Jan. 28, 2011
Long Beach, Calif. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
UPCOMING:
Sat., Jan. 29 -- at Long Beach State, Walter Pyramid (4,200), 7:30 p.m. Fox Sports West TV
Thurs., Feb. 3 -- UC Irvine, Titan Gym (4,000), 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 5 -- UC Riverside, Titan Gym (4,000), 6:05 p.m., Homecoming Game
IN A NUTSHELL: The Titans (8-13, 4-4) have a quick rematch at Long Beach State (12-10, 7-2), which they defeated, 89-87, in Titan Gym on Jan. 19, to open the second half of Big West Conference play. Fullerton saw its modest 2-game win streak snapped with a 77-75 non-conference loss at Cal State Bakersfield.
AUDIO: Most Titan games can be heard live on the internet. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics home page at www.fullertontitans.com and follow the links. Mike Martinez is the usual play-by-play announcer.
TELEVISION: Ron Pitts, Michael Cage and Crystina Poncher are the talent for the Fox Sports West telecast on Saturday at Long Beach.
VIDEO: ALL non-televised Big West Conference home games can be viewed on computers via BigWest subscription TV.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg a/rpg Quick Notes
G 21 Perry Webster 6-1 Jr. 8.5 5.6a Leads BWC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.17:1); began week fifth in nation
G 3 Devon Peltier* 5-11 Sr. 14.1 2.0r Second in BWC in free-throw percentage at .899; 7th in made 3s at 1.95 pg
F 15 Orane Chin* 6-7 Jr. 13.3 6.1r Big West Player of the Week with 30 pts., 15 rebs., 4 assists, 2 blocks, 4 steals
F 0 Andre Hardy 6-6 Jr. 12.8 9.3r Three double-doubles in nine games; twice a rebound shy of two more
C 12 Jer'Vaughn Johnson* 6-6 Sr. 14.5 6.6r Had best game of career with 22 points, 13 rebounds vs. Long Beach
OFF THE BENCH:
G 11 Roger Guardia 6-4 Sr. 2.4 2.1r Season-high 14 pts. vs. USD, made all four 3-point attempts; started at UofA
G 13 Isiah Umipig 6-1 Fr. 6.6 1.4r Back-to-back season-high 19-point efforts at UCI and UCR
G 14 Orlando Brown 6-1 Jr. 3.6 2.9r Played 28 minutes at Bakersfield with 10 points and 4 rebounds
G 32 Eric Williams* 6-3 Sr. 1.3 1.3r Walk-on played solid 19 minutes including all of overtime in win at UCR
C 33 Sedric Martin 6-6 Jr. 2.9 1.7r Scored 13 points in first start of season at USC
F 45 Steve Jurich 6-7 Jr. 2.8 1.9r Got third start of season vs. Occidental
*letters earned
HOW YOU SAY IT: dee-VAHN pehl-tee-AY &\#149; Steve JUHR-itch &\#149; OHR-uhn Chin &\#149; Roger GWAHR-dee-uh &\#149; eye-ZAY-uh YOO-muh-pig
LAST GAME: The Titans lost to Cal State Bakersfield for the first time since 1973 as a 12-game winning streak ended in a 77-75 defeat. The Roadrunners made 27 of 32 free throws including 6 of 6 in the final 1:38 and survived a turnover with 4.6 seconds left when Orane Chin's spinning jumper in the lane bounded off the rim at the buzzer. Devon Peltier led Fullerton with 23 points.
NO EXPERIENCE: With no two-years or more lettermen, the Titans field a roster that has a total of only nine seasons of Div. I experience (Johnson 3, Hardy 2, Chin 2, Williams 1 and Peltier 1) and only four of those are at Fullerton (Johnson, Chin, Williams and Peltier, 1 each). With Johnson and Hardy sidelined, the Titans took only eight healthy scholarship players to Oahu with a total of four seasons of Div. I experience.
THE COACH: Bob Burton is 131-105 in his eighth season at Cal State Fullerton and career. He has the most victories at the Div. I level and trails only Alex Omalev (139-176 in 12 years) all-time. Burton's winning percentage of .555 trails only Bobby Dye (.583, 109-78). He is 9-7 vs. Long Beach State including 4-3 in The Walter Pyramid.
FRIENDLY CONFINES: Under Bob Burton, the Titans are 68-31 (.687) in Titan Gym including 35-4 (.897) in non-conference games. Fullerton had won its last 13 and 32 of the last 33 home non-conference games prior to the Dec. 22 loss to Montana. Fullerton's all-time Div. I Titan Gym record is 293-165 (.640). Fullerton also is 1-8 in regular season home games at the Anaheim Convention Center.
ROAD STRUGGLES: Under Bob Burton, the Titans had made dramatic strides as a road team before this year's 2-11 effort. They are 60-63 (.488) away from Titan Gym (includes 11-15 on neutral floors) from 2004-05 through the present. For the previous 10 seasons (1994-95 thru 2003-04) the combined road record was 30-115 (.207). With a 3-11 mark in his first season (2003-04), Burton's total CSF road record is 63-74 (.460).
ABOUT THE 49ers: Long Beach State (12-10, 7-2) is coming off another last-shot win at Pacific on Wednesday night, the fourth game in their last five decided by 4 points or less. All five starters average in duble figures led by point guard Casper Ware at 15.6 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY: Long Beach State leads it, 58-42, but the Titans have won six of the last seven meetings including three in a row at The Walter Pyramid. Fullerton won this year's previous meeting on Jan. 19, 89-87, with all five scorers in double figures. Jer'Vaughn Johnson had 22 points and 13 rebounds to offset Casper Ware's career high of 27 points. The light-scoring CSF bench outscored that of Long Beach, 8-2.
GOOD STREAKS ENDING: Fullerton has put a damper on several successful streaks during this 8-13 start. The Titans have seen ends to their 7-game win streak at CSUN, their 4-game win streak at SLO and an overall 12-game, 37-year winning streak over Cal State Bakersfield.
SECOND-HALF TENSION: The Titans are only 6-4 when leading at the half. In three of those wins it took a last-second reprieve to salvage a win after blowing a significant lead and vs. UCSB it took a late 19-5 surge to overcome blowing a 14-point advantage. At San Diego on Nov. 1, the lead was 55-48 with about 7 minutes to play before USD had a 10-0 run only to eventually miss three shots in the paint to take a lead in the final five seconds and then miss a trey at the buzzer to tie. Vs. Pacific on Dec. 30, the Titans led, 51-39 at 5:16 only to go scoreless until Devon Peltier's tie-breaking, lucky bounce 3-pointer with 00.4 on the clock. At Riverside on Jan. 8, the lead was 73-68 with six seconds to go but UCR tied it on a 3-pointer and two foul shots stemming from a technical foul for a "sixth" timeout. Fullerton also saw all but 2 points of a 10-point lead disappear in the final 44 seconds vs. Long Beach State on Jan. 19. Fullerton is 2-9 when trailing at the half, rallying only vs. Cal State Bakersfield and at UC Riverside.
GO FIGURE: Fullerton committed only 3 turnovers in the Dec. 30 win over Pacific, the lowest number in the Bob Burton Era and possibly a school record. The previous low for a Burton team was 7 (on 8 occasions). In records dating back to the 1982-83 season, the previous low was 4 vs. UC Irvine in 1988-89 and vs. San Jose State in 1987-88. But in the next game at UCI, Fullerton committed 24 including five on the first six trips down the floor.
LINEUP DIVERSITY: Thanks primarily to healing joints, the Titans have been able to settle on a regular starting lineup. Through the first 14 games, the Titans utilized 10 different starting combinations, due in great part to the delayed arrivals of Jer'Vaughn Johnson and Andre Hardy, not to mention the absence of any returning starters other than Johnson from 2009-10. But the combo of Webster, Peltier, Chin, Hardy and Johnson has started six times including the last five games.
TITAN PLAYER THUMBNAILS:
Orlando Brown - had his best game in 3 weeks with 10-point, 4-rebound effort in 28 minutes at Bakersfield on Wednesday night... playing time has diminished with the arrivals of first Jer'Vaughn Johnson and later Andre Hardy... he played total of 42 minutes in back-to-back games vs. UoP and at UCI but only 25 minutes total over the next 4 games... started first 8 games of the season... twice has grabbed 9 boards in a game... usually guards opponents' top scoring threat... scored season-high 11 points vs. Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 27... hit a big trey in the second half vs. Long Beach on Jan. 19.
Orane Chin - Big West Player of the Week for his efforts vs. Long Beach State and UCSB... one rebound shy of a double-double vs. the 49ers on Jan. 19 with 12 points and 9 rebounds... on Saturday led team with 18 points vs. UCSB, scoring 11 unanswered points late in the first half to erase an early UCSB advantage and his free throws at 3:15 put the Titans ahead to stay, 51-50... but went 1-for-8 and missed 2 shots in final 68 seconds at Bakersfield Wednesday night... scored career-high 32 points at Portland State on 13-of-22 shooting (4 of 7 treys)... made the Rainbow Classic all-tournament team, averaging 22.7 ppg and 6.0 rpg... had 12 rebounds vs. Central Michigan.
Roger Guardia - did not play in last three games... after 6 scoreless games, scored 6 first-half points at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 15... he averaged 19 minutes over five games between Nov. 30 to Dec. 18 but has played a total of only 76 minutes in last 9 games... grabbed 9 rebounds at Montana and against USD had 14 points including 4-for-4 from 3-point line... had 2 points in first start at Arizona.
Andre Hardy - in first nine games since returning from ankle surgery is averaging just under a double-double at 12.8 ppg and 9.3 rpg... scored what proved to be the winning bucket vs. Long Beach State on Jan. 19 with layup for 88-82 lead with 13 seconds remaining... after a rusty first half vs. Montana on Dec. 22 (in first game action since March, 2009, in the NCAA Tournament for Oral Roberts), had 11 points and 8 rebounds after intermission to post only the third double-double (11 pts., 11 rebs.) by a Titan this season... almost did it again vs. UC Davis with team-high 19 points and 9 rebounds in a starting role and had 17 points and 9 boards vs. Pacific before being ejected for "fighting" with 2:57 to play... missed game at UCI but came back with second double-double (14 pts., 10 rebs.) at UCR on Jan. 8 and had a third with 12 points and 10 boards at Cal Poly on Jan. 13.
Jer'Vaughn Johnson - only returning starter from last year...strained knee ligament in early practice session; released to practice again on Nov. 18 and debuted with 13 minutes off the bench at USC on Nov. 24... has been most consistent Titan player... began week second in Big West to CSUN's Lenny Daniel (.577) in field-goal percentage at .556 and went 6-for-7 at Bakersfield Wednesday night, improving to .569... had arguably best game of Titan career on Jan. 19 vs. Long Beach, one point and one rebound shy of his career highs with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes against the athletic 49ers... made all 7 shots and all 5 free throws in 19-point game at Portland State before fouling out with 1:16 to play... has shot only .400 (18 for 45) vs. twin-towered USC, Montana and UCSB but is at .635 (73 for 115) against all others.
Steve Jurich - has not played in past three games and has played total of only 35 minutes vs. Big West competition... averaged 8 points and 2.5 rebounds in two starts in Hawai'i before back problem sidelined him... came off the bench at San Diego and played 21 minutes with 5 points and 5 rebounds... had season-high 7 rebounds at Montana... started again vs. Occidental.
Sedric Martin - had season-high 5 rebounds in 11 minutes at UCI after not playing at all in two previous games... got 5 more boards at Cal Poly... got first start at USC and made 6-of-9 shots against the Trojans' twin 6-10 towers and scored 13 points... hit two free throws at 3:39 to tie Hawai'i game at 70-70.
Devon Peltier - led team with 23 points at Bakersfield Wednesday night, hitting 4-of-7 treys and 9-of-17 overall... was 3-for-18 in treys over previous 4 games... continues to lead team in minutes played at 694 (33.0 mpg average)... emerged from shooting slump three weeks ago (44 pts. on 15-of-28 FGs, 9-of-19 3's) at UCI and UCRs... had 23 pts. at UCI and 21 at UCR with 6 points in OT... 30-for-32 (938) at the line in Big West play... hit game-winning trey in final second to beat Pacific on Dec. 30... led the Titans with 15 points at USC and 20 at Montana and in between was most of the Titans' offense in the second half at San Diego, scoring 14 of his career and game-high 24 points... had 19 points in second USD win... led team with 19 at Arizona, making 4 of 6 treys... second in Big West in free-throw percentage at .899 (62 of 69)... sidelined during several games by leg cramps.
Isiah Umipig - has had relatively quiet five games (18 pts. on 7-of-22 FGs) after breakout performance three weeks ago... led desperate rally at UCI on Jan. 5 by scoring 16 points in final 6 minutes for season-high 19 points (5-of-5 FGs, 5-of-5 FTs)....started for injured Perry Webster at UCR on Jan. 8 and scored 19 again including 7 in first 4 minutes of second half to almost erase 8-point deficit and then back-to-back buckets in final five minutes when UCR had pulled within a point... "saved the game" for the Titans per Coach Burton vs. Occidental... came off bench to score 13 of his then season-high 15 points before intermission including team's final seven of the period.
Perry Webster - leads Big West in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.17 to 1.0 (111 to 35)... began this week fifth in the nation (leader was Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin at 4.14-to-1)... clutch down stretch vs. Long Beach and UCSB, scoring 7 points in 9-4 CSF run that produced 83-74 lead at 0:55 vs. the 49ers and hitting trey to beat the shot clock for 58-50 lead over UCSB at 0:35... after scoreless game at USC came back for season-high 17 points vs. Cal State Bakersfield and matched that vs. Occidental... matched it again -- all in the second half -- at CSUN on Jan. 15... has had zero turnovers in five of his 20 games including second USD win when he had 10 assists... also had 10 assists in double-double with 10 points at Portland State... scored only 5 points at San Diego but they turned a 58-55 deficit into a 60-58 lead on back-to-back possessions (2 free throws and a trey around his steal).
Eric Williams - walk-on played solid 19 minutes on Jan. 8 in win at UC Riverside and made big trey in second half vs. Long Beach State... got season-high 5 points at CSUN on Jan. 15... got first career start at San Diego as Titans went "big," starting him (6-3) in place of 6-1 Umipig, who had started against Montana State... hit first trey of season vs. Occidental... started again on Dec. 28 vs. UC Davis.