Aztecs Next Titan Obstacle
Dec. 7, 2009
San Diego, Calif. -
UPCOMING:
Wed., Dec. 9 -- at San Diego State, Viejas Arena (12,414), 7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 12 -- Occidental, Titan Gym (4,000), 7:30 p.m. (following 5 p.m.
women's game vs. BYU)
IN A NUTSHELL: After a disappointing road trip to Nacogdoches, Texas, that
saw them lose twice, the Titans are back on the road for a Wednesday night
game at San Diego State. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Fullerton
forward Jer'Vaughn Johnson, who played two seasons for the Aztecs before
transferring to Fullerton before last season.
AUDIO: The San Diego State game can be heard live on the internet on
computers with sound cards. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics home page
at www.fullertontitans.com and follow the links. Mel Franks will describe
the game.
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. 10.0 4.3a Staggered by
the flu in Nacogdoches; played only 38 minutes total
G 0 Aaron Thompson* 6-4 Sr. 14.0 5.6r Back-to-back
career highs of 22 points; BWC Player of Week (Nov. 16-22)
F 24 Gerard Anderson* 6-6 Jr. 7.2 5.6r Hand injury
limited him to 2 points, 7 rebounds total in Texas
F 12 Jer'Vaughn Johnson 6-6 Jr. 9.8 6.4r Former Aztec
returns to face old program
C 13 Bryce Webster 6-10 Jr. 6.0 5.0r Grabbed 14
rebounds at UCLA; played final 16 minutes with 4 fouls
OFF THE BENCH:
G 3 Devon Peltier 5-11 Jr. 5.8 0.2a Hit 5-of-9 treys
in Texas and averaged 9.5 points
G 14 Jamel McGuire 6-5 Jr. 2.0 1.6a Extremely fast
guard from San Diego City College
F 15 Orane Chin 6-7 So. 9.0 4.4r Hit clutch trey in
final minute to get Titans within a point at Stephen F. Austin
G 21 Robbie Robinson 6-5 Jr. 3.0 2.0r Key member of
Riverside City College's state championship team in 2008-09
G 22 Frank Granados 5-8 Sr. 1.5 0.0a Walk-on practiced
against women's team last three years
G 24 Eric Williams 6-3 Jr. 3.0 1.5a Walk-on from Orange
Coast who played at Metro State as freshman
F 33 Ray Miller* 6-8 Sr. 3.3 1.0r Led team last season
with .631 field-goal percentage
F 42 Papa Guisse* 6-8 Sr. 2.0 2.5r Started 21 of team's
32 games last year
*letters earned
SERIES HISTORY: The Titans trail the all-time series against their former
Pacific Coast Athletic Association rivals, 20-10, despite winning four of
the last five meetings. The Aztecs snapped a 4-game losing streak to
Fullerton with a 63-60 win in San Diego in their last meeting on Dec. 21,
2004. Bob Burton is 0-1 vs. the Aztecs.
ABOUT THE AZTECS: San Diego State (6-2) has won three in a row including an
overtime win at San Diego and an 8-point win Saturday at UC Santa Barbara.
The losses came at Saint Mary's and at Pacific. Four players average in
double figures led by Billy White at 13.3 and Tyrone Shelley at 12.7.
Freshman Kawhi Leonard averages 8 rebounds and 7.9 points. SDSU is
shooting only .296 from the 3-point line but .574 from inside the arc.
Opponents are shooting only .374 from the floor.
THE COACH: Bob Burton is in his seventh year at Cal State Fullerton with a
campus and career record of 110-79. Two losses in Texas dropped his winning
percentage to .5820, a tick below Bobby Dye's .583 (109-78) school record
from the 1970s. Alex Omalev, who passed away last November at the age of
88, has the most total victories (139-176) followed by George McQuarn
(122-117) and then Burton.
ROAD WARRIORS: Under Bob Burton, the Titans have made dramatic strides as a
road team. In the past five seasons plus three games this year, they are
51-44 (.537) away from Titan Gym (includes 11-11 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), Burton's
total CSF road record is 54-55 (.495).
JOHNSON VS. THE AZTECS: Jer'Vaughn Johnson is the 34th person to play for
the Titans after transferring directly from another Div. I school. He is
only the seventh that will face his ex-school and the first to do so in 22
years. Tom Morgan played and won against Boise State in 1977-78 afer
playing his freshman year (1975-76) with the Broncos. David Wear had games
of 26 and 4 points in a pair of losses to Fresno State in 1980-81. Leon
Wood led the Titans to a 67-66 win at Arizona on Dec. 1, 1983. Ozell
Jones scored 10 points in a loss at Wichita State on Dec. 7, 1982. Gary
Moeller averaged 1.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in four wins in four tries vs.
UCSB in 1983-85. And Bobby Adair had 8 points and 4 rebounds as Fullerton
beat his former Utah team on Dec. 9, 1987, in Titan Gym. Totals: CSF is
7-3 in reunion games.
NOT THIS TIME: Not since a trip to Utah State and Idaho on Jan. 20 & 22,
2005, had the Titans failed to fly home with at least one victory from a
multi-game road trip -- a span of 16 road trips. They had two 2-0 trips,
one 2-1 trip and 13 1-1 adventures between the 0-2s.
NO DOUBLE FIGURES: When Bryce Webster and Devon Peltier led the Titans with
only 8 points vs. Central Arkansas on Friday, it was the lowest point total
for a Titan scoring leader in the program's 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 n Feb. 7, 1998.
ANOTHER LOW: Fullerton's 49 points vs. Central Arkansa 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.
FAST START: Fullerton was 3-0 out of the gate for the fourth time in the
Burton Era. But only in 2006-07 have 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.
STOPPING THE TREY: In recent years, Fullerton has not had a good 3-point
field goal percentage defense -- .367 last year (next to last in the Big
West) and .375 the year before. But this season Titan opponents are
shooting a frigid .248 (26 of 105) while the Titans are shooting .360 led by
Aaron Thompson's 9-for-14 (.643) effort, which is among the nation's
leaders.
HOME BODIES: Cal State Fullerton has only five games on its 2009-10
schedule outside the state of California --two tourney games in Nacogdoches,
Texas, and three in Logan, Utah. Last season the Titans traveled far and
wide -- to Honolulu, Portland, Baton Rouge, Las Cruces and Bozeman after a
Labor Day exhibition tour to Vancouver, BC.
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 Jer'Vaughn 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 program's now
35-year Div. I history.
SHELTON TO REDSHIRT: D. J. Shelton, the only freshman in CSF's program,
will redshirt this season. The 6-9 forward is a product of East Bakersfield
High School. His cousin, Tim Shelton, is on the San Diego State team but
nursing a knee injury.
FALL SIGNEES: Cal State Fullerton received two national letters of intent
in the November signing period:
 De'Andre 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 team's 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.
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