Game Notes
--Fullerton's two wins in the NIT are its most post-season wins since its 1978 NCAA team.
-- Tuesday's game marks the Titans' first national TV appearance since 1990 and the first national TV game in McDonough Gym since 1982.
-- The 34 points allowed by Georgetown in its first round win over Boston University broke a record for fewest points allowed, set in the 1943 NCAA's over NYU (54-36) and tied in the 1984 NCAA's versus SMU (37-36).
--Fullerton is 0-3 vs. Big East schools, with losses to UConn, Providence and Pitt in the years before the conference were formed. Georgetown is 5-2 versus Big West schools, with its last game a 73-56 loss to Pacific in December 1996.
--With his 194 points this season, freshman Jonathan Wallace has set a new record for points by a walk-on during a season, topping the mark of Ed Drysgula (190 points) during the 1945-46 season.
Preview
"The Titans are enjoying the second most successful season in their Div. I history," writes the Cal-State Fullerton game notes, "but at the rate they are going in the 2005 Post-Season NIT, they may not have enough players left for the opening tip-off at Madison Square Garden."
But injuries may stop the Titans two games short.
With five players sidelined by injuries, including a ACL injury last Friday night to leading scorer Ralphy Holmes, Fullerton faces a Georgetown team which has rediscovered its mid-season momentum, crushing a 20-win Boston University team last week in first round NIT play. For the Titans to pull off the upset, they'll need guard play to carry the day and catch a huge break on rebounding.
One of the reasons why the Titans have played so well this year is the play of guards Bobby Brown and Jermaine Harper in the Kansas-styled offense of coach Bob Burton. Burton, a 500 game winner in the JC ranks, become a D-I coach at 57 last year and has benefited greatly from his guard play. Brown averages 16.8 points a game, is the team's best three point shooter, and leads the team in assists. Brown averages only 2.2 fouls a game and carries a 1.45 assist to turnover ratio. Harper is second on the team in threes and as a duo account for 72% of the Titans' available three point shooting power.
Fullerton will suffer mightily if they cannot hold the Hoyas close inside. The Titans start no one taller than 6-7. Its tallest player, 6-9 Derek Quinet, has not appeared in 6 of the team's last 13 games. Excepting players lost to injuries, the remaining Titans carry a team rebounding average of only 25 a game. Fullerton must battle inside and risk fouls, or give up the easy inside basket and play the three point game. The Titans were 10-20 from three point range against USF and are averaging 28 three point attempts a game in March. A hot hand from outside could be a valuable asset for Fullerton.
The bench is no less a concern for coach Burton. With five players out to injury, only three will sit on the CSUF bench Tuesday. The three average only four points a game combined this season and one of the three, 6-6 Danny Lambert, has played only 18 minutes all season. The Titans cannot afford to lose players to fouls in this one.
Reserve forward Justin Burns (2.8 ppg) figures to make his second start of the year in place of Holmes. Burns played a season at Georgetown Prep while his brother, Jason Burns, appeared in three games with the Hoyas during the 1999-2000 season. When his brother transferred, Justin returned to Las Vegas and committed to Boise State, but instead went to UNLV and later Cypress JC before joining the Titans. Burns has not scored more than two points in each of the last seven games, and probably needs to match his career high (14 points) to be effective.
Georgetown must play to its advantages in this game--inside scoring, depth, and ball control . The Titans average almost seven steals a game and as long as Georgetown can hold on to the ball, they'll have a definite edge to get the ball inside. Much as they did earlier this season at McDonough against San Jose State, the Hoyas should pull away in the second half.
It'll be a challenge for Burton to rally his team after eight days on the road against a Big East foe, the loss of his best shooter, playing in a gym none of them (save Burns) has ever seen, and on national TV, no less. If they can do it, people will remember these Titans for many years to come.
