Fullerton Can’t Hide After Beating Pepperdine

Cal State Fullerton has blown its cover. There will be no sneaking up on anybody now. The Titans are anything but inconspicuous.

An 80-60, nonconference victory over Pepperdine Wednesday night in Titan Gym exposed the Titans for what they are. Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick expressed what seemed to be the prevailing sentiment. “They’re real good,” he said.

Harrick made that remark after watching Fullerton hand the Waves their fifth straight loss; after watching six Titans score in double figures; after watching his team stumble and bumble its way to 23 turnovers.

Junior forward Henry Turner led the Titans with 17 points. Junior forward Derek Jones had 13 points and 7 rebounds, presenting further evidence that he is all but recovered from a one-year layoff from competitive basketball. Richard Morton, left out of the starting lineup for being late to the Titans’ pregame meal, had 14 points, making 6 of 11 shots from the field.

It took Pepperdine nearly five minutes to score. The Waves left the court at halftime trailing, 39-22, and were outscored, 9-2, at the outset of the second half. By the middle of the second half, Harrick found himself on the wrong end of a 30-point game.

“I’ve been on the other end of games like this,” said Harrick, whose teams have reached the NCAA Tournament four of the last five seasons. “Sure I’m disappointed. But you just have to take the bitter with the sweet.”

So, the word is out. Since opening the season with a 70-69 loss at Texas Tech, the Titans have won five straight, and the last three of those have come against teams that were involved in postseason tournaments last March.

Said Morton: “We’re trying to sneak up on some teams, but that’s going to be hard now that we’ve beaten some quality opponents.”

Fullerton Coach George McQuarn could find few flaws in his team’s play. “There were hardly any dead spots out there,” he said. “Sometimes, you’ll see teams exchange spurts. We had a 36-minute spurt.”

The last four minutes were pretty messy. In fact, Pepperdine was a little sloppy for most of the second half. Thoroughly frustrated by turnovers and few second-shot opportunities, the Waves decided to take out some of those frustrations with some physical play. Center Levy Middlebrooks, who came into the game averaging more than 10 rebounds per game, finished with four. He also picked up his fourth foul at the 17:09 mark of the second half. With Middlebrooks in foul trouble, Pepperdine was outrebounded, 30-22.

Forward Eric White, Pepperdine’s only other returning starter from a team that went 25-5 last season, came into the game averaging 17.2 points. He finished with 10, shooting just 4 for 10 from the floor.

If that wasn’t enough indignation for Harrick, the eighth-year Pepperdine coach had a soft drink accidentally slapped out of his hand by official Al Hackney when Harrick was off the bench to question a call in the second half. It just wasn’t his night.

Harrick said an inexperienced backcourt of freshman Craig Davis and community college transfer Ed Allen played to the Titans’ strength. “They’re aggressive,” he said. “They really get after you. Without experienced guards, you really expose yourself. And it can make White and Middlebrooks look mediocre.”

Fullerton put a different starting lineup on the floor than the one used in winning the Brigham Young Tournament over the weekend. Morton was left out for his tardiness, and point guard Eugene Jackson yielded his starting spot to Alexander Hamilton because he missed Tuesday’s practice. McQuarn said Jackson was attending a funeral. It marked the third time this season that a Fullerton starter has become a Fullerton reserve for disciplinary reasons. But, given the outcome, McQuarn could look back and laugh at it.

“My guys have a hard time telling time,” he said with a smile. “They don’t realize that my watch is the only watch that matters, and they cut it to the last minute.”

The balance of the final box score made it easy for McQuarn to smile. The Titans still appear to be a team without a star, and that suits McQuarn just fine.

“We don’t have that single guy who plays above the rest like we have in the past,” McQuarn said. “That might be good though, huh?”

Unless you happen to be an opposing coach. There were two Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. assistant coaches scouting Wednesday night’s game. By halftime, one had already drawn some conclusions about the Titans:

“They’re scary,” he said. “(Nevada Las) Vegas is going to have two tough games with them.”