# 2017–18 Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball team represented California State University, Fullerton during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Titans, led by fifth-year head coach Dedrique Taylor, played their home games at the Titan Gym, in Fullerton, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 20–12, 10–6 in Big West play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Long Beach State and UC Davis to advance to the championship game of the Big West tournament. In the championship, they defeated UC Irvine to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 15 seed in the East region, they lost to Purdue in the first round.

## Previous season

The Titans finished the 2016–17 season 17–15, 10–6 in Big West play, to finish in third place. In the Big West tournament, they defeated Cal State Northridge in the quarterfinals, before losing to UC Davis in the semifinals. They were then invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, where they lost to Weber State in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tre Coggins | 1 | G | 6'3" | 193 | Senior | San Juan Capistrano, CA | Graduated |
| Lionheart Leslie | 2 | G | 5'10" | 179 | Senior | Houma, LA | Graduated |
| Loren Brill | 11 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Freshman | Gaithersburg, MD | Walk-on; transferred to Old Dominion |
| Richard Peters | 22 | C | 6'11" | 270 | Senior | Pickering, ON | Graduated |
| Joshua Currenton | 32 | C | 6'10" | 250 | Junior | Watts, CA | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Darcy Malone | 33 | C | 7'0" | 244 | Senior | Canberra, Australia | Graduated |
| Riley Dearring | 35 | G | 6'5" | 180 | RS Junior | Minnetonka, MN | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Jhan Paul Mejia | 41 | F | 6'10" | 195 | Junior | Madrid, Spain | Graduate transferred to College of Charleston |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Dominik Heinzl | 21 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Junior | Uzov, Czech Republic | Junior college transferred from Laramie County CC |

### 2017 incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Landon Kirkwood SG | Brooklyn Center, MN | Brooklyn Center High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Dec 16, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Daniel Venzant PG | Midland, TX | Midland Christian School | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Josh Pitts PF | San Antonio, TX | Memorial High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Gaber Ozegovic PF | Kranj, Slovenia | Primorska | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Johnny Wang PF | Beijing, China | Santa Margarita Catholic High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 incoming recruits

College recruiting information (2018) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Wayne Arnold #55 SG | Compton, CA | Dominguez High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Aug 21, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 4, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | La Verne | W 112–57 | | 13 – Kirkwood | 6 – Pitts | 5 – Venzant | Titan Gym (662) Fullerton, CA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 10 USC | L 42–84 | 0–1 | 12 – Rowe | 8 – Rowe | 1 – Ahmad | Galen Center (6,327) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 15, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | at No. 21 Saint Mary's | L 57–76 | 0–2 | 13 – Rowe | 6 – Awosika | 4 – Awosika | McKeon Pavilion (2,769) Moraga, CA |
| November 18, 2017* 2:00 p.m. | | Bethesda | W 77–35 | 1–2 | 12 – Robertson | 9 – Awosika | 6 – Allman | Titan Gym (624) Fullerton, CA |
| November 23, 2017* 7:30 p.m., ESPNN | | Georgia Wooden Legacy | L 57–64 | 1–3 | 34 – Allman | 4 – Rowe | 2 – Allman | Titan Gym (2,131) Fullerton, CA |
| November 24, 2018* 6:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Sacramento State Wooden Legacy | W 68–63 | 2–3 | 25 – Ahmad | 7 – Rowe | 5 – Awosika | Titan Gym (2,513) Fullerton, CA |
| November 26, 2017* 6:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Harvard Wooden Legacy | W 70–61 | 3–3 | 25 – Rowe | 5 – Rowe | 6 – Awosika | Titan Gym (1,733) Fullerton, CA |
| December 2, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Cal Lutheran | W 86–58 | 4–3 | 22 – Allman | 7 – Robertson | 5 – Smith | Titan Gym (2,085) Fullerton, CA |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | at Portland | W 76–66 | 5–3 | 24 – Ahmad | 8 – Rowe | 3 – Awosika | Chiles Center (1,294) Portland, OR |
| December 9, 2017* 6:00 p.m. | | Utah Valley | W 91–83 | 6–3 | 34 – Ahmad | 10 – Robertson | 5 – Awosika | Titan Gym (914) Fullerton, CA |
| December 16, 2017* 1:00 p.m., P12N | | at California | L 89–95 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | 30 – Allman | 12 – Rowe | 7 – Smith | Haas Pavilion (6,758) Berkeley, CA |
| December 22, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | at Loyola Marymount | W 88–80 | 7–4 | 25 – Ahmad | 13 – Robertson | 8 – Allman | Gersten Pavilion (933) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 30, 2017* 5:00 p.m. | | at Utah Valley | L 78–87 | 7–5 | 18 – Ahmad | 7 – Allman | 2 – Ahmad | UCCU Center (3,158) Orem, UT |
| Big West regular season |||||||||
| January 3, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | UC Riverside | W 68–65 | 8–5 (1–0) | 16 – Allman | 6 – Allman | 5 – Smith | Titan Gym (878) Fullerton, CA |
| January 6, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at Cal Poly | W 101–97 $^{OT}$ | 9–5 (2–0) | 30 – Allman | 12 – Rowe | 5 – Awosika | Mott Athletics Center (2,513) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| January 11, 2018 7:30 p.m., FSN | | at UC Irvine | W 67–64 | 10–5 (3–0) | 14 – Rowe | 8 – Rowe | 3 – Rowe | Bren Events Center (1,484) Irvine, CA |
| January 13, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | UC Davis | W 85–70 | 11–5 (4–0) | 27 – Allman | 7 – Ahmad | 4 – Allman | Titan Gym (1,267) Fullerton, CA |
| January 17, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 64–83 | 11–6 (4–1) | 19 – Ahmad | 5 – Robertson | 5 – Allman | The Thunderdome (1,714) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 20, 2018 7:30 p.m., FSN | | at Long Beach State | L 73–81 | 11–7 (4–2) | 16 – Ahmad | 8 – Ahmad | 2 – Awosika | Walter Pyramid (3,037) Long Beach, CA |
| January 25, 2018 7:30 p.m., FSN | | UC Santa Barbara | L 65–70 | 11–8 (4–3) | 24 – Allman | 7 – Ahmad | 5 – Rowe | Titan Gym (1,033) Fullerton, CA |
| January 28, 2018 10:00 p.m. | | at Hawaii | W 69–66 | 12–8 (5–3) | 40 – Allman | 6 – Rowe | 4 – Allman | Stan Sheriff Center (6,869) Honolulu, HI |
| February 3, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | UC Irvine | L 58–63 | 12–9 (5–4) | 20 – Allman | 11 – Rowe | 3 – Ahmad | Titan Gym (1,506) Fullerton, CA |
| February 8, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Cal Poly | W 75–59 | 13–9 (6–4) | 22 – Ahmad | 10 – Rowe | 5 – Awosika | Titan Gym (1,069) Fullerton, CA |
| February 10, 2018 5:00 p.m. | | at UC Davis | W 68–66 | 14–9 (7–4) | 31 – Ahmad | 8 – Allman | 2 – Ahmad | The Pavilion (3,031) Davis, CA |
| February 17, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | W 88–70 | 15–9 (8–4) | 29 – Ahmad | 9 – Rowe | 8 – Rowe | Titan Gym (786) Fullerton, CA |
| February 21, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | L 65–69 | 15–10 (8–5) | 20 – Allman | 11 – Rowe | 2 – Allman | SRC Arena (582) Riverside, CA |
| February 24, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Long Beach State | W 81–71 | 16–10 (9–5) | 25 – Allman | 6 – Clare | 7 – Ahmad | Titan Gym (1,653) Fullerton, CA |
| February 28, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 102–76 | 17–10 (10–5) | 23 – Allman | 8 – Robertson | 4 – Awosika | Matadome (761) Los Angeles, CA |
| March 3, 2018 3:00 p.m., FSN | | Hawaii | L 60–68 | 17–11 (10–6) | 18 – Allman | 5 – Rowe | 2 – Allman | Titan Gym (972) Fullerton, CA |
| Big West tournament |||||||||
| March 8, 2018 2:30 p.m., FSN | (4) | vs. (5) Long Beach State Quarterfinals | W 76–74 | 18–11 | 24 – Allman | 8 – Rowe | 8 – Allman | Honda Center (3,311) Anaheim, CA |
| March 9, 2018 6:30 p.m., ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (1) UC Davis Semifinals | W 55–52 | 19–11 | 16 – Rowe | 11 – Rowe | 5 – Awosika | Honda Center (3,984) Anaheim, CA |
| March 10, 2018 8:59 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (2) UC Irvine Championship | W 71–55 | 20–11 | 26 – Allman | 7 – Clare | 4 – Smith | Honda Center (5,664) Anaheim, CA |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 16, 2018* 9:40 a.m., truTV | (15 E) | vs. (2 E) No. 11 Purdue First Round | L 48–74 | 20–12 | 21 – Allman | 5 – Allman | 2 – Allman | Little Caesars Arena (20,163) Detroit, Michigan |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
Source: – All home or Big West matches were televised on BigWest.TV.

## Player statistics

Individual player statistics (Final) :
| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-throws | Free-throws | Free-throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | Stl | Blk | TO |
| Ahmad, Khalil | 32 | 30 | 1002 | 31.3 | 484 | 15.1 | 170 | 407 | .418 | 57 | 178 | .320 | 87 | 105 | .829 | 17 | 104 | 121 | 3.8 | 52 | 39 | 7 | 78 |
| Allman, Kyle | 32 | 30 | 1053 | 32.9 | 623 | 19.5 | 198 | 405 | .489 | 45 | 105 | .429 | 182 | 244 | .746 | 11 | 100 | 111 | 3.5 | 75 | 36 | 6 | 74 |
| Awosika, Austen | 32 | 14 | 873 | 27.3 | 229 | 7.2 | 79 | 193 | .409 | 7 | 34 | .206 | 64 | 97 | .660 | 18 | 97 | 115 | 3.6 | 85 | 32 | 7 | 56 |
| Clare, Davon | 32 | 3 | 554 | 17.3 | 106 | 3.3 | 40 | 95 | .421 | 7 | 28 | .250 | 19 | 27 | .704 | 31 | 78 | 109 | 1.1 | 35 | 15 | 11 | 37 |
| Fox, Ian | 5 | 0 | 38 | 7.6 | 6 | 1.2 | 2 | 14 | .143 | 2 | 11 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| García, José | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 4.0 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Heinzl, Dominik | 30 | 5 | 303 | 10.1 | 71 | 2.4 | 29 | 51 | .569 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 18 | .722 | 15 | 36 | 51 | 1.7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| Kirkwood, Landon | 11 | 0 | 51 | 4.6 | 17 | 1.5 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 3 | 7 | .429 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Pitts, Josh | 19 | 0 | 92 | 4.8 | 22 | 1.2 | 9 | 26 | .346 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 1.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Ramos, Dwight | 18 | 1 | 121 | 6.7 | 37 | 2.1 | 14 | 46 | .304 | 5 | 23 | .217 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 1.0 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| Robertson, Arkim | 32 | 27 | 496 | 15.5 | 167 | 5.2 | 63 | 98 | .643 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 63 | .651 | 53 | 85 | 138 | 4.3 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 31 |
| Rowe, Jackson | 31 | 31 | 929 | 30.0 | 376 | 12.1 | 136 | 234 | .581 | 24 | 58 | .414 | 80 | 103 | .777 | 42 | 166 | 208 | 6.7 | 50 | 29 | 31 | 64 |
| Smith, Jamal | 32 | 18 | 721 | 22.5 | 125 | 3.9 | 35 | 84 | .417 | 13 | 35 | .371 | 42 | 56 | .750 | 6 | 75 | 81 | 2.5 | 61 | 18 | 6 | 52 |
| Venzant, Daniel | 24 | 1 | 138 | 5.8 | 41 | 1.7 | 17 | 35 | .486 | 3 | 12 | .250 | 4 | 11 | .364 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0.6 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| Wang, Johnny | 15 | 0 | 75 | 5.0 | 10 | 0.7 | 3 | 13 | .231 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 3 | 5 | .600 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 1.2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 32 | – | 6450 | 201.6 | 2318 | 72.4 | 804 | 1721 | .467 | 167 | 500 | .334 | 543 | 745 | .729 | 276 | 847 | 1123 | 35.1 | 403 | 201 | 106 | 455 |
| Opponents | 32 | – | 6450 | 201.6 | 2245 | 70.2 | 768 | 1861 | .413 | 220 | 635 | .346 | 489 | 647 | .756 | 320 | 754 | 1074 | 33.6 | 396 | 180 | 114 | 413 |
Source: