Game 23
Cal State Fullerton at CSUN
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10
Time: 7:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Venue: The Matadome
TV: ESPN3
Live Stats: GoMatadors.com
Audio: GoMatadors.com
Series: Record CSF leads 40-33
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton continues its road trip with games at CSUN and Hawaii this week. The Titans take on the Matadors Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Titans take on the Warriors of Hawai'i in Honolulu. The game will be played at 9 p.m. (PT).
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
CSUN | 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 10 | The Matadome
CSUN owns an 8-15 overall record and a 3-6 mark in the Big West Conference as the Matadors sit just above the Titans in the conference standings. The Matadors have lost three of their last four games with their only win being a two-point victory at UC Riverside.
The Matadors boast four players who average double-figures. Leading the way is Kendall Smith who averages 16.0 points per game. He sets the tone for Michael Warren (14.0 ppg), Aaron Parks (10.9 ppg) and Tavrion Dawson (10.4 ppg).
Head-To-Head: The Titans and the Matadors will meet for the 74th time in program history. Cal State Fullerton holds the ege in the all-time series 40-33. However, in their last meeting CSUN held off CSF 85-75.
Last Meeting: Tre' Coggins turned in a career-best performance with 41 points to rank second in the Cal State Fullerton single-game record book, but the Titans were unable to complete the comeback effort as they dropped an 85-75 decision to Cal State Northridge Saturday night inside Titan Gym.
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
Despite taking a seven-point lead into halftime, Cal State Fullerton was outscored 54-34 by UC Santa Barbara in the second half after the Gauchos shot 66.7 percent from the field to defeat the Titans 81-68 Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
The loss is the Titans' seventh setback in their last eight games as they fall to 9-13 overall and 2-7 in the Big West. Meanwhile, the Gauchos improve to 10-12 on the year and 4-5 in league action.
UCSB was led offensively by Michael Bryson who poured in 25 points, while narrowly missing a double-double with nine rebounds. He also dished out a game-high seven assists. Gabe Vincent also turned in a 20-point effort, while Eric Childress rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Gauchos with 13 points.
The Titans also boasted three double-figure scorers led by freshman guard Khalil Ahmad who racked up 21 points in the game to mark his sixth 20-point performance of the year. Ahmad also led CSF in rebounds with seven to go along with a team-high four assists. Adding to Fullerton's offense were Tre' Coggins and Malcolm Brooks with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
UC Santa Barbara kicked off the game with an early lead, but Cal State Fullerton stayed with the hosts and took its first lead of the game at 12:11 on a three off the hands of Brooks. The two teams battled back and forth until the Titans broke a 25-25 tie at 3:32 when Kennedy Esume sunk both free throws. From there, Fullerton went on a 9-0 run to take a 34-25 lead before taking a 34-27 advantage into halftime.
In the first half, Cal State Fullerton out-shot UCSB 34.5 percent to 31.3 percent, but the main point differential came at the charity stripe as the Titans connected on 9-of-10 free throws, while the Gauchos made 2-of-3.
Coggins had a solid first half as he tallied nine points – all of which came from long distance. The redshirt junior finished the frame shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc.
The Gauchos began the second half on a 12-4 run to take a one-point lead in the game (39-38). By 13:56, UCSB garnered a lead they would not relinquish as they held the edge the rest of the way.
The Titans stayed close, but the Gauchos sunk all six of their free throws in the final minute of action to extend their lead to 13 by the time the clock expired.
AHMAD ON FIRE
Freshman Khalil Ahmad has started in all nine Big West Conference games for Cal State Fullerton and during that time he has averaged 18.9 points per game to lead the Titans. The Corona, Calif., native has led Fullerton in scoring in six of its last seven games and is shooting a team-leading 40.6 percent from the field in league ation.
ROAD WARRIORS
Cal State Fullerton closes out the final month of the regular season playing five of its last eight games on the road. This season the Titans are 4-7 in away games. Three of the Titans' five road games will take place in the upcoming week as Fullerton heads to UCSB (Feb. 6), CSUN (Feb. 10) and Hawaii (Feb. 13) before returning to Titan Gym on Wednesday, Feb. 17 to host UC Irvine.
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' post players did a soild job of cleaning up the glass against UC Davis on Thursday night. The trio of Kennedy Esume, Jamar Akoh and Tim Myles combined for 32 rebounds as they helped Cal State Fullerton out-rebound Davis 51-33 in a contest in which the Titan defense held the Aggies to just 22 percent shooting in the second half. On the year, Akoh is leading the Titans with an average of 6.4 rebounds per game.
TITAN TEAM NOTES
• 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). The pair have combined for 431 points on the year.
• 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.
• The Titans have suffered through a pair of losing streaks this season after having dropped five games in a row from Dec. 6 - Dec. 29, then falling in six straigh games from Jan. 9 - Jan. 30. With the 61-57 win against UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton put an end to its most recent streak.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
Most recently, ESPN selected the Titans home game against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Feb. 27 to be televised on ESPN3. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
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 continues its road swing with a contest at Hawai'i on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 9 p.m. (PT).