Game 5
Cal State Fullerton vs. Nevada
Date: Saturday, Nov. 28
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Streaming: FullertonTitans.com
Audio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Nevada leads 12-5
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton returns home after a road win at Southern Utah to face the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m., inside Titan Gym.
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.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Nevada | 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28 | Titan Gym
Nevada comes into Titan Gym with a 4-1 record after defeating Portland State, 76-73 on Wedensday night. The Wolf Pack's only loss came at Hawai'i (76-75) on Nov. 16. Marqueze Coleman leads the Pack in scoring with 120 points for an average of 24.0 points per game. He's also dished out a team-leading 17 assists, while grabbing 23 rebounds, six steals and postng one block.
Head-To-Head: Nevada leads the all-time series against Cal State Fullerton 12-5. A year ago, the Titans defeated the Wolf Pack, 76-73, to snap an 11-game losign streak to Nevada.
Last Meeting: In their last meeting, Cal State Fullerton's Alex Harris scored a game-high 22 points as the Titans earned their first road win of the year, a 65-55 decision at Nevada.
FOLLOW THE TITANS
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
Tre' Coggins and Khalil Ahmad both turned in career-high 20-plus point performances as the duo helped lead Cal State Fullerton past Southern Utah, 80-66, at Centrum Arena Tuesday night.
Cal State Fullerton has won three games in a row as the Titans improve to 3-1 on the year, while Southern Utah drops to 0-4 as the Thunderbirds continue to search for their first victory of the season.
Coggins led both teams with 25 points as he connected on 7-of-14 field goals to shoot 50-percent from the floor. The redshirt junior was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc for a 55.6-percentage and 6-of-9 from the line (66.7-percent). He also added seven rebounds and one steal in the contest.
Ahmad, a freshman guard out of Corona, Calif., turned in his first collegiate 20-point effort as he poured in 22 points on a sizzling shooting percentage of 70 (7-of-10). He was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range and sunk 4-of-5 free throws in 23 minutes of action. Ahmad also contributed four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Adding to the Titans' scoring offense was Malcolm Brooks who recorded his fourth double-digit showing in as many games. The redshirt senior out of Brooklyn, N.Y., tallied 11 points to go along with two boards and a pair of assists.
Defensively, Fullerton was led by Kennedy Esume's eight rebounds and Lionheart Leslie's two steals. Sheldon Blackwell posted a pair of blocks to help keep the Thunderbirds to a 34.8-percentage from the field.
Southern Utah had three double-figure scorers as well in James McGee (18 points), Travon Langston (17 points) and Casey Oliverson (16 points). The trio contributed to 77-percent of the Thunderbirds' scoring in the game. Langston also posted 10 rebounds for a double-double.
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. Esume is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game to lead the team, while Jamar Akoh and Tre' Coggins are second on the team with 4.3 boards per game.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The Titans have three players on the squad who are averaging double-figures in Tre' Coggins (17.5 ppg), Malcolm Brooks (13.3 ppg) and Khalil Ahamd (13.0 ppg). Most recently, Coggina and Ahmad teamed up to combine for 47 points in Fullerton's 80-66 win at Southern Utah. Coggins poured in a career-high 25 points and Ahmad notched a career-best 22.
HELPING HANDS
In four games so far, Lionheart Leslie and Sheldon Blackwell have done their job of dishing out nine assists each to lead the team. Following close behind the duo is Tre' Coggins who has contributed eight helpers on the year. As a team, the Titans have accumulated 49 assists and are averaging 12.3 per game.
BY THE NUMBERS
Cal State Fullerton has outscored its opponents 74.5 to 69.0 for a scoring margin of 5.5. The Titans are out-shooting their opponents 44.7-percent to 37.4 percent from the field and 42.7-percent to 29.6-percent from three-point range. However, opponents hold the edge from the free throw line 75-percent to 70.6-percent. Although CSF holds the advantage in steals (23-15), its counterparts own the edge in rebounding (161-144), assists (54-49) and blocks (13-8).
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• After going with the same starting five (Coggins, Johnson, Brooks, Akoh and Esume) for the first three games of the season, head coach Dedrique Taylor made a change and went with the starting line up of Coggins, Leslie, Brooks, Akoh and Esume at Southern Utah as the Titans defeated the Thunderbirds, 80-66.
• Redshirt junior guard Tre' Coggins had a career game at Southern Utah as he registered a career-best 25 points after going 7-for-14 from the field, 5-for-9 from three-point range and 6-for-9 from the line.
• Freshman guard Khalil Ahmad turned in the first 20-plus point effort of his collegiate career as he drained a career-high 22 points at Southern Utah. The Corona, Calif., native finished the night shooting 70-percent from the floor (7-for-10), 100-percent from three-point range (4-for-4) and 80-percent from the line (4-for-5).
• After opening the season with a career-high 19 rebounds, senior center Kennedy Esume has yet to record double-digit rebounds since. However, he still leads the Titans with 33 boards on the year for an average of 8.3 per game.
• Ahmad has been on a hot streak to start the year as the freshman is leading the squad with a 76.9-three-point shooting percentage (10-of-13). He also boasts a 62.5-percent field goal shooting percentage after going 15-for-24). Additionally, his 80-percent shooting from the free throw line (12-for-15) is good for third on the team.
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.
Dec. 6 at Washington - Pac-12 Network
Dec. 18 vs. Oregon State - Pac-12 Network
Jan. 7 at UC Riverside - ESPN3
Jan. 16 vs. Hawai'i - ESPN3
Jan. 20 at UC Irvine - Fox Prime Ticket
Jan. 23 vs. Cal Poly - ESPN3
Feb. 4 vs. UC Davis - ESPN3
Feb. 10 at CSUN - ESPN3
Feb. 17 vs. UC Irvine - ESPN3
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 welcomes Cal State Dominguez Hills for a midweek contest on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., inside Titan Gym. Live stats and video will be available on FullertonTitans.com.
