Cal Poly (7-10, 3-1) at Cal State Fullerton (6-11, 1-2)
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014 | 7:00 PM
Titan Gym • Fullerton, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Stats | Audio | ESPN3 | CSF Release 
Cal Poly Release
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Television: None
Streaming Video: ESPN3
PXP: Tim Becwar
Analyst: Richie Schueler
Sideline: Rahshaun Haylock
Streaming Audio:
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at www.fullertontitans.com
ON TAP: Cal State Fullerton returns to Titan Gym to host Cal Poly (7-10, 3-1) on Thursday, while UC Santa Barbara (11-5, 2-1) visits on Saturday.
PROMOTIONS - AUTOGRAPH NIGHT
The 2013-14 Fullerton men's basketball team will be available for autographs following its game against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
COACHES VS. CANCER:
Suits & Sneakers Awareness Weekend:
The annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers™ Awareness Weekend begins on Friday. NABC coaches across America will be wearing sneakers at the games to show their support for Coaches vs. Cancer – a joint effort of the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers basketball coaches to make a difference in the fight against cancer. Cal State Fullerton will be participating on Saturday in its game against the Gauchos.
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 MUSTANGS: Cal Poly (7-10, 3-1) has won three of its last four, although the Mustangs enter Thursday's game after suffering a 63-62 loss to Long Beach State last Saturday. Cal Poly averages 65.7 points per game led by Chris Eversley's average of 13.9 ppg. Dave Nwaba also averages double figures (12.0 ppg). Cal Poly and Fullerton hold just one like opponent from the season as the Mustangs defeated Santa Clara, 64-53, on Dec. 7.
HEAD-TO-HEAD VS. CAL POLY: Cal Poly leads the all-time series 33-25 against Cal State Fullerton, including a 16-11 mark at Titan Gym. In league play, the Mustangs lead 18-16. The Mustangs and Titans have split their season series for the last two years, with Fullerton winning both of its games at Titan Gym.
LAST TIME OUT VS. CAL POLY: Chris O'Brien shared team-high honors with 14 points -- 12 of those in the second half -- and his three-point play with 2:04 remaining broke a 55-all tie to give his side the lead for good, helping Cal Poly edge visiting Cal State Fullerton, 62-60, in the regular season finale for both teams on March 9, 2013.
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.
CURRENT NOTES: Cal State Fullerton has utilized seven different starting lineups during the season...Fullerton completed non-conference action with a record of 5-9...the Titans have won their last three home games...Fullerton overcame a 10-point deficit against Sacramento State on Dec. 21 – the largest deficit the Titans have overcome this year...Fullerton's 59-point total against Sacramento State marked its lowest in a win this year…the Titans are 4-0 when scoring over 78 points and shooting over 50 percent from the floor, and in the win over Sacramento State, for the first time Fullerton won a game this year scoring less than 60 points and having less than three scorers reach double figures...Fullerton has also come back twice this season from halftime deficits to win: at Pepperdine (Dec. 4) and vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 21)...the Titans have not held a lead in a game six times this season...Cal State Fullerton won its third straight Big West Conference season opener following a 78-73 win over UC Riverside on Jan. 9. Against the Highlanders, five Titans scored in double figures - a first for Fullerton during the 2013-14 season.
INDIVIDUAL MARKERS: Michael Williams has scored in double figures in a team-leading 17 consecutive games. He has led the Titans in scoring in 10 of Fullerton's last 13 games...Williams scored a game-high 24 points against Texas Southern (Dec. 15), which also marked a Titan season high. In addition, Williams' 18 second-half points were the most a Titan has scored in a single half this year, and his four made three-pointers also set a Titan season high in that game. Williams has scored at least 20 points on four occasions this year. Alex Harris scored a season-high 21 points against Texas Southern on Dec. 15 as the Titans had two players scoring 20 points or more in a game for the first time since March 9, 2013 vs. Cal Poly. Harris' 10 made free throws against UCR on Jan. 9 also marked a Titan season best as well as career high...Steve McClellan's 13-point, 12-rebound performance against UCR marked the second Titan double-double of the season. McClellan's 13 rebounds at UC Davis last Saturday marked a Titan season best as well as career high.
IN THE BIG WEST: Entering the week, Cal State Fullerton's 24.53 defensive rebounds per game rank third in the Big West Conference...Michael Williams' average of 15.6 points per game ranks seventh in the league, and his 1.82 three-pointers per game rank seventh. In addition, Alex Harris' .746 free-throw percentage rates ninth in the Big West...Steve McClellan's 2.41 offensive rebounds per game rank ninth in the Big West Conference.
WIN-LOSS COMPARISONS: Cal State Fullerton has shot a higher percentage than opponents in each of its six wins, while shooting a percentage lower than opponents in each of its 11 losses...in six wins, the Titans have shot 50.1 percent from the floor while averaging 78.7 points per game. Also in those wins, Fullerton holds a 37.2-33.5 rebounding advantage and holds opponents to a shooting percentage of .376 and an average of 66.0 points per game.
In 11 losses this season, Fullerton is shooting a field goal percentage of .379 while averaging just 59.4 points per game while opponents average 72.5 ppg and shoot at a clip of .477. In addition, opponents outrebound CSF 36.3-34.1
MORE COMPARISONS: The Titans have outscored opponents 500-468 in the paint this year as well as holding an advantage in bench points (354-320), but trail opponents in second chance points (169-185) and points off turnovers (226-258). In losses, the Titans have made just 207 trips to the free-throw line, compared to 288 opportunities for opponents.
ROOKIES: On Nov. 29 at the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy, Fullerton suffered a 48-46 heartbreaking loss to Miami, which saw the Titans nearly erase a 17-point deficit. In that game, head coach Dedrique Taylor inserted freshmen Sheldon Blackwell and Joe Boyd into the starting lineup.
Blackwell, a 6-foot-5 guard from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is leading the Titans with 39 assists while averaging 5.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. Blackwell scored a career high 14 points at USC on Nov. 19 and dished a career-best six assists vs. Miami on Nov. 29.
Boyd, a 6-foot-9 forward from Scottsdale, Ariz., is averaging 3.5 ppg while adding 3.8 rpg. Boyd scored a career-high 10 points in Fullerton's 87-80 win over Texas Southern on Dec. 15, and recorded 10 rebounds at USC on Nov. 19.
NEWCOMERS: Cal State Fullerton senior Michael Williams is playing in his first year as a Titan after redshirting the 2012-13 season following a transfer from San Francisco.
Williams has experienced immediate success, averaging a team-leading 15.6 points per game, scoring in double figures in 17 straight games and leading the Titans in scoring in 10 of their last 13.
Williams has also scored at least 20 points on four occasions this season.
Junior Josh Gentry, in his first season with the Titans after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College, has reached double figures off the bench in three of Fullerton's last five games, averaging 10.2 ppg points including knocking down six three-pointers.
AIR TIME: Currently, Cal State Fullerton has 12 men's basketball games scheduled to be broadcast this season. Still ahead, Fullerton's next home game on Thursday against Cal Poly will be aired on ESPN3.
Fullerton's game against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday will be aired on Fox Sports Prime Ticket from Titan Gym.
In addition, the Titans visit to Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 1, will be aired on ESPN3 as well as Fullerton's game against Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 15, from Titan Gym.
And also just added to the schedule, the Titans game at UCR on Thursday, Feb. 6, will be aired on ESPN3.
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.
2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy Attracts Record Crowds: With the attendance for the final four games of the 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy being 6,007 for the competition at Honda Center on Dec. 1, the three-day event over Thanksgiving weekend attracted a record 14,982 fans for the in-season college basketball tournament near Disneyland.
The Dec. 1 total of 6,007 was a single-day record The 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy featured a Marquette vs. San Diego State championship game at Honda Center. Other schools in the event were Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton, College of Charleston, Creighton, George Washington and Miami.
With the first four sessions of the 2013 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy being played November 28 and 29 at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, the final four games were combined into one session at Honda Center. The two days of action at Titan Gym drew 3,831 on Thanksgiving Day and 5,144 on Nov. 29.
The previous tournament attendance record for the three days of competition at the Anaheim Convention was 14,212 set in November 2009.