THE GAME: California State University Fullerton Titans at Montana, Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
RECORDS: The Titans are 3-1, with home wins over CSU Bakersfield (92-75) and CSU Los Angeles (87-67), and a road win at Southern Utah (78-63). Tuesday the Titans were thumped 91-65 at Arizona.
Montana takes a 5-2, Big Sky Conference leading record into the game, with their only losses in Spokane to the 12th ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs (77-54) and the 9th ranked Washington State Cougars (66-55). The Grizzlies have beaten Colorado State (75-39), Montana State Northern (72-47), South Dakota State (70-61), Air Force (59-57) and Mississippi Valley State (69-62).
The Titans’ Arizona loss was the first game of their current road trip, which includes Friday’s visit to Missoula. The Wildcats jumped to a 20-4 lead over the Titans and shot a blistering 62.1% shooting from the field for the win. The Titans were held to 37.5% shooting by the Wildcats. Titan guard Josh Akognon scored 19 points and Marcus Crenshaw and Marcus Morgan notched 13 for Fullerton.
THE COACH: Bob Burton is 71-52 in his fifth year at the helm, and is the second-winningest coach in the history of CSU basketball, behind Bobby Dye. Montana Coach Wayne Tinkle is 22-17 in his second year at Montana.
HISTORY: Montana leads the series, 6-1. The last time the teams met was in 1996 in Missoula with Fullerton claiming an 80-73 victory.
PERSONNEL: Junior Akognon, a 5’-11” pure-shooting transfer from Washington State, leads the Titans in scoring (22.1 ppg.) and in three point shots, converting 20-45 on the season so far. Senior Frank Robinson, a 6’-4” forward, averages 15.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Titans suffered a major blow early when 6’-5” senior Scott Cutley fractured his right ankle in the second practice of the season. Last year Cutley averaged 15.6 points for Fullerton. Cutley is traveling with the team, however, and saw his first action of the season, with 12 minutes against the Wildcats, scoring 4 points and grabbing three rebounds. The Titans have a deep bench, with 10 players regularly contributing 10+ minutes per game.
THE TEAM: The Titans were picked to challenge for the Big West crown, nabbed anywhere between third and first by most publications.
Fullerton runs a guard-oriented transition offense that’s in its element when it can score in excess of 80 per game. The team has averaged 80.7 points per game so far -- including their 65-point output against the Wildcats on Wednesday -- while allowing opponents to score 68.3.
The Titans led the Big West Conference in 12 team statistical categories (excluding the Arizona game), including rebounding, assists-to-turnover ratio (+1.2), steals (12ppg.), and turnover margin (+7).
THE MATCHUP: Friday’s game is the first of home-and-home games between the teams this season. It’ll be a match on a par with playing an upper division Big Sky Conference school. The Grizzlies will travel to Fullerton Dec. 20.
The Titans will test the Grizzlies’ perimeter defensive skills and the Griz guards’ ability to withstand perimeter pressure. The Titans love to run the floor and shoot the three on early offense; they’ve shot an average of 21 three-pointers per game this year, making 36 of 87 threes in four games (41%). The Grizzlies are much improved this season in three-point field goals allowed, at 31% per game, compared to a 40% average allowed last year. Griz guards will need to locate and challenge Titan long range shooters.
FRONT COURT: Andrew Strait (6’-9”) and Jordan Hasquet (6’-8”) will be critical to Montana’s success. The Grizzlies have a size advantage in the low blocks, including bench players, so reverves Kyle Sharp and Brian Qvale will also play key roles. Grizzly post players will need to hang on to the ball, post up & get shots in the paint. If so, Montana stands a good chance of offsetting the Titan transition game. The tallest Fullerton players are starting center Andrew Green (6’-6,” 7.7ppg, 4.3rpg.) and backup center Kenneth Alexander (6’-6,” 10.3ppg., 2.7rpg.). Other keys: rebounding, free throw conversions.
BACK COURT: The Grizzlies struggled getting the ball into offense against the perimeter pressure of Air Force and MVSU, but not because of the guards. Though the Grizzlies have a slim minus-average assists-to-turnover ratio, Cameron Rundles, Matt Martin and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor have still taken good care of the ball. Martin leads the Big Sky in three-point field goals. Montana guard Ryan Staudacher has shown continued promise as a scoring threat, both from long range and a versatile pull-up mid-range jumper.
HEALTH: Rested and in generally good condition. Rundles has been bothered by a chronic foot injury that has slowed, but not stopped him.
Following Friday’s game, Montana will get a six-day rest before a Dec. 7 match against Portland University, which lost 78-73 at home Wednesday to Portland State.
