Freshman Brown Wise Beyond His Years

Bobby Brown was the starting point guard on a Westchester High boys’ basketball team that won consecutive state Division I championships. But his being part of the high-profile Comet program didn’t seem to draw much attention among college recruiters.

Cal State Fullerton, it appears, has reaped the benefit. Brown is one of the early surprises of the season with his play for the Titans.

The true freshman needed only five games to secure a spot in the starting lineup and ranks second on the team in scoring, behind forward Pape Sow, at 15.7 points. Brown is in good position to break the school record for scoring by a freshman, held by Tony Neal, who averaged 10.9 in 1981-82.

Fullerton Coach Bob Burton credits fourth-year assistant Jason Levy for pursuing the guard.

“I knew we needed a point guard,” said Burton, who was hired in May. “We had Zakee [Smith] but he was the only point guard in the program. I really wanted a high school kid.

“I didn’t really watch him until I saw him in a tournament in Las Vegas. We thought he had a potential and we decided to go really hard after him.”

Brown led the Titans (3-4) to their first victory with 22 points against Pepperdine and followed that with 16 in a victory over Northern Arizona, then scored 27 in an overtime loss to USC.

He has made 48% of his shots, including 20 of 43 tries from three-point range. He also is shooting 83% from the line and has 30 assists against 17 turnovers in seven games.

Burton said his player was taking full advantage of an opportunity where he could play immediately.

“I really felt he was going to be the cornerstone of the whole team in the future but it’s come a little bit faster than we anticipated,” he said. “He’s such a good athlete and he has a great feel for the game.”

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UC Riverside picked its home opener to get out of its shooting slump from three-point range. The Highlanders made 10 of 26 from behind the arc in posting a 72-69 overtime victory Monday over Northern Arizona.

Senior guard Ted Bell, in a bid to regain his starting spot, made three of five three-point shots and scored 10 points. Bell had made only five of 23 shots in the Highlanders’ first four games, all losses.

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Branduinn Fullove, last season’s Big West Conference player of the year, returned to the UC Santa Barbara lineup just in time as the Gauchos (5-2) play UCLA tonight at Pauley Pavilion and face sixth-ranked Kansas Saturday in the Wolf Pack Holiday Classic at Reno, Nev.

Fullove played 13 minutes and scored six points in a 90-70 victory Saturday over San Diego after having missed the first five games with a sprained ankle.

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UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass will be inducted into the Kern County Sports Hall of Fame on Feb. 19 in Bakersfield. Before going to Irvine, Douglass won 257 games and three Division II championships in 10 years at Cal State Bakersfield.

West Coast Conference

Glen McGowan’s career-high of 36 points in Pepperdine’s 96-72 loss to Maryland on Sunday was the most by an opponent in the two-year history of the Comcast Center, the Terrapins’ new home. The Waves (3-5) conclude a three-game trip Thursday at Irvine.... Loyola Marymount returns home to play Virginia on Friday night. The Lions have never faced the Cavaliers and the last time they played an Atlantic Coast Conference team was 1990-91, against Georgia Tech.