor following a 29-7 campaign as Miami advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 before suffering a 71-61 loss to Marquette. The Hurricanes lost six letterwinners from last year's squad and welcomed nine newcomers. 

George Washington (4-0), playing its 100th season in program history, is off to its best start in four seasons, recording wins over Radford, Maine, Manhattan and Delaware State. The Colonials are averaging 89.5 points per game - the highest scoring team in the Atlantic 10 - and are led by Maurice Creek's 17.3 points per game. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. THE ACC & ATLANTIC 10:  Cal State Fullerton has played opponents in the current Atlantic Coast Conference just twice, falling to Pittsburgh, 80-69, in a neutral site game on Dec. 28, 1979. In another neutral site game, Cal State Fullerton lost to Wake Forest, 75-69, on Nov. 27, 2008 at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

The Titans hold a 2-3 all-time record against teams currently in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and have never hosted an A-10 team at Titan Gym. Fullerton last played a member of the current A-10 suffering an 80-46 loss at Saint Louis on Dec. 12, 1998. Fullerton's last win against an A-10 team was an 84-75 victory over La Salle at the KOA Classic in Billings, Mont. on Dec. 30, 1978.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: During pre-season and holiday tournaments, Cal State Fullerton holds an all-time record of 38-39. Last season, Fullerton finished with a record of 2-1 at the World Vision Classic in Reno, Nev., opening the tournament with an 80-77 loss to Nevada, before recovering with wins over Southern Utah (112-69) and Green Bay (93-82). The 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy was formed as two vibrant, nationally-recognized collegiate basketball events joined forces, the former John R. Wooden Classic and the Anaheim Classic. Fullerton competed in the 76 Classic during the 2008-09 season, opening the competition with losses to Wake Forest (75-69) and Saint Mary's (79-54), before defeating Charlotte, 92-84 in overtime during the seventh-place game.

HOME SWEET HOME: Cal State Fullerton played four of its first five games on the road -  traveling to Montana State, Seattle, USC and San Jose State. The team now returns to Titan Gym to host the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy tournament, and Fullerton's first game will be played against currently 25th-ranked Marquette.

INJURY UPDATE: Cal State Fullerton senior forward James Johnson was cleared for action last Thursday, and after missing the first four games of the season with a left foot injury. Johnson played six minutes in Fullerton's loss at San Jose State last Saturday. Cal State Fullerton junior guard Alex Harris is listed as day-to-day with a right ankle sprain.

ROSTER STATUS: Cal State Fullerton currently has 16 student-athletes listed on its roster, with 12 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 Nov. 9…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... Fullerton has eclipsed 80 points two times this season.

CURRENT NOTES: The Titans have lost two in a row for the first time this season...the Titans have not held the lead in their last two games....Michael Williams is the only Titan to record double figures in each of Fullerton's five games this season...Marquis Horne's streak of double-figure scoring games was snapped in Saturday's loss at San Jose State.

NOTES FROM SAN JOSE STATE: Cal State Fullerton allowed 81 points in Saturday's loss at San Jose State - the most a  Titan opponent has scored since CSF suffered an 86-66 loss at UC Irvine on Feb. 16, 2013…opponent season highs set by San Jose State: points (81), free throws (26), rebounds (40) and steals (8)…Cal State Fullerton's 59 points marked its lowest scoring total since falling, 66-50, at UC Santa Barbara on March 7, 2013…the Titans also set season lows in field goals made (20) and field goal percentage (.370)…Cal State Fullerton's 19 points in the first half marked a season low, the lowest point total for the Titans in half since scoring 16 vs. Pacific on Feb. 28, 2013…Fullerton's 22-point loss was its largest margin of defeat since suffering a 27-point loss to UC Irvine, 92-65, on Jan. 17, 2013…the Titans trailed by 30 points, 49-19, with six seconds to play in the first, the largest lead for a Titan opponent in 2013-14.

IN THE BIG WEST: Cal State Fullerton is holding opponents to a field goal percentage of .400, ranking third in the Big West...the Titans' .379 three-point field goal percentage ranks third in the league, while CSF's 6.60 treys per game also rank third in the Big West.

MORE STATS: Marquis Horne's shooting percentage of .500 ranks ninth in the Big West, and his .583 clip from behind the three-point line leads the league. Michael Williams' 1.60 treys per game rank ninth in the conference

COMMONALITIES: What is statistically common in Cal State Fullerton's two wins this season? In both victories, the Titans scored more than 80 points, shot more than 50.0 percent from the floor, shot 50.0 percent from three-point range, knocked down more three-pointers than their opponents and totaled more assists than their opponents.

MORE COMPARISONS:  The Titans have outscored opponents 156-114 in the paint this year, but trail opponents in second chance points (54-57), bench points (106-117) and points off turnovers (75-83)....the Titans have shot 53.7 percent from the floor in their two wins, and just 40.4 percent from the floor in their three losses, including 50.0 percent from three-point range (wins) compared to 30.9 percent in losses.

AIR TIME: Currently, Cal State Fullerton has eight men's basketball games scheduled to be broadcast, starting with the game at Seattle, which was aired on ROOT Sports Northwest on Nov. 13. In addition, Fullerton's game at USC on Nov. 19 was 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. In addition, two Titan games are scheduled to be aired on ESPN3 starting on Thursday, Jan. 23 when the Titans host Cal Poly, as well as Fullerton's game against Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 15, 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.

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. 

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).

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 (RV), Cal State Fullerton, College of Charleston, No. 20 Creighton, George Washington (RV), No. 25 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.