Men's Basketball Begins Big West Conference Play With Thursday Game At Fullerton

January 9	7 pm PT	at Cal State Fullerton	KFNY 1440 AM	Live Video	Listen Live	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
January 11	7 pm PT	vs. UC Irvine	KFNY 1440 AM	Live VIdeo	Listen Live	Live Stats	(951) 827-4653 For Tickets
					Game Notes

Riverside—Big West Conference play gets underway this week as the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team travels to Cal State Fullerton (5-9) Thursday, January 9 for a 7 pm PT tip against the Titans.

The Highlanders completed their non-conference schedule with a 5-9 record, but six of those losses were by five points or fewer including their most recent defeat at North Texas, 76-72 (box score/recap). UC Riverside was without the services of leading scorer Chris Patton (12.8 ppg) for the past two games, but he is expected to return this week.

Until recently, Taylor Johns was pacing the Highlanders in the scoring department, but opponents have started to key on him following his strong start, and other members of the squad have stepped up. Johns hasn't let his lack of scoring opportunities impact the other aspects of his game, as he has five double-digit rebound performances in his last nine games, and is now the third leading rebounder in the conference at 8.4 per contest. His 2.1 blocked shots per game are also third best in the Big West.

Sam Finley has found his shooting touch of late, averaging 19.0 points over the past three games. That includes a career-high 20 points at Sacramento State on December 29 (box score/recap). He is shooting 48.8 percent from the field (20 for 41) over that span, including 42.9 percent from three-point range (6 for 14). The freshman has also committed just two turnovers in his last four games.

Steven Thornton rekindled his offense recently, breaking out of an 0-for-12 slump by making seven of 12 shots and scoring 18 points at North Texas.

Cal State Fullerton has lost two straight heading into conference play, 83-64 at UNLV and 73-57 at Tulsa. The Titans and Highlanders have three common opponents on the season in Seattle, Sacramento State and Pepperdine. UC Riverside lost its three meetings with that triumverate, all by four points or less. Fullerton beat Pepperdine (78-64) and Sacramento State (59-51) and dropped two decisions to Seattle (75-71 and 74-64).

The Titans are being outscored by an average of 3.4 points on the season in large part because of their perimeter defense. Cal State Fullerton opponents are connecting on 35.5 percent of their shots from three-point range on the year compared to 31.0 percent for the Titans.

Michael Williams leads Cal State Fullerton's offense averaging 15.2 points per game. Alex Harris is the Titans' other double-digit scorer at 12.0 points per game. Fullerton was without Harris's services for a four-game stretch in late November, and the Titans lost all four of those contests. Four other members of the team average between six and nine points per game.

The Highlanders are 17-26 all-time against Cal State Fullerton. The Titans have won the last four meetings between the clubs (View all-time results). Patton scored a career-high 36 points against Fullerton on February 9 of last year in a 79-67 defeat (box score/recap).

Men's Basketball Begins Big West Conference Play With Thursday Game At Fullerton

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