Playing UCLA Has Advantages for Titans

The final score: UCLA 120, Cal State Fullerton 91.

And it couldn’t help but raise the question: Is continuing this series on any kind of regular basis in the best interest of the Titan basketball program?

Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking says it is--even though Saturday night’s game was such a mismatch.

And Hawking says his belief has nothing to do with the guaranteed $22,000 the Titans receive for their evening in Pauley Pavilion.

“That’s not the reason we play them,” Hawking said. “I’ve said it before: You have to play good people to get to the same level.”

But wouldn’t it be better to become one of the top teams in the Big West Conference first?

“Playing UCLA is a great calling card for us,” Hawking said. “We feel it’s an advantage in every respect playing a team with the basketball tradition that UCLA has. I don’t think you can under-estimate the opportunity to play a team of UCLA’s stature.”

Fullerton Athletic Director John Easterbrook agrees.

“It’s a recruiting advantage to say you play one of the top teams in the nation,” he said. “And we want to play the best representative schedule we can play.”

But is the expected benefit wiped out by a 29-point loss and giving up the most points by a Fullerton team? And doing it during a rare appearance in front of a regional television audience?

“I’ve thought about that too,” Titan senior guard Chris St. Clair said. “I guess I have sort of mixed emotions about it, but Coach [Hawking] believes that you can learn a lot from a situation like that. I do know that I’ll watch film of the UCLA game to see how I can correct some of the mistakes I know I made. I didn’t even watch the film of the Lewis-Clark State game because I didn’t think there was anything I could learn from it.”

St. Clair’s complaint is that the games are always on UCLA’s home court. “I don’t think we should schedule a team if they’re not ever willing to play us on our home court,” he said. “That’s only fair.”

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From UCLA’s standpoint, it would make no sense to play at Titan Gym.

“But that’s not a serious enough consideration for us to not want to play there,” Hawking said.

Utah, the other nationally prominent team on the Titan schedule in recent years, has been willing to play at Fullerton, but that’s primarily because the Utes gain some additional exposure in an area they emphasize in recruiting. The last contract was for two games in Salt Lake City and one in Fullerton.

Hawking points out that the Titan series against UCLA generally has been more competitive than the last game, though the Bruins have won all eight.

The first five games, however, were more evenly matched than the last three. The Titans lost by 16 two years ago despite leading by a point at halftime and trailing by only seven with seven minutes to play. The worst Titan defeat was in 1994, when they lost by 34 points. But that was the only runaway before Saturday.

UCLA’s first five victories were by an average of seven points.

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Hawking believes the 99-65 loss in 1994 had immediate benefits for his team. The next week, the Titans beat Nevada Las Vegas, 82-80.

“That was the ‘Bring Back Tark’ night game, and it really was supposed to be ‘Feast on Fullerton’ night, but we stole one from them when St. Clair made that shot at the end,” Hawking said. “Having played in that same kind of environment at Pauley the week before helped us beat UNLV.”

Hawking also believes his team this season is stronger than it might have appeared at times against the Bruins.

“Unfortunately for us, they were world-beaters Saturday, and we didn’t have the answers,” Hawking said. “We ran into a tremendous college basketball team and they were playing with a lot of emotion.

“It was their home opener and it was the first game back for Kris Johnson. I don’t know how many teams could have beaten UCLA that night. We ran into a buzz saw. But we believe you learn from those experiences. Sometimes you learn a whole lot more from a loss than you do from a win.”

And, as far as Hawking is concerned, the UCLA game is only one of 26. The success of Fullerton’s season won’t be measured by the one-sided loss to UCLA or the 28-point defeat at Utah, no more than it will by the Titans’ easy victories against Norfolk State and Lewis-Clark State. That will be determined in the Big West Conference and against the nonconference opponents where the playing field is more level.

Titan Notes

Senior guard Chris Dade moved into eighth place among Fullerton’s leading career scorers with his 26-point effort against UCLA. It matched his previous season high against Lewis-Clark State. Dade has 1,183 points. Seventh on the list is Keith Anderson (1975-79) with 1,240. . . . The women’s basketball team ended its six-game losing streak with a 66-61 victory at San Diego Friday. “It was our best effort of the year,” Coach Denise Curry said. “We played much better on defense.” Kris Sigg led the Titans with 23 points. “She stepped up for us from a leadership standpoint,” Curry said. Sigg leads the team in scoring with a 16.3-point average. . . . The women’s volleyball team raised $1,600 in its “Dig for the Cure” fund-raising effort for cancer-stricken Vivian Langley, an official for the Volleyball Coaches Assn.

Coming Attractions

Key games this week for Cal State Fullerton:

* Men’s basketball against Portland 7 p.m. Saturday at Titan Gym. The Titans (4-3) have won their last seven games at home dating to last season.

* Women’s basketball at Eastern Washington 4 p.m. Saturday. The Titans (2-6) ended a six-game losing streak with a 66-61 victory at San Diego.