KDOC gets deal to broadcast Titans game

It was up in the air for a while, but Cal State Fullerton’s first appearance in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in 30 years will be carried live over-the-air locally by KDOC.

When tipoff times for Thursday’s opening-round games were announced, Fullerton initially appeared boxed out of local over-the-air television. Fullerton and UCLA are scheduled to play late games Thursday -- Fullerton against Wisconsin is the fourth game at Omaha, and UCLA against Mississippi Valley State the fourth at Anaheim. That put the potential start times for the Fullerton and UCLA games approximately within 15 minutes of each other, with KCBS broadcasting the Bruins.

Shifting the Titans to KCBS’ sister station KCAL was not an option, because it will be airing the Lakers-Utah game.

Fullerton spent most of Monday as an NCAA participant without a local over-the-air carrier before CBS made a deal for KDOC to air the game.

“CBS really wanted to make sure the Cal State Fullerton game was broadcast locally,” said Mike Nelson, vice president of communication for KCBS and KCAL.

“Whoever wins that Cal State Fullerton-Wisconsin game, the next game on the bracket is the winner of USC-Kansas State. So there might be USC fans who even have an interest in the Cal State game. . . . “

Such a move is not unprecedented for CBS, according to CBS Sports senior vice president of communications LeslieAnne Wade.

“We always looked for an alternate when we have a conflict with two local schools playing at the same time,” Wade said via e-mail.

-- Christine Daniels

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Bobby Brown may not play for Fullerton anymore, but the school’s all-time leading scorer is a big part of this year’s team.

Coach Bob Burton said Brown, who completed his eligibility last season and now plays professionally for ALBA Berlin of the German Bundesliga, was the architect of the team.

As a sophomore, Brown led the Titans to a 21-11 record and into the second round of the NIT. That success led to a chain reaction of transfers and many of those players form the nucleus of this season’s team.

Starters Scott Cutley, Frank Robinson and Ray Reed all had connections to Brown from high school or summer club teams.

“It’s too bad [Brown] can’t be part of this,” Cutley said. “But he’s with us. We know we wouldn’t be here without him.”

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The 30-year itch is a tough one to scratch for fans who want tickets to see Fullerton play in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1978.

The Fullerton ticket office was allotted only 300 tickets, assistant manager Brandon Carroll said, and many went to coaches, players and staff.

He said the rest were sold to local residents only, with 714 or 949 area codes, in an effort to prevent scalpers from out of the area from getting them.

“It’s awesome so many people want them,” said Carroll, who said he arrived Monday morning to a voice mailbox filled with about 75 requests.

Tickets are going for $500 and higher at Omaha-area brokers and online.

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Fullerton will be at a significant height disadvantage against Wisconsin, but Burton said that would have been the case against anybody with his undersized starting front line of the 6-5 Cutley, 6-5 Marcus Morgan and 6-4 Robinson.

But he figured it might be an advantage.

“When they see our starting front line with our 6-5 guys, they’re going to be so busy laughing that we might get up on them a couple there,” Burton said.

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Burton is making his first appearance in the NCAA tournament as a coach. When he was an assistant at Fresno State in 2002-03, the Bulldogs went 20-8 and won the Western Athletic Conference title but were banned from postseason play in the year after the Jerry Tarkanian era ended.

“I go every year, but I usually buy a ticket,” Burton said. “So I’m really excited that someone is letting me in for free this time.”

-- Peter Yoon