Weekly Release (PDF)

Cal State Fullerton at Santa Clara
Friday, Nov. 14, 2014 | 7:00 PM
Leavey Center • Santa Clara, Calif.

Cal State Fullerton at New Mexico
Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 | 6:00 PM PT
The Pit • Albuquerque, N.M.

THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton opens the season on the road for the third consecutive year. The Titans will travel to Santa Clara for a return game on Friday in the season opener for both teams, before making a trip to The Pit on Sunday to play New Mexico. The Lobos, winners of three-straight Mountain West regular season championships, are currently receiving votes in  the USA Today Coaches Poll.

TICKETS & PROMOTIONS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
Additional ticket information can be found by clicking HERE.
Cal State Fullerton will return to Titan Gym for its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 22, with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. Fans can stay after the game and have a free poster signed by the team.

OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Santa Clara | 7 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 14 | Leavey Center
Santa Clara returns seven letterwinners and three starters from a year ago. The Broncos completed the 2013-14 season with a record of 14-19 and finished ninth in the West Coast Conference with a mark of 6-12. Jared Brownridge, 2014 WCC Newcomer of the Year, returns for his sophomore campaign after averaging 17.2 points per game last season.
Head-To-Head: The all-time series between the Broncos and Titans is even at 1-1.
Last Meeting: Cal State Fullerton produced a solid shooting performance in an 86-73 win over Santa Clara on Nov. 16, 2013 at Titan Gym. The Titans shot 53.8 percent (35-of-65) from the floor, and were led by junior guard Alex Harris as he knocked down three 3-pointers en route to a 19-point performance.

New Mexico | 6 p.m. PT | Sunday, Nov. 16 | The Pit
Cal State Fullerton will travel to The Pit on Sunday to play New Mexico with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports. The Lobos have won three consecutive Mountain West Conference championships, and are currently receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches poll. More daunting than playing New Mexico, is playing at The Pit, where the Lobos hold a 687-153 (.818) record. The UNM roster features nine new faces with the addition of four freshmen and five transfers. The Lobos lost their top three scorers from a year ago as sophomore guard Cullen Neal returns  after averaging 7.1 points per game as a freshman in 2014.
Head-To-Head/Last Meeting: The Lobos and Titans will be playing for the first time since Fullerton eliminated New Mexico from the NCAA Tournament with a 90-85 victory in Tempe, Ariz., on March 11, 1978 during the West Regional Quarterfinal.

BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's basketball team has established its own Twitter presence @FullertonHoops. 

2013-14 RECAP
• Cal State Fullerton's 2013-14 campaign came to a close on March 13, 2014, when the Titans suffered a 66-56 to Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament held at Honda Center. Fullerton completed the year with a record of 11-20 overall as well as a 6-10 mark in Big West play, which secured CSF the No. 6 seed at the Tournament. 
• The Titans completed the 2014 season with a winning record of 8-6 at Titan Gym, but a struggling mark of 3-12 on the road and a record of 0-2 at neutral site games. 
• Cal State Fullerton completed the first half of its Big West Conference schedule with a record of 2-6, although the Titans played UC Riverside twice during the first leg, and played Hawai'i twice during the second leg. Fullerton finished the second half of conference play with a record of 4-4.
• The Titans split season series with UC Davis, UC Riverside, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN and Long Beach State, but were swept by UC Irvine and Hawai'i .
• Cal State Fullerton used 11 different starting lineups during the season…the Titans were 7-0 when scoring over 74 points and shooting 50 percent or more from the floor. 
• Fullerton completed the second half of Big West action with a record of 4-4. During that stretch, the Titans averaged 71.6 points per game and shot 44.7 percent from the floor while knocking 53 three-pointers. Michael Williams led the Titans averaging 20.8 points per game during that stretch followed by Alex Harris (18.0 ppg).

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team was selected to finish eighth in the Big West Conference in the Preseason Media Poll, despite tying for a sixth-place finish a year ago. Defending regular season champion UC Irvine was selected to defend its title successfully, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.

SEASON OPENERS
The Titans will open the 2014-15 season on the road for the third-straight year. Cal State Fullerton holds a record of 23-31 in season openers dating back to the 1961 season. The Titans are 18-22 against Division I opponents in season openers, but only 6-23 on the road overall. Friday's game will mark the first time the Titans play Santa Clara in a season opener. In season openers against current teams in the West Coast Conference, the Titans hold a slight edge of 4-3 (BYU: 1-1, Pepperdine: 0-1, Portland: 0-1, Saint Mary's: 2-0, San Francisco: 1-0).
Reminder: Last season, Cal State Fullerton defeated Montana State, 84-55, in its season opener on the road. For the Titans, they won their season opener against a Division I opponent for the first time since a 75-67 win at BYU on Nov. 22, 1996. 

A NEW LOOK
Cal State Fullerton returns to action this week with five returning lettermen - including three starters - and three returning redshirts. In addition, the Titans have eight newcomers on the roster. Of the 16 players on Cal State Fullerton's roster, 11 have not played in a game for the Titans.

ADDING DEPTH
A year ago, Cal State Fullerton had only four student-athletes at 6-foot-7 or taller to play in the post. This season, second-year head coach Dedrique Taylor will have six players at 6-foot-7 or taller at his disposable. Steve McClellan is the veteran of the group after leading Fullerton with 5.9 rebounds per game during the 2013-14 season. The Titans were outrebounded 35.0-33.7 rpg last season, but the additions of 6-foot-7 freshman Jamar Akoh, 6-foot-10 junior Kennedy Esume, 6-foot-8 sophomore Malcolm Henderson and 6-foot-7 junior Temjae Singleton should help significantly.

SCORING ASSISTANCE
The Titan offense averaged 67.5 points per game last season, the lowest average for a Titan team since the 2002-03 season (62.9 ppg).
Similar to the post position, the Titans have added depth in the back court to push the tempo in 2014-15.
The Titans have added three-point shooter and Big East veteran Moses Morgan as well as slashing guard Jordan Mason, a transfer from Colorado State. In addition, junior guard Lanerryl Johnson is expected to help Fullerton push the pace.

BY THE NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton totaled 2,092 points last season, an average 67.5 points per game. Fifty percent of the Titans' scoring from a year ago will return led by Alex Harris (420, 15.6  ppg), Josh Gentry (232, 7.5 ppg) and Steve McClellan (190, 6.1 ppg).

EXHIBITION RECAP
Senior guard Alex Harris scored a game-high 20 points as the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team defeated Caltech, 84-53, in an exhibition game at Titan Gym Saturday.
Harris also led the Titans with six assists and made 8-of-10 from the free-throw line in the win.
Four other Titans reached double figures as redshirt senior Moses Morgan scored 12 points while Steve McClellan added 12 points off the bench shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sophomore Joe Boyd poured in 10 points, while newcomer Kennedy Esume chipped in 10 points off the bench on 4-of-4 shooting.
The Titans shot 56.0 percent (28-of-50) from the floor for the game, and outrebounded the Beavers 34-26. 

AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of 10 television appearances during the 2014-15 season, with the option of three additional "wild card" productions. 
The breakdown includes five appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network, two on Prime Ticket and one on ROOT Sports.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cal State Fullerton completed the 2014 season with a winning record of 8-6 at Titan Gym, but a struggling mark of 3-12 on the road and a record of 0-2 at neutral site games. 
Fullerton's seven-game road losing streak from Dec. 28, 2013-Feb. 8, 2014 was its longest since a 13-game road losing streak during the 2001-02 season from Nov. 7, 2001-Feb. 28, 2002.
Fullerton averaged 70.1 points per game at home and 67.1 points per game on the road.

2013-14 SEASON HIGHS
Fullerton overcame a 14-point deficit in its 84-76 win over Long Beach State on Mar. 1, 2014 - the largest deficit the Titans overcame during the 2013-14 season. In addition, the Titans shot a season-best 56.4 percent (31-of-55) from the floor against the 49ers. 
The crowd of 3,017 for Homecoming vs. Hawai'i on Feb. 15, 2014 was Fullerton's largest home crowd of the year. 

2013-14 TEAM NOTES
Cal State Fullerton used 11 different starting lineups during the season. Fullerton did not lead in a game 10 times during the year...on Feb. 15, 2014 vs. Hawai'i, the Titans lost their fourth halftime lead of the year....CSF completed non-conference action with a record of 5-9...the Titans were 7-0 when scoring over 74 points and shooting 50 percent or more from the floor...Fullerton came back three times during the season from halftime deficits to win: at Pepperdine (Dec. 4), vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 21) and vs. Long Beach State (March 1).

SHARP SHOOTER RETURNS
A Big West Conference honorable mention pick, Alex Harris appeared in 27 games making 26 starts as one of Fullerton's main offensive options a year ago. Harris finished second on the team in points per game (15.6), which also ranked ninth in the Big West. His 1.26 steals per game led the Titans while ranking seventh in the league. He recorded 22 double-figure scoring games, including eight 20-point efforts. 

2013-14 WIN-LOSS COMPARISONS
In 11 wins, the Titans shot 50.3 percent from the floor while averaging 77.5 points per game. Also, Fullerton held opponents to a shooting percentage of .407 and an average of 68.0 points per game.
In 20 losses last season, Fullerton shot a field goal percentage of .384 while averaging just 62.0 points per game. Opponents averaged 73.3 ppg and shot at a clip of .489. In addition, opponents outrebounded CSF 35.8-33.2.

Big West Basketball Tournament All-Session Tickets On Sale
Honda Center and the Big West Conference have announced that all-session tickets for the 2015 Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will go on sale at 10 a.m., Friday, November 14.
All-session school reserved tickets will be available for $69.00. These seats will be located within a school's section and can be purchased through each institution's box office.
Premium all-session tickets located in the first four rows of seating will be available for $149.00.  General admission all-session tickets are also available for $69.00.  These seats can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster retail outlets, or by calling 800-745-3000.
The 2015 Big West Tournament will be hosted for the fifth straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim.  The women's tournament first round and quarterfinal games will be played at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11. The men's tournament begins on Thursday, March 12 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games.  The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place Friday and Saturday at Honda Center.

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.

NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE DRAFT
Four former members of the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball program were selected in the 2014 NBA Development League Draft on Nov. 1. 
D.J. Seeley (2012-13) was the first Titan selected as the first pick of the second round by the Delaware 87ers.
Omondi Amoke (2012) was selected as the fifth pick of the second round by the Grand Rapids Drive.
Michael Williams (2014), the 2014 Big West Newcomer of the Year, was selected as the 15th pick of the second round by the Sioux Fall Skyforce.
Sammy Yeager (2013) was chosen as the ninth pick of the seventh round by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.