Feb. 2, 2011

Fullerton, Calif. -

Complete Release in PDF Format

UPCOMING:
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
Thurs., Feb. 10 -- Cal State Northridge, Titan Gym (4,000), 7:05 p.m.

IN A NUTSHELL: The Titans (8-14, 4-5) put their 3-game home-court winning streak on the line this week, hosting UC Irvine (10-12, 3-5) and UC Riverside (7-12, 2-5) in games that will be critical to post-season tournament seeding. Fullerton is 6-2 at home this season but only 2-12 away from Titan Gym. Fullerton lost at Irvine and won at Riverside in the opening round.

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.

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. 8.3 5.4a Leads BWC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.92:1); began week 10th in nation
G 3 Devon Peltier* 5-11 Sr. 13.8 2.0r Leads BWC in free-throw percentage at .899; tops team in minutes
F 15 Orane Chin* 6-7 Jr. 13.0 6.0r Made only 3-of-17 shots last week after BWC Player of Week honors
F 0 Andre Hardy 6-6 Jr. 12.2 9.3r Missed first UC Irvine game; leads team with 3 double-doubles
C 12 Jer'Vaughn Johnson* 6-6 Sr. 14.7 6.6r Had best game of career with 22 points, 13 rebounds vs. Long Beach on 1/19
OFF THE BENCH:
G 11 Roger Guardia 6-4 Sr. 2.3 2.1r Season-high 14 pts. vs. USD, made all four 3-point attempts; started at UofA
G 13 Isiah Umipig 6-1 Fr. 6.9 1.3r Led second half rally at Long Beach State on Saturday with 12 points
G 14 Orlando Brown 6-1 Jr. 3.5 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. 3.2 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 had a 10-0 run to start the game and a 15-2 surge late in the second half but in between they were dominated by Long Beach State in a 75-60 decision Saturday at the Pyramid in the rematch of Fullerton's 89-87 win at home on Jan. 19. Casper Ware, who scored a career-high 27 points in defeat at Fullerton, had 21 this time and 16 of them came in the first 5 minutes of the second half which led to a 22-point 49ers' advantage. Jer'Vaughn Johnson and Isaih Umipig had the best games for the Titans with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

THE COACH: Bob Burton is 131-106 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 .553 trails only Bobby Dye (.583, 109-78). He is 9-7 vs. UCI, 4-3 in Titan Gym.

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 2-12 effort. They are 60-64 (.484) 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 63-75 (.457).

ABOUT THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine is coming off a 108-107 double overtime loss at UC Davis that left it 10-12, 3-5. Darren Moore (16.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Eric Wise (14.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Patrick Rembert (12.0 pg, 3.2 apg) are the statistical leaders for first-year Coach Russell Turner. UCI leads the Big West in scoring at 76.0 ppg and is first in turnover margin (+1.23).

SERIES HISTORY: Fullerton leads it, 49-42, but the Anteaters won the previous meeting this season, 85-78, on Jan. 5 in the Bren Center. In that game, Fullerton committed a season-high 24 turnovers including five on its first six possessions. Home court has been of little advantage in the series. Since 1978, Fullerton is only 18-15 in Titan Gym vs. UCI while going 13-12 at the Bren and 6-3 at old Crawford Hall.

GOOD STREAKS ENDING: Fullerton has put a damper on several successful streaks during this 8-14 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 2-10 when trailing at the half, rallying only vs. Cal State Bakersfield and at UC Riverside.

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 seven times including the last six games.

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.

TITAN PLAYER THUMBNAILS:

Orlando Brown - had his best game in 3 weeks with 10-point, 4-rebound effort in 28 minutes at Bakersfield on Jan. 25... 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 (Jan. 17-23) for his efforts vs. Long Beach State and UCSB but struggled last week on the road, averaging 3.5 points on 3-for-17 (.176) shooting... was one rebound shy of a double-double vs. the 49ers on Jan. 19 with 12 points and 9 rebounds... on Jan. 22 he 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... 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... last year vs. UCI averaged 18.5 points and 9 rebounds and this year had 10 points and 8 rebounds but 9 turnovers.

Roger Guardia - has played only 7 minutes in last four games, all at Long Beach... 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 83 minutes in last 10 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 10 games since returning from ankle surgery is averaging just under a double-double at 12.2 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 (.583) in field-goal percentage at .566... went 6-for-7 at Bakersfield on Jan. 25... 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... had 17 points and 7 rebounds in Saturday's rematch... 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 .625 (80 for 128) against all others.

Steve Jurich - has not played in past four 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 8 points in 7 minutes of play at Long Beach State on Saturday... had season-high 5 rebounds in 11 minutes at UC Irvine on Jan. 5 after not playing at all in two previous games... got 5 more boards at Cal Poly on Jan. 13... 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 on Jan. 25, hitting 4-of-7 treys and 9-of-17 overall... was 3-for-6 for 7 points at Long Beach on Saturday... leads team in minutes played at 724 (32.9 mpg average)... emerged from shooting slump three weeks ago (44 pts. on 15-of-28 FGs, 9-of-19 3's) at UCI and UCR... 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... leads Big West in free-throw percentage at .899 (62 of 69).

Isiah Umipig - after five relatively quiet games (18 total pts. on 7-of-22 FGs) he had 12 points at Long Beach State, leading second-half rally... had back-to-back breakout performances four 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 2.92 to 1.0 (114 to 39) despite matching season high with 4 turnovers in each of last two games... began this week tenth in the nation (leader was Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin at 3.91-to-1)... clutch down stretch at home 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... 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.

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