2015-16 Season Recap

Posted: Apr 12, 2016

SEASON RECAP
The 2015-16 Cal State Fullerton men's basketball season started the year with an impressive 6-1 (.857) record, but the Titans struggled to find that success beyond the month of December, finishing the rest of the way with a 4-19 (.174) mark, as Fullerton ended its season with an overall record of 10-20 and a Big West Conference record of 3-13.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
For the fifth consecutive time, Cal State Fullerton could not move past its first game at the Big West Tournament, as the Titans' season ended in the quarterfinals with a 75-44 loss to No. 1 seed Hawai'i at Honda Center. The 'Bows would eventually move on to win the Big West Tournament and upset Cal, 77-66, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Titans finished ninth in the Big West Conference standings, but were the eighth seed at the Big West Tournament as CSUN was ineligible for postseason play.

AWARD SEASON
Cal State Fullerton guard Khalil Ahmad was named the 2015-16 Big West Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year, as voted on by the league's nine coaches.
In addition, Ahmad received all-Big West honorable mention recognition along with teammate Tre' Coggins.

Ahmad is the third Cal State Fullerton student-athlete, and first since Bobby Brown in 2003-04, to be bestowed with the Freshman of the Year honor. The 6-foot-4 guard broke Brown's single-season freshman scoring record of 369, and scored 429 points for the Titans.

Ahmad's 14.3 points per game average ranked second on the squad this season and seventh in the Big West Conference as the league's top scoring freshman.

Coggins, named Big West honorable mention, was the Titans' leading scorer averaging 15.6 points per game, which ranked fifth in the Big West Conference.

The San Juan Capistrano, Calif., native, also ranked in the league's top 10 for free-throw percentage (3rd, .853) and three-pointers made per game (2nd, 2.6).

ENTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Individual Season
• Tre' Coggins' 75 made three-pointers tied for ninth in the Cal State Fullerton single-season top-10.
• Coggins' .853 free throw percentage ranks fourth in the CSF single-season top-10.

Individual Single Game
• With a career-best performance against CSUN on Jan. 9, Coggins etched his names in several top-10 CSF categories. Coggins was the first Titan to reach 41 points since Josh Akognon did it against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 13, 2008. With 41 points, Coggins tied for second for most points scored in a single-game. 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. In addition, his 17 made free throws vs. CSUN tie for first in single-game history with Leon Wood (vs. Texas-Arlington, 12.19.81) and his perfect 17-for-17 effort at the free-throw line against the Matadors is the best all-time.
• Malcolm Brooks' 6-of-9 (.667) performance behind the three-point line at Seattle on Dec. 4 ties for fourth in Titan single-game three-point percentage.
• Kennedy Esume's 19 rebounds at Loyola Marymount on Nov. 13 in the season opener tie for ninth in Fullerton single-game history.

Team Season
• Fullerton's 743 free throw attempts rank third in single-season history, while the team's 515 made free throws rate fourth.
• The Titans' 1,116 rebonds rate eighth in the single-season record book.

TITAN TEAM NOTES
• Sophomore forward Jamar Akoh has decided to transfer. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native averaged 6.1 points per game and his team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game ranked eighth in the Big West Conference.
• The Titans used 15 different starting lineups in 2015-16.
• Fullerton lost eight games by nine points or less, including five in Big West Conference play.
• The Titans were 0-11 when allowing the opponents to score 80 points or more.
• The Titans suffered through three losing streaks during the 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, while its last streak dated from Feb. 6 - Feb. 20.

ROAD WARRIORS
Cal State Fullerton closed out the final month of the regular season playing five of its last eight games on the road. The Titans were 5-10 in away games. Those five road games took place in the last three weeks: UCSB (Feb. 6), CSUN (Feb. 10), Hawai'i (Feb. 13), Long Beach State (Feb. 20) and Cal Poly (Feb. 25).

ROOKIE SENSATION
Freshman guard Khalil Ahmad produced one of the best freshman seasons in Cal State Fullerton men's basketball history. Compared to fellow Titan freshmen in CSF program history, Ahmad, the 2016 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, set records for points (429), points per game (14.3), field goals made (139), free throws made (115) - beating the old rookie record by a total of 35 - and free throw percentage (.772).

In addition, Ahmad led the Titans with 22 double-figure scoring games and added six efforts of 20 points or more. The Corona, Calif., native led the Titans in scoring, rebounds and assists on eight occasions, respectively.

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.

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. His third double-double of the year consisted of 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-73 loss to Long Beach State.

Junior Tim Myles recorded the first double-double of his Titan career scoring a career-best 10 points to go along with a career-best and team-leading 12 rebounds in the season-ending loss to Hawai'i at the Big West Conference Tournament.

CLEANING UP THE GLASS
The Titans' post players did a solid 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.

BWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK - TIMES TWO
Tre' Coggins was named Big West Player of the Week on two occasions during the 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.

A transfer from Air Force, Coggins led the Titans averaging 15.6 points per game. In addition, the native of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., knocked down a team-best 75 three-pointers and shot a team-leading 85.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Coggins totaled 20 double-figure scoring games, nine games with 20 points or more and one game with 40 points or more. He led the Titans in scoring a team-best 12 times, and also led Fullerton in assists on eight occasions.

AIR TIME
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team is scheduled made a total of 13 television appearances during the 2015-16 season.

The breakdown includes eight appearances via ESPN3, two on the Pac-12 Network and three on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.