Titans demolish Anteaters

FULLERTON — In the midst of seemingly ever-present construction on the Cal State Fullerton campus, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team found itself with a useless blueprint Saturday night.

Aiming to grind out points through structure, execution and synchronicity, the Anteaters instead encountered contentious, often unyielding defensive pressure.

The result was a 75-60 win for the Big West Conference-leading Titans (16-4, 6-2 in conference), who, their coach said, played as well as they have all season.

“I was really happy with the way we played, because I thought our kids really did a good job of executing defensively,” said Fullerton Coach Bob Burton, who had been critical lately of his team’s inability to consistently guard opponents.

“I think our effort was there and I think it was a matter of two styles clashing,” Burton said. “[The Anteaters] are interested in running offense, while we’re interested in pressuring teams. The other night, we played against UC Davis, which spread it out and looked to penetrate. We had a hard time guarding them.”

There seemed to be no such struggle against UCI, which, due to its penchant for sticking to its offensive patterns, had its players almost always where the Titans were looking to find them.

UCI Coach Pat Douglass agreed that Fullerton’s ability to defend was the difference Saturday. The Titans won, 71-68, on a last-second three-pointer in their first meeting Jan. 20 at UCI.

“The problem they created for us was their quickness,” said Douglass, whose team shot 35.8% from the field (19 of 53) and committed 17 turnovers, 10 more than the Titans.

“They took us out of our offense and we had a hard time running anything with any continuity.”

Still, despite Fullerton’s defensive focus, UCI (10-12, 4-4) remained within striking range beyond halftime. Fullerton had a 39-35 lead at intermission and led, 45-39, with 16:03 left, after UCI freshman point guard Michael Hunter sank a three-pointer.

But Frank Robinson, who drained the game-winning three-pointer in the first UCI game, connected on a three-pointer with 15:48 remaining that sparked a 17-6 run that included five Fullerton three-pointers.

Scott Cutley, a 6-foot-5 junior post who is emerging as a Big West Player of the Year candidate, had two threes during the run that included a three ball by reserve guard Marcus Crenshaw and was capped by another Robinson three.

Robinson missed his first six shots, including three from threedom, but then made five straight, including a three-pointer with 58 seconds left in the half that upped the Titans’ lead to 37-33.

Crenshaw, who scored 10 points on four-of-seven shooting in 15 minutes Jan. 20, was again crucial off the bench, as marquee senior guard Bobby Brown managed a season-low six points and made just three of 11 field-goal attempts.

Crenshaw, once again, was four of seven from the field on his way to 11 points in 19 minutes.

Crenshaw’s 10-footer with 8:09 left snapped a scoreless span of 4:30 for the Titans, a dry spell in which UCI managed only five points to close to within 62-53.

After an Anteater free throw, Crenshaw drained a three from 28 feet, then fell backward and somersaulted, heels-over-head to his feet as the season-high crowd of 1,869 roared its approval.

The crowd, nearly 1000 more than Fullerton’s previous season best of 879, earned praise from Burton, whose team extended its home winning streak to 15. They are 10-0 at home this season.

“I thought the whole environment was great,” Burton said. “That was one of the best crowds we’ve had in my four years here.”

UCI continues to struggle in front of opposing crowds. The Anteaters fell to 3-10 away from the Bren Events Center and are 2-8 in games played on their opponents’ home floor.

Fullerton, which shot 47.7% and had 10 three-pointers to the ‘Eaters’ four, were led by Cutley (18 points and nine rebounds) and Robinson (18 points and four assists).

Starter Darren Fells, as well as reserves Nic Campbell and Chuma Awaji had 10 points apiece to lead UCI.

Patrick Sanders and Awaji were just two of 10 from the field for the Anteaters.

With the loss, UCI remains in fifth place, one game behind third-place Long Beach State.

Fullerton is trailed by UC Santa Barbara (5-2 in conference), Long Beach (4-2) and Pacific (3-3).

UCI plays host to Pacific (Thursday) and Cal State Northridge (Saturday).

The Anteaters defeated Pacific, the three-time defending regular-season conference champion, 67-42, on Jan. 13.

UCI lost at Cal State Northridge, 67-61, Jan. 11.

Big West ConferenceUC Irvine -- Kelley 9, Templeton 5, Fells 10, Sanders 6, Hunter 6, Campbell 10, Awaji 10, DeCasas 4.

Cal State Fullerton 75,

UC Irvine 60

3-pt. goals -- Campbell 2, Templeton 1, Hunter 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Cal State Fullerton -- Burns 12, Cutley 18, Brown 6, Robinson 18, Reed 8, Crenshaw 11, Green 2.

3-pt. goals -- Cutley 4, Robinson 3, Crenshaw 3.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- None.

Halftime -- 39-35, CSF.