Titans on Unique Trip

Jan. 20, 2010

Stockton, Calif. -
Complete Release with Statisitcs

UPCOMING:
Thur., Jan. 21 - at Pacific, Spanos Center (6,150), 7:05 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 23 - at UC Santa Barbara, Thunderdome (6,000), 7 p.m.
Tues., Jan. 26 - at Cal State Bakersfield, Rabobank Arena (10,000), 7 p.m.

IN A NUTSHELL: The Titans (8-8, 3-2) make a Stockton-Santa Barbara trip for the first time this week and catch Pacific and UC Santa Barbara atop the Big West Conference standings at 3-1 an 4-2, respectively. Historically, UCSB was paired with Cal Poly and Pacific has been paired with UC Davis since the Aggies joined the conference. But the combination of the 9-team schedule and a desire to make sure each school has two home games among its final five, led to the change -- economics and convenience left by the wayside. Fullerton made a one-game trip to Davis and will do the same to San Luis Obispo on Feb. 24.

AUDIO: Due to severe cutbacks in state funding that have resulted in athletic budget cuts, there will be no Fullerton-originated audio service nor media relations representative for the game at Pacific (Jan. 21).

VIDEO: All Titan home games and road Big West Conference games are available via videostreaming, normally on a subscription basis. Details are available on the Big West website at www.bigwest.org.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg r/apg Quick Notes
G 11 Jacques Streeter* 6-0 So. 10.4 4.3a Leads Big West in assist/turnover ratio at 1.89
G 0 Aaron Thompson* 6-4 Sr. 10.6 4.5r Shooting .556 from 3-point line (25-of-45) and made 8 in a row over 3 games
C 13 Bryce Webster 6-10 Jr. 9.0 5.5r Shooting .691 from floor and .889 from free-throw line
F 5 Gerard Anderson* 6-6 Jr. 9.4 5.2r Averaging 15.8 pts, 6.4 rebounds in Big West play
F 12 Jer¹Vaughn Johnson 6-6 Jr. 10.3 6.1r Had second double-double with 17 pts., 10 rebs. vs. Cal Poly

OFF THE BENCH:
G 3 Devon Peltier 5-11 Jr. 10.0 0.5a Has led team in scoring four times; 41-for-91 (.451) at 3-point line
G 14 Jamel McGuire 6-5 Jr. 1.7 1.4a Extremely fast guard from San Diego City College
F 15 Orane Chin 6-7 So. 6.1 3.3r Led team with 15 points in first Titan start at Utah State
G 21 Robbie Robinson 6-5 Jr. 2.2 1.2r Key member of Riverside City College¹s state championship team in 08-09
G 22 Frank Granados 5-8 Sr. 1.0 0.0a Walk-on practiced against women¹s team last three years
G 24 Eric Williams 6-3 Jr. 2.8 1.0a Walk-on playing quality minutes
F 33 Ray Miller* 6-8 Sr. 2.4 1.5r Led team last season with .631 field-goal percentage
F 42 Papa Guisse* 6-8 Sr. 1.1 1.8r Started 21 of team¹s 32 games last year
*letters earned

SERIES HISTORY: Pacific leads the all-time series, 44-33, after sweeping last year¹s two-game set. The Tigers hold a 20-8 edge in the Spanos Center and have won 18 of the last 20 games there with the Titans¹ wins during that span coming in 2003 and 2007.

ABOUT THE TIGERS: The Tigers (10-6, 3-1) are the only team with only one loss in Big West play and the only team with double digit overall victories. The Tigers have their typical balance with six players scoring between 7.1 and 10.2 points led by center Sam Willard, who¹s also the top rebounder at 8.0 per game. UoP is holding opponents to .402 shooting frm the floor.

THE COACH: Bob Burton brings a 115-85 (.575) mark into the week. He is in his seventh year. The Titans¹ 8-8 record has dropped his winning percentage below Bobby Dye¹s .583 (109-78), the school record from the 1970s. Burton is third in total victories. The late Alex Omalev had the most (139-176) followed by George McQuarn (122-117) and then Burton. Burton is 4-9 vs. Pacific and Bob Thomason, 1-5 in Spanos.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Titans snapped an atypical 7-game road losing streak with their win at UC Riverside on Jan. 9. Under Coach Bob Burton, the Titans have made dramatic strides as a road team. In the past five seasons plus the game at UCLA this year they were 51-42 (.548) away from Titan Gym (including 11-10 on neutral floors). 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), Burton¹s total CSF road record is 55-60 (.478).

FRIENDLY CONFINES: Under Coach Bob Burton, the Titans are 60-25 (.706) in Titan Gym and 6-1 this year. They are 2-1 at home in Big West play, matching last year¹s conference home win total (2-6). The Titans have won their last nine home non-conference games since a loss to Wright State on Dec. 22, 2007. Burton¹s best single-season home record is 12-2 in 2006-07. The school record is 13-0 in 1982-83.

STREAKY TEAM: The Titans have had extended stretches of brilliance and ineptitude this season. The most dramatic was the New Mexico State game, when they fell behind, 25-3; went on an extended 57-17 run to go up by 18 points only to give up an 18-6 surge to make it close. Other bad starts have been 7-30 at Utah State, 2-13 at Stephen F. Austin, 4-13 vs. Cal Poly and 10-24 vs. Cal State Northridge. Good starts have been 27-8 vs. Occidental and 17-6 vs. Cal State Bakersfield. In-game runs have included 12-0 at Utah State, 20-3 vs. Weber State, 10-0 late at UC Davis, 10-0 early vs. Long Beach State, 13-0, 11-0 and 14-0 all in the first half vs. Occidental, 11-0 at UC Riverside and 11-0 and 12-0 in the New Mexico State rally. Conversely, 0-20 vs. NMSU, 0-12 vs. Cal State Northridge, 0-11 vs. Bakersfield and Utah State and 0-10 vs. Morehead State and Central Arkansas.

MULTI-LEADERS: In 16 games, the Titans have had seven different scoring leaders or co-leaders with Devon Peltier taking honors four times to lead the list (Peltier, 4; Thompson and Anderson, 3; Chin, Streeter, and Johnson 2 each; and Webster, once). Anderson¹s three leadership roles have come in the last five games.

THOMPSON 3-POINT LEADER: Despite a 1-for-8 effort last week, Aaron Thompson continues to lead the Big West in 3-point field goal percentage at .556 (25-for-45). (The NCAA requires 2.5 made 3-pt. field goals per game for its national rankings by percentage.) He made 8 in a row over a 3-game span before missing his last 3 tries vs. Long Beach State.

OTHER BIG WEST LEADERS: Through games of Jan. 16, the Titans led the Big West Conference in free-throw (.728) percentage, 3-point field goals made (7.0 per game) and percentage (.368) and blocked shots (3.13). The Titans were second in field goal percentage (.448). Jacques Streeter is No. 1 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.89.

DEFENSE: The Titans set a season best in points allowed in consecutive games with UC Riverside scoring only 56 points on Jan. 9 and Cal Poly getting only 54 on Jan. 14.

FREE THROWS: Fullerton made 30 of 37 against Cal Poly on Jan. 14. The last time the Titans made as many as 30 free throws in a game was Feb. 13, 1999, when they went 38-of-46 in a 104-97 win over UC Irvine. Fullerton last attempted as many as 37 free throws on Feb. 28, 2008 (making 25-of-37) in an 82-74 loss to Cal State Northridge.

DECISIVE FREE THROWS: The charity line has been the strongest indicator for Titan success in Big West Conference play. In their two losses, they went 13-for-28 (.464) at UC Davis and 18-for-30 (.600) vs. Cal State Northridge. In between, they were 69-of-85 (.812) over the three wins including 32-of-35 (.914) in the closing minutes (11 of 12 in final 2:40 vs. Long Beach; 10 of 11 in final 1:39 at UCR; and 11 of 12 in final 2:20 vs. Cal Poly).

LOTTERY NUMBERS?: In a longshot statistical quirk, the team 3-point field goal stats were identical in consecutive games at Titan Gym. Both Cal State Bakersfield and Long Beach State made 7 of 21 and each time the Titans were making 10 of 26.

ANDERSON ON FIRE: Gerard Anderson has erupted with the start of Big West Conference play. He thrice has led the team in scoring (13 points at Davis, 22 vs. Long Beach and 20 vs. Cal Poly) and has made 25 of 44 (.568) shots including the first three treys of his career (3-for-6 after being 0-for-4 in 1 1/3 seasons). He also has made 26 of 36 (.722) free throws after an 11-for-23 effort (.478) in non-conference games.

WEBSTER ON TARGET: Center Bryce Webster has shot .784 (40-for-51) from the floor over the last 10 games and leads the team and Big West in free-throw shooting at .889 this season. He is eight made field goals shy of qualifying for the Big West lead in field-goal percentage. He¹s at .691 and leader Mark Payne is at .558.

PELTIER FROM OUTSIDE: Devon Peltier has taken 126 shots this season and 91 (72 percent) have come from behind the 3-point line. He was only 1-for-8 from trey-land vs. Long Beach State but was 4-for-4 at UC Riverside, 3-for-5 vs. Cal Poly and 7-for-13 vs. Northridge, marking the eighth timed he has made at least three threes in a game and third time with at least five. VALUABLE WALK-ON: Eric Williams has worked into the backup point guard role. He seized an opportunity in the tournament at Utah State (10 points in 12 minutes vs. the Aggies) and has hit 11 of 14 free throws -- 9 of 12 in crunch time -- in the last 6 games. He had 3 assists in only 4 minutes at UC Riverside.

SHORT BENCH: The Titans haven¹t used more than 9 players in any of their last 7 games since a lopsided loss at Utah State on Dec. 22.

SLUMPING TREY SHOOTERS: Orane Chin has missed his last 15 3-point field goal tries since making his third (season single-game high) late in the first half at Utah State on Dec.22. Jer¹Vaughn Johnson had missed 14 in a row since making one in the first half vs. Weber State on Dec. 21 but he went 2-for-2 vs. Cal State Northridge.

FAST START: Fullerton was 3-0 to open the season for the fourth time in the Burton Era. But only in 2006-07 did the Titans made it to 4-0.

OVERTIME SUCCESS: Fullerton has won five of its last six overtime games, which covers this season and the previous three.

LOSING STREAKS: Fullerton avoided the worst slump in the Bob Burton Era with its win over Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 28. The Titans had lost three in a row for the second time this season and the eighth time in the Bob Burton Era. Only once (in 2003-04) has the losing skein reached four in a row.

NO DOUBLE FIGURES: When Bryce Webster and Devon Peltier led the Titans with only 8 points vs. Central Arkansas on Dec. 4, it was the lowest point total for a Titan scoring leader in the program¹s 36-year Div. I history. In only three other games did no Titan score in double figures -- 9 by Pape Sow vs. USF, Nov. 19, 2005; 9 by Babacar Camara at Valparaiso on Dec. 22, 2000; and 9 by both Ike Harmon and Chris Dade at Utah State on Feb. 7, 1998.

ANOTHER LOW: Fullerton¹s 49 points vs. Central Arkansas were its lowest output since a 77-44 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 31, 2004. The only other sub-50-point game in the Bob Burton Era was a 57-49 loss at Utah State on Jan. 22, 2004.

SHORT-TERM EXPERIENCE: Despite five returning lettermen, the Titans have no players remaining on the roster who suited up during the 2007-08 Big West Conference championship and NCAA Tournament season. Jacques Streeter (32), Gerard Anderson (29), Papa Guisse (21), Aaron Thompson (16) and Ray Miller (12) did combine for 110 starts last season.

DIV. I TRANSFERS: The Titans have two new Div. I transfers eligible this season in Orane Chin (South Florida) and Jer¹Vaughn Johnson (San Diego State) plus two players who began at 4-year schools but came to Fullerton via the community college route (Bryce Webster from Minnesota via Irvine Valley and Eric Williams from Metro State in Colorado via Orange Coast). The Titans have two more Div. I transfers redshirting in Sean Williams from Syracuse and Andre Hardy from Oral Roberts. They bring the total of Div. I transfers to CSF to 13 in the Bob Burton Era and 36 in the program¹s now 35-year Div. I history.

FALL SIGNEES: Cal State Fullerton received two national letters of intent in the November signing period:
? De¹Andre Haskins is attending Citrus College in Azusa after playing his freshman year at Valparaiso University in Indiana. The 6-foot-4 wing player out of Long Beach Jordan HS averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds for the Crusaders and, as a lefthander, will draw comparisons to recent Titan Frank Robinson.
? Isiah Umipig is a senior at Federal Way High School and lives in Seattle, Washington. The 6-1 point guard led his team to the Class 4A state championship in 2008-09 and was his team¹s leading scorer in the championship game win over Garfield, 62-54, in the Tacoma Dome with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He played only 13 games his junior season due to an ankle injury. The title was the first in school history.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Guard Bobby Brown is on the roster of the New Orleans Hornets in his second NBA season. His playing time has diminished behind a healthy Chris Paul and Darren Collison. In 21 games he has averaged 6.7 points and 2.1 assists... guard Josh Akognon is playing in Europe for BC Kalev / Cramo in Tallinn, Estonia (west of Russia, south of Finland and north of Latvia)... guard Frank Robinson recently joined the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. Through 6 games he was averaging 12.5 points. He began the season in China after being a late cut by the Atlanta Hawks... forward Scott Cutley is averaging 15 points thru 22 games for Entrerriano in Argentina... Marcio Lassiter is playing for Smart Gilas, the newly formed Philippine national team.