Titans Reach New Depths in Loss to Gauchos

There were 3 minutes 37 seconds left when Cal State Fullerton forward Ike Harmon glanced around the UC Santa Barbara Events Center floor Thursday night, only to find himself surrounded by four Titan walk-ons--Ahmad Shurdim, Danny Dinh, Josh Pierson and Jon Stoa.

This being a Big West Conference game and not an afternoon shoot-around, this being a game on the road instead of in Titan Gym, it could mean only one thing for Fullerton: the Titans were on the wrong side of a blowout.

A minute later, Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking, showing some mercy, pulled his senior star so he wouldn’t have to endure another minute of an ugly 81-53 Big West loss before a sparse crowd of 1,658.

Six Gauchos scored in double figures and Santa Barbara (9-11, 5-4) had season highs for assists (24) and steals (13) and a season-low for turnovers (nine) in winning for the fifth time in six games.

The Titans, who set a season low for points, turned the ball over 22 times and made only two of 18 three-point attempts, losing their fourth straight and falling to 8-12, 3-6.

It wasn’t the loss that left such a sour taste in Hawking’s mouth--the Titans have had little success on the Gauchos’ home floor, going 6-14 in Santa Barbara. It was the manner in which they lost.

“We were embarrassed by the way we played tonight,” Hawking said. “There’s no rhyme or reason for the way we passed, shot and caught the ball. Our turnovers led to their transition baskets. We made it easy for them.”

The Gauchos are known for their pesky defense, but when Fullerton’s sure-handed senior guards, Mark Murphy and Kenroy Jarrett, each turn the ball over four times in the first half, something isn’t right.

Santa Barbara scored 11 unanswered points in the first four minutes, six of them coming after turnovers and two after Gaucho center Adama Ndiaye’s blocked shot, to take a 13-1 lead, and the Titans never recovered.

Murphy’s fast-break basket and Harmon’s spinning jumper from the baseline cut the lead to 31-22 with 2:56 left in the half, and Fullerton twice had chances to trim the lead to seven.

But Harmon’s desperation 25-footer missed as the 35-second shot clock expired, and Ndiaye intimidated Rodney Anderson into missing a fast-break layup. Two late baskets pushed Santa Barbara’s halftime lead to 35-22.

The second half was a blur of errant Fullerton bombs, incomplete passes and Titan fumbles--and you thought Fullerton dropped football years ago--that helped the Gauchos rev up their running game, pushing the lead to as many as 32 points.

Harmon led all scorers with 20 points but was limited to 23 minutes because of foul trouble.

“We’ve never played this poorly before,” Hawking said. “I don’t think it was their quickness, it was our ineptness.”