Titans Succumb to Houston After Sleepwalking Through the First Half : College basketball: Cougars’ smothering defense intimidates Cal State Fullerton early in 83-67 victory.

A week ago Cal State Fullerton’s players stood proud in Pauley Pavilion after nearly upsetting the second-ranked Bruins. But Monday night, the Titans were humbled by unranked Houston.

A superior Cougar team outmuscled, outhustled, outshot, out-passed and simply outplayed Fullerton in an 83-67 victory in front of 4,162 in Hofheinz Pavilion.

Five players scored in double figures for Houston, which built a 15-point lead in the first half and never let the margin go below 10 in the second. But the Cougar defense, and the Titans’ lack of defense, were the difference.

Houston’s man-to-man stifled Fullerton in the first half, its full-court press caused several turnovers that led to easy baskets, and its matchup zone gave the Titans fits in the second half.

The Cougars (9-1), who have won eight in a row, held Titan leading scorer Joe Small to a career-low seven points on two-of-11 shooting. Even with forward Agee Ward making 12 of 18 shots and scoring 24 points, Fullerton (4-5) shot only 44.3% (27 of 61) from the field.

“Joe never got on track,” Titan Coach John Sneed said. “I kept thinking if you throw enough mud on the wall some of it will stick, but he never got going.”

The Cougars did, early and often. Houston’s patient, passing offense demolished Fullerton’s matchup zone early on, allowing the Cougars to shoot uncontested shot after uncontested shot.

With the Titans keying defensively on Houston’s front line, point guard Darrick Daniels made two three-pointers in the first seven minutes that helped the Cougars build a 15-6 lead. Houston made seven of 20 three-pointers in the game and added four other three-point plays.

The Titans went back to a man-to-man defense midway through the second half, but it did little to slow the Cougars, who posted up for inside baskets and powered their way to several follow shots.

Forward Craig Upchurch, who has earned Southwest Conference player of the week honors for two consecutive weeks, led Houston with 14 points. Daniels added 13, Sam Mack had 12 and David Diaz and Derrick Smith each had 11.

“They hurt us several ways with several players,” Sneed said. “They have so many weapons, and they’re so strong that every kid they put on the floor is a threat. There’s not a weak link out there. I’m surprised they’re not in the top 25. They’re an excellent team.”

The Titans played their best game of the season last week against an outstanding UCLA team, but they were hardly at their best Monday night. They appeared sluggish in the first half, they were intimidated early inside, and they seemed to force many of their shots.

Fullerton missed its first five shots and didn’t score until Bruce Bowen’s tip-in at the 16:57 mark of the first half.

“They played harder than a lot of us did,” Bowen said. “They were ready at the beginning of the game and we weren’t. We set out with a game plan, but it was like we forgot it.”

Added Ward: “We came out kind of lackadaisical. We made up for it in the second half, but it was too late. We couldn’t overcome our first half.”

The Cougars didn’t use any gadget defenses against the Titans. They played them straight-up for most of the first half with Diaz, their best man-to-man defensive player, guarding Small. Small had trouble getting open and rushed his shots when he did.

“I wasted a lot of energy just trying to get open,” Small said. “I got some good looks at the basket, but they were on me pretty tight.”

Fullerton had only 12 turnovers in the game, but it seemed as if every one of them hurt. Besides Ward, the only positives for the Titans were their work on the boards--they outrebounded the Cougars, 42-34--and the play of center Sean Williams, who had 15 rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out with 2:21 left.