The Trojans boast the best pair of basketball twins on any college
campus. Throw in a trigger-happy leading scorer and a center who doesn't like
to go bang inside and you end up with a talented but beatable opponent in Southern
Cal.
The Trojans certainly have the talent but putting all this talent
together has been a problem for head coach Henry Bibby. SC is currently 2-2
with their best win against an average St. Mary's team in overtime by two points.
They have losses to W. Michigan and UNLV.
SC basically starts three guards and two bigs and are led by
senior guard Desmond Farmer. Farmer loves to put the ball up but the ball --
and basket -- are currently not doing him any favors as he is shooting 30%
behind the arch and just 37% overall.
In fact, the entire Trojan team is shooting an abysmal 26% from
three-point land. Fullerton (27%) has finally met a team they are better at
in this category. Look for the Titans to play a lot of zone until SC proves
it's percentage is really an anomaly.
The Craven and Stewart twins are also dangerous as the four
of them combine to average around 33 points per game. And last season when
the
Titans
faced SC, center Rory O'Neil had one of the better games of his career
scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Pape Sow will need to do a better
job defensively if the Titans are to have any chance.
The good news is the Trojans will likely go with a man-to-man.
Even if SC does go into a zone, it will likely not be a very good one as they
don't play this way too often. Containing Pape Sow will be their mission and
this will free up Brian Pruitt and Hardy Asprilla for some easy baskets and
also will leave Anthony Bolton, Yaphett King and Bobby Brown for open looks
from the outside.
If the Titans have any shot at winning this game, they will need
to hit from the outside.
TitanCentral.com's Pick to Click: Derick Andrew. DA just seems to love big games in big arenas but this one will be
mostly empty. If DA can give us 15 points and play the defense like he always
seems to do, then the Titans have a good shot to keep this game close.
Game 6: Southern Cal
Friday, November 21, 2003 @ Titan Gym
| Rankings |
CollegeRPI |
Massey |
Sagarin |
| Cal State Fullerton (2-3, 0-0) |
303 (+1) |
256 (0) |
191 (+4) |
| Southern Cal (2-2, 0-0) |
152 |
182 |
127 |
| The Line: SC by 13 |
Here are the projected starting lineups:
| Pos |
Cal
State Fullerton |
Southern Cal |
| PG |
Bobby Brown |
6-1, 170 |
Rodrick Stewart |
6-4, 200 |
| SG |
Derick Andrew |
6-2, 180 |
Errick Craven |
6-2, 205 |
| SF |
Anthony Bolton |
6-7, 190 |
Desmon Farmer |
6-5, 220 |
| PF |
Hardy Asprilla |
6-5, 225 |
Jeff McMillan |
6-8, 260 |
| C |
Pape Sow |
6-10, 250 |
Rory
O'Neil |
6-11, 240 |
First off the Bench |
| |
Zakee Smith |
6-0, 175 |
Lodrick Stewart |
6-4, 210 |
| |
Yaphett King |
6-4, 235 |
Derrick Craven |
6-2, 215 |
| |
Babacar Camara |
6-10, 250 |
Nick Curtis |
6-8, 225 |
| |
David Warsaw |
6-4, 200 |
|
|
| |
Brian Pruitt |
6-6, 225 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Cal State Fullerton Release
Not yet available.