The Cal State Fullerton men?s basketball team looks to continue its hot streak as it takes on the Big West Conference-leading UC Irvine Anteaters Wednesday at Titan Gym.
CSUF (13-12) is on a three-game winning streak and has won five of its last six games. All five victories have come against Big West opponents. The Titans have a 7-5 conference record, tied for fourth in the standings with Cal State Northridge.
?There is a different level of resilience with this group. They trust each other,? said Titans Head Coach Dedrique Taylor. ?Their confidence in themselves and their confidence in each other is really starting to play out on the floor.?
Both teams are coming off a pair of victories Saturday in which they posted 79 points, with CSUF beating UC Davis 79-72 and UC Irvine beating UC Riverside 79-60.
The Titans? victory against UC Davis helped both themselves and UC Irvine (16-12), as it gave CSUF a big win against the then-conference leaders and gave the Anteaters the lead in the Big West with a 9-3 record.
The two teams met earlier this season at UC Irvine with the Anteaters coming out on top 87-67. Wednesday?s matchup is being played at Titan Gym, giving the Titans a slight advantage over UC Irvine. The Titans are tied for the most home wins in the Big West with 10, while the Anteaters have the best away record in the Big West at 7-7.
The key for CSUF is senior guard Tre? Coggins. Coggins, who leads the Big West with 17.4 points per game, shot 0-10 from the field in Fullerton?s previous matchup against UC Irvine. The leading scorer in that game for the Titans was sophomore guard Kyle Allman with nine of his 13 points coming from the free-throw line.
The leading scorer for UC Irvine in the first meeting was senior guard Luke Nelson with 20 points. Despite playing in 10 of UCI?s 28 games, Nelson leads the team with 14.8 points per game. He was sidelined for the first 15 games of the season with a pulled right hamstring.
Nelson has scored more than 10 points per game in eight out of the 10 games he has played, leading UC Irvine to a 9-1 record when he is in the rotation.
Nelson is followed by senior guard Jaron Martin and 7-foot-2 senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos, who are each averaging more than 10 points per game.
The all-time series between the two teams is tied at 52-52 but the Titans? last win against UCI came in March 2012.
?Particularly with their size, that will always be a deficit for us,? Taylor said. ?I think if we can just continue to worry about what we can control and really, really work on those things, we?ll see what happens on Wednesday.?
CSUF (13-12) is on a three-game winning streak and has won five of its last six games. All five victories have come against Big West opponents. The Titans have a 7-5 conference record, tied for fourth in the standings with Cal State Northridge.
?There is a different level of resilience with this group. They trust each other,? said Titans Head Coach Dedrique Taylor. ?Their confidence in themselves and their confidence in each other is really starting to play out on the floor.?
Both teams are coming off a pair of victories Saturday in which they posted 79 points, with CSUF beating UC Davis 79-72 and UC Irvine beating UC Riverside 79-60.
The Titans? victory against UC Davis helped both themselves and UC Irvine (16-12), as it gave CSUF a big win against the then-conference leaders and gave the Anteaters the lead in the Big West with a 9-3 record.
The two teams met earlier this season at UC Irvine with the Anteaters coming out on top 87-67. Wednesday?s matchup is being played at Titan Gym, giving the Titans a slight advantage over UC Irvine. The Titans are tied for the most home wins in the Big West with 10, while the Anteaters have the best away record in the Big West at 7-7.
The key for CSUF is senior guard Tre? Coggins. Coggins, who leads the Big West with 17.4 points per game, shot 0-10 from the field in Fullerton?s previous matchup against UC Irvine. The leading scorer in that game for the Titans was sophomore guard Kyle Allman with nine of his 13 points coming from the free-throw line.
The leading scorer for UC Irvine in the first meeting was senior guard Luke Nelson with 20 points. Despite playing in 10 of UCI?s 28 games, Nelson leads the team with 14.8 points per game. He was sidelined for the first 15 games of the season with a pulled right hamstring.
Nelson has scored more than 10 points per game in eight out of the 10 games he has played, leading UC Irvine to a 9-1 record when he is in the rotation.
Nelson is followed by senior guard Jaron Martin and 7-foot-2 senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos, who are each averaging more than 10 points per game.
The all-time series between the two teams is tied at 52-52 but the Titans? last win against UCI came in March 2012.
?Particularly with their size, that will always be a deficit for us,? Taylor said. ?I think if we can just continue to worry about what we can control and really, really work on those things, we?ll see what happens on Wednesday.?
