Game 15
Cal State Fullerton vs. Cal State Northridge
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9
Time: 6:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Live Streaming: FullertonTitans.com
Internet Radio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: CSF leads 40-32
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton is coming off of a big win to open Big West Conference action against UCR and the Titans are looking to bring the momentum from their come from behind victory into Titan Gym on Saturday, Jan. 9, when they host CSUN at 6 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
CSUN | 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 9 | Titan Gym
CSUN comes into Titan Gym with a 5-10 overall record and an 0-1 mark in the Big West Conference. The Matadors are looking for their first win in conference action as they sit in last place in the league standings. Michael Warren has started in all 15 games for CSUN this season and is averaging 14.5 points per game. Kendall Smith has played in just six games this season, but he has already poured in 112 points to average 18.7 per game.
Head-To-Head: The Titans and Madators will square off for the 73rd time in program history and Cal State Fullerton holds the edge in the all-time series 40-32. Last season, the Titans recorded their only conference win over the Matadors in a 69-53 victory inside Titan gym. However, CSUN came back and won the final match-up 82-72 in Northridge.
Last Meeting: Fullerton's Alex Harris returned to the starting lineup and scored 18 points, but it wasn't enough as CSUN defeated Cal State Fullerton 82-72 behind 24 points and 13 rebounds from Stephen Maxwell. Additionally, the Matadors received a strong offensive showing from Stefan Hicks (22 points) and Aaron Parks (12 point off the bench) to overcome a 12-point deficit and win the game.
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
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team erased a 20-point deficit in the final three minutes of action to win its Big West Conference opener at UC Riverside 79-73. The Titans (8-6, 1-0 BWC) were led to victory by five double-figure scorers, while the Highlanders (9-8, 0-1 BWC) saw four players reach double-figures in the game.
The Titans received a huge offensive surge from junior guard Lionheart Leslie as he scored eight of his 12 total points in the final 2:55. Leslie's three pointer off a pass from Coggins pulled Fullerton within three (67-64), before making the backend of a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game (67-65). With two minutes on the clock, Leslie hit a jumper to even the score for the first time all game (67-67).
With the momentum of having just knocked down eight straight points, the Titans turned to Coggins, the team's leading scorer, as he drained a jumper from beyond the arc to give Cal State Fullerton its first lead of the game, 70-67.
But Fullerton wasn't done yet. The Titans scored 13 straight points to jump ahead of the Highlanders 72-67 with just 1:01 remaining. Despite UCR's efforts, the Highlanders were unable to regain the lead as the Titans led by as many as seven points (76-69) before winning the game, 79-73.
Coggins finished the game with 25 points to tie his career high. He also added four assists and two rebounds. Khalil Ahmad posted 14 points, while Malcolm Brooks and Leslie contributed 12 points each, and Jamar Akoh added a season-best 10 points.
Ahmad, along with Kennedy Esume, pulled down a team-best six rebounds, while Akoh posted five.
UCR received strong showings from Jaylen Bland (19 points), Secean Johnson (17 points), Taylor Johns (15 points) and Malik Thames (11 points).
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, beginning Dec. 6, the Titans suffered five straight losses to Washington, Loyola Marymount, Oregon State, Portland and Portland State. After defeating Cal State East Bay last Saturday, thte Titans are looking to start another winning streak.
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. Last Saturday, senior center Kennedy Esume notched a double-double of his own as he registered a season-high 11 points to go along with 14 rebounds against Cal State East Bay.
25 TIMES 3
Tre' Coggins has turned in three 25-point performaces this season. The redshirt junior guard notched a career-high 25 points for the first time at Southern Utah. He followed that performance with another 25-point effort against Nevada. The two back-to-back 25-point games earned him Big West Conference Player of the Week. Coggins was at it again in the BWC opener at UCR when he poured in another 25 points to help the Titans to a 79-73 victory.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
The Titans have had a pair of post players who have done their job cleaning up the glass. Senior center Kennedy Esume grabbed a career-high 19 boards in the season opener at Loyola Marymount and notched a double-double against Cal State East Bay with 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points. Not to be outdone by his teammate, sophomore forward Jamar Akoh pulled down 18 against Portland at the Far West Classic. Akoh and Esume have recorded 75 and 78 rebounds, respectively, for an average of 5.8 and 5.6 rebounds per game.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The Titans have three players on the squad who are averaging double-figures in Tre' Coggins (16.9 ppg), Malcolm Brooks (14.0 ppg) and Khalil Ahmad (12.9 ppg). As a team, the Titans are out-scoring their opponents 1035-989 for a 3.3 scoring margin and 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 30 assists on the year, while Tre' Coggins is second on the team with 27 helpers. As a team, the Titans have accumulated 163 assists for an average of 11.6per game.
THE TITANS ARE UNDEFEATED WHEN...
The Titans have recorded a perfect record of 4-0 when leading teams at halftime. Additionally, Cal State Fullerton has not lost a game when the Titans commit less turovers than their opponents (7-0).
IN THE BIG WEST
Cal State Fullerton has several players ranked in the top 10 in the Big West statistics. Leading the way are Malcolm Brooks and Tre' Coggins. Brooks comes in fourth in free throw percentage (.806), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.451), seventh in scoring (14.2 ppg) and ninth in three-point field goals made (1.9 per game). Coggins ranks second in three-point made field goals (3.1 per game), third in scoring (16.3 ppg) and ninth in free throw percentage (.765). Khalil Ahmad, Jamar Akoh and Kennedy Esume's names also appear in the conference top 10.
CAREER WEEK
During the Titans' 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 then-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 then-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.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Malcolm Brooks has been on an offensive tear as of late. He poured in a career-high 22 points at Portland State and has notched double-figures in 10 games to lead the Titans.
• 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. Coggins added another 25 point game to his resume last night as he helped Fullerton defeat UCR in BWC action.
• 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.
• Junior forward Rashard Todd has decided to leave the team.
ADDITIONAL TV GAME
ESPN has selected Cal State Fullerton's men's basketball game against UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 30, as a wild card selection for broadcast. The 7 p.m., contest will be played at Titan Gym and broadcast live on ESPN3.
AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of 10 television appearances during the 2015-16 season.
The breakdown includes seven 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
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.
Fans can call the Cal State Fullerton ticket office to purchase all-session tickets as well at: 657-279-CSUF.
The 2016 Big West Tournament will be hosted for the sixth straight year at Honda Center in Anaheim. The men's tournament begins on Thursday, March 10 at Honda Center with four quarterfinal games. The semifinals and championship games for both the men and women will take place Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 at Honda Center.
Additional ticket information for the 2016 Big West Basketball Tournament is available at HondaCenter.com. For up to date team schedules and general information regarding the 2016 Big West Basketball Tournament, please visit BigWestTournament.com.
ON DECK FOR THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton welcomes Hawaii to Titan Gym for a Saturday evening contest on January 16 at 6 p.m. The contest will be televised on ESPN3.