Game 24
Cal State Fullerton at Hawai'i
Date: Saturday, Feb. 13
Time: 9:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Venue: Stan Sheriff Center
Video: hawaiiathletics.com
Live Stats: hawaiiathletics.com
Audio: hawaiiathletics.com
Series: Record UH leads 9-2
Weekly Release (.pdf)
THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton continues its road trip with a 9 p.m. (PT) contest at Big West Conference leader Hawai'i on Saturday. On Wednesday, CSUN was able to overcome a nine-point second-half deficit to record a 75-67 victory over the Titans at the Matadome.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Hawai'i | 9:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday, Feb. 13 | Stan Sheriff Center
Hawai'i tied a program record with 14 three pointers in a 74-52 victory over UC Irvine in Honolulu on Thursday night in a matchup of first-place teams as the 'Bows now are alone at the top of the league standings.
Hawai'i currently leads the Big West Conference averaging 79.0 points per game and shooting 46.6 percent from the field. In addition, UH leads the league in rebounding margin (+4.9) and assists per game (16.4). Current Big West Player of the Week Stefan Jankovic leads the 'Bows and ranks seventh in the league averaging 14.8 points per game followed by teammate Aaron Valdes (14.4 ppg).
Head-To-Head: The Titans and Warriors will face each other for the 12th time in program history this weekend and Hawai'i leads the all-time series 9-2. Hawai'i has won the last eight meetings, including a pair of games last season. Cal State Fullerton is looking for its first win over Hawai'i since 2008 when the Titans won 90-76 in Honolulu.
Last Meeting: The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team out-shot Hawai'i and boasted five double-figure scorers including a double-double from Lionheart Leslie, but it wasn't enough to overcome 29 fouls and 18 turnovers as the Titans' upset bid against the top team in the Big West Conference fell short, 86-79, in overtime on Jan. 16 at Titan Gym.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team led by as many as nine-points behind a double-double by Jamar Akoh, but a 15-0 run by CSUN handed the Titans' a 75-67 loss Wednesday night at the Matadome.
Cal State Fullerton (9-14, 2-8 BWC) took a 33-28 lead into halftime, but CSUN (9-15, 4-6 BWC) tallied 47 points on 50 percent shooting in the second half to rally and hand the Titans their eighth loss in nine games.
Akoh finished the game with his second double-double of the year after recording 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with one block and one steal. The sophomore forward shot 46.2 percent from the field as he connected on 6-of-13 field goals in 36 minutes of action. Akoh was one of four Titans to reach double-figures in the setback.
Lionheart Leslie turned in a strong offensive performance as he led the Titans with 14 points on an impressive 75 percent shooting (6-for-8) effort. The junior guard narrowly missed a double-double of his own with nine rebounds while dishing out two assists and grabbing one steal.
Khalil Ahmad (13 points) and Malcolm Brooks (11 points) rounded out Fullerton's double-figure scorers. Ahmad also contributed four rebounds and three steals, while shooting 55.6 percent (5-for-9).
During the second half, the Titans pushed their lead to as many as nine (42-33) after a layup from Tre' Coggins at 16:50. Although Fullerton held the lead for most of the second half, that did not deter CSUN as the Matadors stayed within striking distance and eventually took a 54-53 lead at 6:23 on a jumper off the hands of Parks.
The final six-and-a-half minutes proved crucial as the Titans surrendered 15 unanswered points as they watched their nine-point lead disappear and turn into a nine-point deficit (73-64) with less than one minute remaining in the game.
AHMAD ON FIRE
Freshman Khalil Ahmad has started in all 10 Big West Conference games for Cal State Fullerton and during that time he has averaged 18.3 points per game to lead the Titans. The Corona, Calif., native has led Fullerton in scoring in six of its last eight games and is shooting 41.5 percent from the field in league action.
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 4-8 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. The sophomore forward recorded his second double-double of the year scoring 12 points and adding 11 rebounds in a 75-67 loss at CSUN.
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
The Titans' post players did a soild job of cleaning up the glass against UC Davis on Feb. 4. 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 6.6 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 474 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 straight 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 returns home to host UC Irvine at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Titan Gym. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.