UPCOMING: Wed., Mar. 16 -- NIT, at Oregon State, Gill Coliseum (10,400),
7:05 p.m.
THE QUICK SCENARIO: The Titans (19-10, 12-6) will make
the school’s third appearance in the NIT Post-Season Tournament
when they visit Oregon State on Wednesday night. Both of Fullerton’s
previous NIT berths took them to Pac-10 schools -- Arizona State in 1983
and California in 1987. And both times the Titans lost by four points
to a team led by a future NBA star guard -- 87-83 to Byron Scott and the
Sun Devils and 72-68 in OT to Kevin Johnson and the Golden Bears. Fullerton’s
only other post-season appearance at the Div. I level was in the 1978
NCAA Tournament where they beat New Mexico (Michael Cooper) and San Francisco
(Bill Cartwright) before losing in Albuquerque to Arkansas (Sidney Moncrief,
et al) in the Western Regional Finals.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE: This has been arguably the
third best season in Fullerton’s Div. I history. The 2004-05 Titans
have:
• posted the school’s first winning season since the 1992-93
team went 15-12
• posted 19 wins (an 11-3 finish), a figure surpassed only twice
at the Div. I level -- 21-8 in 1982-83 and 23-9 in 1977-78
(24-7 in 1961-62 at the NAIA level when school was known as Orange State
College)
• posted the best conference record (12-6) since the 1982-83 team
went 12-4
• claimed the highest finish in the standings (tie for 3rd) since
the 1984-85 team was third at 11-7
• posted the first winning road record (5-4) in conference games
at the Div. I level (dates to 1974-75)
• posted the best home-court record (10-2) since the 1982-83 team
went 13-0
• won their first Big West Conference Tournament game since 1998
and second since 1990
“RADIO”: All games can be heard live on the
internet on computers with sound cards. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics
home page at www.titansports.org and follow the links. Mel Franks will
be the announcer at Oregon State.
PROBABLE STARTERS: No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg rpg Quick Notes
PF 2 Yaphett King 6-4 Sr. 14.1 6.0 Second-team all-conference; No. 7 scorer
in Big West; made all-tourney team
SF 15 Ralphy Holmes 6-4 Sr. 16.4 8.4 Second-team all-conference; No. 1
rebounder, No. 2 scorer in Big West
C 32 Jamaal Brown 6-7 Jr. 12.2 7.2 Honorable mention All-Big West; has
made 3 game-winning shots
SG 14 Jermaine Harper 6-3 Jr. 9.7 3.0 Went 7-for-11 from 3-point land
vs. Utah State; 0-for-7 in previous meeting
PG 3 Bobby Brown 6-1 So. 16.1 2.4 Honorable mention All-Big West; only
22-for-78 (.282) treys last 10 games
OFF THE BENCH: G 23 Vershan Cottrell 6-2 Jr. 1.8 1.0 Two buckets in 20-second
span key in Feb. 19 win over Utah State
PG 22 John Clemmons 6-0 Jr. 1.9 1.2 Had career-high 7 rebounds in 15 minutes
at Cal Poly; 3 steals vs. UoP
F 5 Justin Burns 6-6 So. 3.0 2.8 Had “game” of year in first
half at UCI with 6 points, 10 boards in 11 minutes
C 42 Derek Quinet 6-9 So. 2.7 2.0 Started first five games of the season;
hasn’t played in 6 of the last 12 games
F 21 Danny Lambert 6-6 Jr. 0.7 1.0 Transfer from Irvine Valley College
has played only 17 minutes
SIDELINED:
F 24 Hardy Asprilla 6-5 Sr. 8.5 8.8 Out for the season; tore ACL in his
right knee vs. Long Beach St. on Jan. 13
F 12 Drew Awad 6-3 Sr. 1.7 1.0 Leukemia survivor sidelined by foot injury
has suffered cancer re-occurrence
C 43 Lloyd Walls 6-9 Sr. -- -- Transfer from Wright State sidelined all
season after multiple concussions
ABOUT THE BEAVERS: Oregon State is 17-14 overall and
8-10 in conference, but is 12-1 at home with wins over NCAA tournament
teams Washington, UCLA and Stanford. Only loss was to Arizona. The Beavers
averaged about 7,000 fans at home this season. Forwards David Lucas (18.2
ppg and 6.9 rpg) and Nick DeWitz (13.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg) are the statistical
leaders. The teams have no common opponents this season.
SERIES HISTORY: The schools have met in men’s
basketball only once -- on Nov. 17, 2000, in Corvallis. It was a forgettable
debut game for Titans’ Coach Donny Daniels. Oregon State, with Ritchie
McKay coaching his first game, won, 68-35, holding Fullerton to a school
record low of 12 second-half points. Junior forward Brandon Campbell suffered
a knee injury that restricted him to only 23 minutes the rest of the season.
THE COACHES: Jay John is in his third year at OSU after
serving as an assistant to Lute Olson at Arizona. His OSU and career record
is 42-45. Bob Burton is 30-27 in his second year at Fullerton and career.
VS. THE PAC-10: Fullerton is only 2-19 vs. the Pac-10.
Of course, only one of those was a home game -- a 75-55 rout of Washington
on Dec. 19, 1986, in Fullerton’s last NIT season. (The Huskies begged
out of the return date in Seattle). The breakdown by school: 1-2 vs. Arizona
(67-66 win on Dec. 1, 1983, in Tucson in Lute Olson’s first year),
0-2 vs. Arizona State, 0-1 vs. California, 0-3 vs. Oregon, 0-1 vs. Oregon
State, 0-8 vs. UCLA, 0-2 vs. USC, 1-0 vs. Washington.
