Titans Fall to Hotshots From UCSB : McQuarn Would Just as Soon Forget This Latest Defeat, 69-58

Cal State Fullerton Coach George McQuarn said he doesn’t even remember Cal State Fullerton’s last game against UC Santa Barbara. Selective retention, perhaps?

McQuarn said he was so weakened by high fever brought on by bronchial pneumonia that his team’s Jan. 12 loss to the Gauchos is but a blur. He was fully recovered for Saturday night’s rematch, but found the outcome no more memorable.

Santa Barbara guards Carrick DeHart scored 19 points and Brian Johnson added 18 on a combined 13 of 20 field-goal attempts to lead the Gauchos to a 69-58 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory in front of 3,786 in the Campus Events Center.

The victory puts the Gauchos--a team that failed to qualify for the PCAA postseason tournament last season--in an excellent position to finish second in the conference behind top-ranked Nevada Las Vegas, and moves them one step closer to their first winning season since 1975-76. With three games remaining, they are alone in second place with an 8-7 conference record, 13-11 overall.

Fullerton drops to 7-9 and 14-11. McQuarn wasn’t particularly pleased but said he didn’t blame his players. Instead, he said it was attributed more to a Santa Barbara team that played more like UNLV than UCSB.

“The way they played, I imagine they would have beaten any team in the conference tonight,” McQuarn said. “I can’t believe they’ve played better than that all year.”

The Gauchos shot 62% from the field in the first half, 60% in the second, and held Fullerton to 40% for the game. The Titans kept waiting for Santa Barbara to hit a shooting lull, but one never came.

“Man, that was discouraging,” Fullerton center Herman Webster said. “There’s not much I can do to rebound when the majority of them were goin’ in. We had a hand in their face every time, but they kept knocking it down.”

DeHart and Johnson combined to make 6 of 8 three-point shots and score 27 points in the first half. That equaled Fullerton’s total first-half output. The Titans tried to adjust by extending their defense to take away three-point opportunities. Santa Barbara responded by simply taking the ball inside. Center Khris Fortson and forward Brian Vaughns combined for 17 points in the second half. The Titans literally couldn’t win.

Said McQuarn: “We couldn’t guard ‘em. Their outside game killed us in the first half, and their inside game killed us in the second half.”

Santa Barbara led by as many as 19 in the second half before the Titans put together a modest rally to cut the Gauchos’ lead to 61-54 with 2:50 to play on a steal and slam by Alexander Hamilton. But Fullerton guard Richard Morton, who finished with a game-high 20 points, missed two straight three-point attempts and DeHart connected on a 17-foot jumper with 2:04 left to help keep the lead secure.

Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm was rather subdued afterward, considering his team played nearly flawless offense and didn’t crumble down the stretch.

“We executed pretty well most of the time tonight,” he deadpanned. “And we did it against a good defense. We weren’t playing a team that’s not committed to playing good defense. That’s why it’s pleasing.”

The victory gave Santa Barbara a 10-2 record at home. The Gauchos’ only conference loss on their home court was an 88-74 defeat to UNLV on Jan. 15. Their 55-47 victory at Fullerton Jan. 10 was one of their only two PCAA road victories, and one McQuarn has trouble remembering.

Saturday night’s loss is another the Titan coach would like to forget.