Game 2
Cal State Fullerton at Pacific
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 | 7:00 p.m.
Coverage: Live Stats | Video | Audio
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton travels to Stockton, Calif., to take on Pacific Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m., before returning home to host San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. inside Titan Gym. The Titans' contest against the Tigers marks the 86th time in program history the two teams will meet and Pacific holds the lead in the all-time series 48-37. The Titans and the Toreros have played each other 28 times and Cal State Fullerton leads that all-time series 18-10.
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. 21, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. against San Diego.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Pacific | 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 17 | Spanos Center
Pacific is coming off of a season-opening loss to No. 10/12 Arizona in which the Tigers fell, 79-62, in Tucson. Junior guard T.J. Wallace scored a game-high 19 points in the loss as Pacific dropped its opening game of the season for the first time in seven years.
Head-To-Head: The all-time series between the Titans and the Tigers is 48-37 in Pacific's favor. The Tigers won the last two meetings and Cal State Fullerton is looking for its first win over Pacific since 2012 when the Titans edged the Tigers, 69-68, in Stockton, Calif.
Last Meeting: Cal State Fullerton shot just 31-percent from the field and Pacific was led by Travis Fulton's 19 points and seven rebounds as the Tigers defeated the Titans 64-55 at Titan Gym in 2013.
San Diego | 3 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 | Titan Gym
San Diego is looking for its first win of the year after dropping its season opener to USC, 83-45, in Los Angeles. Senior guard Duda Sanadze led the Toreros in scoring with 12 points, while nine other Toreros scored in the game including four freshmen.
Head-To-Head: The all-time series between the Titans and the Toreros is 18-10 and Cal State Fullerton holds the lead. Saturday's contest marks the first time since 2010 that the two teams will face off. In the last two meetings, Cal State Fullerton came away victorious as San Diego will look for its first win over the Titans since 2000.
Last Meeting: Cal State Fullerton was led by senior Jer'Vaugh Johnson who scored a career-high 23 points with seven rebounds and Orane Chin had 21 points and six boards as they helped lead the Titans over the Toreros, 90-76, on Dec. 4, 2010 in Titan Gym.
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.
LAST TIME OUT
Cal State Fullerton had four double-figure scorers and senior center Kennedy Esume grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, but the Titans were unable to overcome 18 turnovers and 26 fouls as Loyola Marymount went on to win the game 79-74.
LMU (1-0) secured the game in the final seconds after a foul by Cal State Fullerton (0-1) sent Marin Mornar to the line with the Titans down by three. Mornar made both free throws with just 7.2 seconds left in the game as Fullerton dropped the season opener.
Despite the loss, Cal State Fullerton had plenty of highlights in the contest as Esume was just one rebound shy of hitting the 20-mark plateau – a feat that has not been accomplished by a Titan in three years. Esume finished the game with 19 boards, six points and a pair of assists.
Malcolm Brooks led the Titans offensively with 16 points as he was 7-for-11 from the field. Brooks set the tone for Khalil Ahmad, Tre' Coggins, and Lanerryl Johnson who added 12, 12 and 10 points, respectively. Ahmad made his collegiate debut and finished with three boards and one assist to go along with his double-figure performance.
The Lions' Adom Jacko poured in 22 points as he led the LMU offense, which also had four double-figure scorers in Brandon Brown (14 points), Steven Haney (13 points) and Mornar (10 points).
The game was a hard-fought affair as the two teams traded leads seven times and battled through three ties – all which came in the first half. Cal State Fullerton owned the edge in shooting as the Titans out-shot the Lions 47.4-percent to 34.7-percent in the game. CSF also led in three-point shooting (37.5-percent to 25-percent), rebounding (42-41) and assists (18-13).
The difference, however, was made when LMU capitalized on Fullerton's turnovers scoring 17 points off of turnovers.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
Senior center Kennedy Esume grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds in the Titans' season-opener at Loyola Marymount. He finished the game just one board shy of hitting the 20-rebound plateau. The last time a Titan recorded 20 rebounds in a game was in 2012 when former Titan Omondi Amoke grabbed 21 boards against UC Irvine.
DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORERS
In the Titans' season opener, they had four double-figure scorers in Malcolm Brooks (16), Tre' Coggins (12), Khalil Ahmad (12), and Lanerryl Johnson (10). The quartet contributed to nearly 70-percent of CSF's scoring in the season opener at LMU.
ADDING DEPTH
Kennedy Esume, a senior center, returns after leading Fullerton with 19 blocks during the 2014-15 season. Additionally, the Titans return second-leading scorer Lanerryl Johnson who averaged 12.4 points per game last season. The Titans will also see action from transfers Tre' Coggins and Malcolm Brooks who sat out a year ago due to NCAA transfer rules. Coggins comes to Fullerton from Air Force, while Brooks joins the squad after playing previously at Pepperdine.
BY THE NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton out-shot Loyola Marymount 47.4-percent to 34.7-percent and held the edge from beyond the arc 37.5-percent to 25-percent. The Titans also led the Lions in rebounds (42-41) and assists (18-13). However, the Lions took advantage of the Titans' 18 turnovers as LMU tallied 17 points off of turnovers in the contest.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Kennedy Esume registered a career-high 19 rebounds in Cal State Fullerton's 79-74 loss at Loyola Marymount.
• Malcolm Brooks went 7-for-11 from the field posting a 63.6-percentage with a team-high 16 points.
• Cal State Fullerton saw four Titans score in double-figures - Malcolm Brooks (16), Tre' Coggins (12), Khalil Ahmad (12) and Lanerryl Johnson (10).
• The starting five of Jamar Akoh, Kennedy Esume, Tre' Coggins, Lanerryl Johnson and Malcolm Brooks, combined for 52 of the Titans' 74 points (70-percent) against LMU.
AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of nine television appearances during the 2015-16 season.
The breakdown includes six appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network and one on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cal State Fullerton completed the 2014-15 season with a winning record of 5-1 during non-conference games at Titan Gym, but a struggling mark of 1-14 overall on the road hampered the Titans.
Fullerton's eight-game road losing streak from Jan. 8, 2015 - March 5, 2015 was its longest since a 13-game road losing streak during the 2001-02 season from Nov. 7, 2001 - Feb. 28, 2002.
BIG WEST BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT ALL-SESSION TICKETS ON SALE
Honda Center and the Big West Conference have announced that all-session tickets for the 2016 Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will go on sale Friday, November 13.
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 sixth straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim. The women's tournament first round and quarterfinal games will be played at UC Irvine on March 8-9. The men's tournament begins on March 10 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place March 11 and 12 at the Honda Center.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team was selected to finish ninth in the Big West Conference in the Preseason Media Poll. For the third straight year UC Irvine is the media favorite to claim the Big West title, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i.
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.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton returns to Titan Gym to host San Diego in the Titans' home opener on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. Live stats, video streaming and audio will be available on FullertonTitans.com.