Game 20
Cal State Fullerton vs. UC Riverside
Date: Saturday, Jan. 30
Time: 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
TV: ESPN3
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Internet Radio: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: CSF 28-20
Tickets: FullertonTitans.com/tickets
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton hosts UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., in the Titans' homecoming game. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
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.
For Homecoming, the doors to Titan Gym will open at 5:30 p.m.
Students in attendance will receive pom-poms at the game.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
UC Riverside | 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 30 | Titan Gym
UC Riverside comes into Titan Gym with a 12-11 overall record and a 3-4 Big West Conference ledger. The Highlanders are coming off of back-to-back conference wins against Long Beach State and Cal Poly.
Jaylen Bland is the Highlanders' leading scorer with 16.9 points per game. Taylor Johns and Secean Johnson also average double figures with 14.7 and 11.8 points per game, respectively. Johns is the team leader in rebounding with 139 boards to average 7.7 per game.
Head-To-Head: The Titans and Highlanders will meet for the 49th time in program history and Cal State Fullerton holds the edge in the all-time series 28-20. UCR is looking to rebound against Fullerton after having dropped a 79-73 decision to the Titans to open conference action earlier this month.
Last Meeting: 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 were led to victory by five double-figure scorers highlighted by a 25-point effort from Tre' Coggins, while the Highlanders saw four players reach double-figures in 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
Khalil Ahmad and Lionheart Leslie recorded career-highs and Jamar Akoh notched a double-double, but the Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team could not come up with a win at UC Davis Wednesday night as the Titans dropped a 69-64 decision to the Aggies at The Pavilion.
Despite the Titans' struggles, Ahmad has been on fire shooting 40.9 percent and averaging 20.2 points per game in Big West action. At UC Davis, the freshman from Corona, Calif., recorded a career-best 27 points on 50 percent shooting (7-for-14) from the field. He was 2-for-5 from long distance and 11-for-12 from the free throw line. Ahmad also added six rebounds, two assists and one block in the contest.
Ahmad set the offensive tone as Leslie and Akoh also recorded double-figures. Leslie's career-high came in the form of 18 points, while Akoh recorded his first double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. His 14 points is also a career-high.
While Cal State Fullerton saw several players register career numbers, UC Davis had four players notch double-figures in Josh Fox (19 points), Siler Schneider (15 points), Darius Graham (13 points) and Brynton Lemar (12 points).
The Aggies capitalized on points off of turnovers taking advantage of the Titans' 16 turnovers. They also gained ground with a strong second half in which they out-shot Fullerton 43.8 percent to 35.3 percent to outscore the visitors 34-27.
The game was very much a back and forth affair as the conference foes fought through four lead changes and five ties and culminated in UC Davis defeating Cal State Fullerton, 69-64.
AHMAD ON FIRE
Freshman Khalil Ahmad has started in all six Big West Conference games for Cal State Fullerton and in those six games has averaged 20.2 points per game. The Corona, Calif., native most recently poured in a career-high 27 points at UC Davis on 7-for-14 shooting while playing in all 40 minutes of action.
SUITS AND SNEAKERS
Against UC Riverside, during the Titans' homecoming game, Cal State Fullerton will be participating in Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week. The Titan's coaching staff will be wearing Princess Lacey's Laces in memory of Lacey Holsworth, an 8-year old basketball fan who died of cancer. Laces are available at all Shoe Carnival Stores and at shoecarnival.com/lacey. The American Cancer Society will receive 85% of the proceeds from the campaign, and Princess Lacey's Legacy will receive 15%. The funds going to the American Cancer Society will be restricted to pediatric cancer.
ENTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Redshirt junior guard Tre' Coggins etched his name into the Cal State Fullerton record books with a career-best performance against CSUN in which he poured in 41 points to rank second all-time in the single-game annals. He also went 17-for-17 from the free throw line to set a Big West Conference record. Coggins is the first Titan to reach 41 points since Josh Akognon did it against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 13, 2008. With 41 points, Coggins now ties for second for most points scored in the CSF record single-game record book. He is tied with Akognon, who reached the feat twice in 2008, and sits behind Bobby Brown who tallied 47 points in 2006 against Bethune-Cookman.
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. 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. Lionheart Leslie notched his first double-double as a Titan against Hawai'i with 17 points and 10 rebounds - both career-highs for Leslie. Most recently, Jamar Akoh made his way into the group with a double-double at UC Davis with a career-high 14 points to go along with 10 boards.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
The Titans have had a pair of post players who have done their job cleaning up the glass. Senior Kennedy Esume and sophomore Jamar Akoh are leading the team in rebounding. Esume has grabbed 114 boards to average 6.0per game, while Akoh has pulled down 113 rebounds for an average of 6.3.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Tre' Coggins leads the Big West Conference with a free throw percentage of 86.1 percent after connecting on 62-of-72 free throws this season.
• Kennedy Esume leads the conference in offensive rebounds as the 6-10 center has grabbed 42 in 18 games to average 2.4 per game.
• The freshmen duo of Khalil Ahmad and Kyle Allman Jr., led the Titans at UC Irvine combining for 37 of the team's 59 points (nearly 63 percent).
• Lionheart Leslie recorded the first double-double of his Titan career with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Hawai'i - both of which are new career-highs.
• In conference play, Tre' Coggins leads the league in scoring averaging 20.8 points per game. His conference free throw percentage (.947) is also tops in the league.
• Junior forward Rashard Todd has decided to leave the team.
• Redshirt senior guard Lanerryl Johnson has decided to leave the team.
BWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - TIMES TWO
Tre' Coggins has been named Big West Player of the Week on two occasions this season. He and Hawai'i's Roderick Bobbitt are the only two players in the league who have earned the honor more than once this season.
Coggins collected his second honor after posting a career-best 41 points against CSUN to rank second in the Cal State Fullerton single-game record book, while becoming the first Titan in eight years to reach the 40-point plateau.
His performance was the first 40-point effort by a Big West player since Corey Hawkins of UC Davis in January 2013. Additionally, he is the first Titan to reach 41 points since Josh Akognon did it against CSU Bakersfield on December 13, 2008.
Coggins is now tied with Akognan for second for most points scored in the CSF single-game record book and sits behind Bobby Brown, who tallied 47 points in 2006 against Bethune-Cookman.
Additionally, Coggins tied a Big West single-game free throw percentage record as he connected on all 17 attempts. He is just the second player in league history to accomplish such a feat. He finished the week shooting 95.7 percent (22-of-23) from the free throw line.
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 41 assists on the year, while Tre' Coggins is second on the team with 31 helpers. As a team, the Titans have accumulated 199 assists for an average of 10.5 per game.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
Prime Ticket has selected Cal State Fullerton's men's basketball game at Long Beach State on Saturday, Feb. 20, as a wild card selection for a live television broadcast. The 7:30 p.m., contest will be played at the Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State.
AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled to make a total of 11 television appearances during the 2015-16 season.
The breakdown includes seven appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network and two 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 opens the month of February with a midweek conference game against UC Davis at Titan Gym on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
