First-Place CS Fullerton Less Sloppy Than Irvine

The UC Irvine-Cal State Fullerton rivalry has produced some fine games over the years.

And then there was Tuesday night.

In the first half, Irvine made 12 turnovers, missed a slew of close shots, including two dunks, and twice had a player knock a rebound out of a teammate’s hands. Fullerton shot 39% from the field and led by eight at halftime.

The second half wasn’t much prettier, but the Anteaters made it close for a while, rallying to grab a one-point lead before fading and falling, 74-68, in their Big West opener in front of 2,108 in Irvine’s Bren Center.

Fullerton, picked to finish in last place by both the media and Big West coaches in preseason polls, is alone in first place in the conference with a 2-0 mark. The Titans (4-6 overall) have won four in a row at Irvine (4-4 and 0-1).

“When everyone was talking about where Fullerton was supposed to end up, nobody took into consideration their quickness,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “They shut down the passing lanes inside that we normally have and they got open shots with that quickness.”

The last time these teams played, Irvine guard Chris Brown scored 30 points. Tuesday night, he scored two.

“James (French) and Chris (Dade) did an outstanding job on Chris Brown,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said, “and our ability to rebound with them was a key.”

Fullerton has been surviving on the inside play of center Winston Peterson, who leads the team with a 19-point average. Peterson finished with 15. Six of his second-half points came on top-of-the-key jumpers.

The unlikely standout for the Titans was French, who came into the game shooting 21% from the field. French scored 16, including seven in the final 4:24 as the Titans turned a 63-61 lead into a six-point victory.

“That’s the longest slump I’ve ever been in,” French said. “No matter what I did, things didn’t seem to go right. Tonight, I just tried to get into the flow of the game.”