Titans Finally Find PCAA Team to Beat, and They Do, 75-60

It seems only right that every team should have a conference opponent it is certain to beat.

The question is, who is there for the University of the Pacific?

The struggling Tigers, who had lost 10 straight games and who lost their coach Tuesday when Tom O’Neill resigned, reportedly under pressure, lost their 11th straight game Thursday.

Cal State Fullerton, which had lost seven straight conference games itself, handed Pacific a 75-60 loss in front of a season-low crowd of 1,128 in Titan Gym.

The Tigers (4-13, 0-8) have played and lost to every PCAA team but one. They play their final game of the first round Saturday--against fourth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas in the Rebels’ Thomas & Mack Center.

Fullerton has a less awesome task in its next game. The Titans Saturday host Fresno State, the other team mired near the bottom of the standings.

The Titans (5-12, 1-7) had been tied with Pacific for last place in the conference, but there was never much doubt about the outcome of this one.

Fullerton led by 11 at halftime and by as many as 24 in the second half.

“It would be really easy to minimize this win, but I don’t want to do that in any way,” said George McQuarn, Fullerton coach. “It was a long time coming. I feel real bad for UOP.”

Denis Willens, an assistant who has been named interim coach for Pacific, wasn’t happy with the play of the Tigers, who have lost all but two of their PCAA games by fewer than 10 points.

“I’m very disappointed,” Willens said. “We stood around like we didn’t know each other out there. We could have been beaten by 30 points.”

Richard Morton, who scored 18 points and made 4 of 6 three-point attempts, said the victory may help the Titans “get back in stride.”

“It felt good,” Morton said. “We needed a win like this.”

Henry Turner also had 18 points for the Titans, making 8 of 12 shots. Bobby Adair and Vincent Blow each added 10.

Christian Gray led Pacific with 12, and Dan Embick added 10.

Pacific made just 41% of its shots in the game, and--what was worse--committed 16 turnovers, and Fullerton stole the ball 11 times.

“I would like to think we had something to do with their not playing well,” McQuarn said. “I think at times we did some pretty good things defensively.”

Willens, who is in his 15th year as an assistant under two coaches at Pacific, was so frustrated with the play of his team that he inserted a completely new lineup--the bottom of the bench--with 16 minutes to play in the game and Fullerton leading by 20. He later reinserted the starters.

“We were standing around,” he said. “I wanted to see what some other guys could do.”

McQuarn never considered wholesale substitutions himself, he said, and two starters were still in the game at the buzzer, when Tyrone Ree hit a long three-pointer for his first points of the year.

“My main concern with this team is to get those top five, seven or eight guys some confidence,” McQuarn said. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re not dealing with scores; we’re trying to get better. Besides, those five are the ones who have suffered the most.”

After the Fresno State game Saturday, Fullerton begins the second round of conference play.

“Fresno State is an important game for us,” McQuarn said. “We don’t want to look past that. We have to play very well if we expect to get that win.”

Titan Notes

Richard Morton ranked third in the nation, according to USA Today, in a ranking of players’ scoring averages in proportion to their team’s scoring average. Morton’s 22.5 average is 33.1% of the Titans’ 68-point average. Only Hersey Hawkins of Bradley (33.8%) and Ricky Berry of San Jose State (34%%) score more of their team’s points.