Game 12
Cal State Fullerton at Portland State
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 29
Time: 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Portland, Ore.
Venue: Stott Center
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Video: GoViks.com
Internet Radio: GoViks.com
Series Record: CSF leads 5-3
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton closes out 2015 with a trip to Portland, Ore., to take on Portland State on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m., at the Stott Center. Following the Titans last game of the calendar year, Fullerton returns home to Titan Gym to host Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m.
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
Portland State | 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 29 | Stott Center
Portland State is looking to snap a five-game losing streak after dropping contests to Portland, Washington State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield. The Vikings boast four double-figure scorers in Cameron Forte (17.3 ppg), Bryce White (11.1 ppg), Calaen Robinson (10.9 ppg) and Isaiah Pineiro (10.8 ppg). Forte is also the squad's rebounding leader with 82 boards for an average of 8.2 rebounds per game.
Head-To-Head: Cal State Fullerton holds a 5-3 lead in the all-time series. The Titans won the first three meetings before trading wins with the Vikings. In their last meeting in 2011, Fullerton defeated Portland State 92-86 at Titan Gym.
Last Meeting: Junior guard Kwame Vaughn scored 23 of his career-high 27 points in the second half and backcourt mate D.J. Seeley broke out of a shooting slump to add 23 points in Cal State Fullerton's 92-86 come-from-behind non-conference victory over Portland State. Omondi Amoke added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Isiah Umipig scored 16 points as the Titans won their fifth in a row for their longest winning streak since the 2007-08 NCAA Tournament team.
Cal State East Bay | 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 2 | Titan Gym
Cal State East Bay comes into Titan Gym with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-3 ledger in conference action. The Pioneers have lost two games in a row and are looking to turn things around against the Titans. The Pioneers are led by Jalen Richard who averages 14.9 points per game, while adding a team-leading 22 assists and 16 steals. Ryan Okwudibonye adds 11.9 points per game, while Jack Pasquini leads the team with 69 rebounds to average 6.9 boards per game.
Head-To-Head: The Titans and Pioneers will meet for the fifth time in program history and Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series 4-0. The Titans defeated the Pioneers twice in 1962 and once in 1963 before earning a 77-45 victory last season.
Last Meeting: The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games as Jordan Mason led the Titans in scoring with 14 points off the bench in a 77-45 victory over Cal State East Bay at Titan Gym on December 30, 2014.
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
Khalil Ahmad and Jamar Akoh tallied a pair of career-highs in points and rebounds, respectively, but Cal State Fullerton could not overcome 34.4-percent shooting in the second half as Portland capitalized on 18 points off of turnovers to win the game, 65-60, on the final day of the Far West Classic.
The Titans have now dropped their last four games in a row as they fall to 6-5 overall, while the Pilots move to 6-7.
Portland's Alec Wintering led the Pilots with 19 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals. Bryce Pressley was one board shy of a double-double as he notched 15 points and nine rebounds in the game.
Ahmad turned in his second 20-plus point performance of the year as he recorded a new career-high with 25 points in the contest. He shot 45-percent from the floor as he connected on 9-of-20 field goals and he sunk 6-of-8 free throws to shoot 75-percent from the line.
Joining Ahmad in double figures was Tre' Coggins who shot 55-percent from the field (6-of-11) and 83-percent from beyond the arc (5-for-6) for a total of 17 points. Coggins also added five boards, two steals and one assist.
Akoh did his job at the post as he pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds, 13 of which were defensive. He also contributed four points and one assist.
On the evening, Fullerton out-shot Portland 38.6-percent to 35.7-percent and out-rebounded the Pilots 41-39. However, Portland held the edge on assists (14-8), blocks (5-1), bench points (18-1) and points off of turnovers (18-9). The Pilots converted 18-of-26 free throws, while the Titans shot just 42.9-percent (9-of-21) from the line.
STREAKING
Cal State Fullerton opened the season winning 6-of-7 games to mark its best start since the 1986-87 school year when the Titans began the year with a 7-1 record. While putting together a 6-1 record, Fullerton rode a six-game winning streak, the longest such streak for the program since the 2011-12 season. However, since Dec. 6, the Titans have dropped four straight games as they now have a losing streak to snap.
DOUBLE VISION
Freshman guard Khalil Ahmad recorded his first double-double of his collegiate career in an 88-56 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. Ahmad tallied 15 points as he shot 60-percent overall (6-of-10) and led the squad with a career-high 12 rebounds. He also added four assists and one steal. He is the only Titan to have recorded a double-double so far this season. Ahmad has done well recording double figures as well. He has notched double-figures in seven of 11 games thus far. He has notched a pair of 20-point performances including a career-high 25 point effort against Portland on Dec. 19.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
In 11 games thus far, the Titans have had a pair of post players who have reached double figures in rebounding. Kennedy Esume grabbed a career-high 19 boards in the season opener at Loyola Marymount and Jamar Akoh pulled down 18 against Portland at the Far West Classic. Akoh leads the squad with 67 rebounds for an average of 6.1 per game, while Esume is second on the team with 55 boards (5.0 rpg).
CAREER WEEK
During a recent road trip to Seattle, Cal State Fullerton had several players turn in career-best performances. First, the Titans defeated Seattle behind three career-best efforts. Leading the way was Malcolm Brooks who poured in a career-high 20 points. Sheldon Blackwell added a career-best eight rebounds in the contest, seven of which were defensive boards. Finally, Lionheart Leslie dished out a career-high five assists. Leslie also connected on 8-of-8 free throws. The Titans followed those career-best performances with four more at Washington. In that contest, Brooks equaled his career-high with 20 points again, while Leslie registered a career-best 16 points and Jamar Akoh cleaned up the glass collecting a then career-high seven rebounds. Rounding out the Titans in career-bests was Kennedy Esume who grabbed three steals to lead the squad to a total of 10 in the game.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The Titans have three players on the squad who are averaging double-figures in Tre' Coggins (15.5 ppg), Malcolm Brooks (13.5 ppg) and Khalil Ahmad (12.3 ppg). As a team, the Titans have outscored their opponents by 2.2 points per game and are out-shooting their counterparts 42-percent to 40-percent.
HELPING HANDS
The Titans have done a soild job this season of playing as a team and sharing the assist duties. Leading the way for Cal State Fullerton is Lionheart Leslie with 25 assists on the year, while Tre' Coggins is second on the team with 19 helpers. As a team, the Titans have accumulated 129 assists for an average of 11.7 per game.
BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the first time in his career, Tre' Coggins was named Big West Conference Player of the Week after recording back-to-back career-high 25-point efforts to lead the Titans to a 2-0 record last week.
The San Juan Capistrano, Calif., native, registered his first 25-point effort in an 80-66 victory over Southern Utah, then came back and poured in another 25 points in a 75-66 win over Nevada helping Cal State Fullerton improve to 4-1 on the season to equal the Titans' best start since 2007-08.
The 6-3 guard shot 45.7-percent (16-of-35) from the field overall and an impressive 52.9-percent (9-for-17) from three-point range.
On the year, Coggins is leading the Titans in scoring with 15.3 points per game, while he adds 4.5 rebounds per game, 18 assists, 11 steals and two blocks.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Junior Malcolm Brooks has been on an offensive tear as of late. He poured in a career-high 20 points on two occasions and has notched double figures in eight games to lead the Titans.
• Redshirt junior guard Tre' Coggins had a pair of career games at Southern Utah and versus Nevada as he poured in a career-best 25 point effort in both games en route to being named Big West Conference Player of the Week.
• 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 came back and tallied 25 points against Portland for a new career-high.
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.
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.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton opens the new year against Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m., at Titan Gym. Live stats, video and audio will be available on FullertonTitans.com.