UPCOMING: Tues., Dec. 5 - at UCLA, Pauley Pavilion, 7:35 p.m. - (FSN Prime Ticket TV) Sat., Dec. 9 - at Pepperdine, Firestone Fieldhouse, 7 p.m. Sat., Dec. 16 - Bethune-Cookman, Titan Gym, 6:05 p.m.

IN A NUTSHELL: Cal State Fullerton takes its 5-1 record and best start since 1998-99 (5-1 before losing at Saint Louis) into Pauley Pavilion to challenge the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins (6-0), who are coming off two lopsided wins over Big West teams Long Beach State and UC Riverside. Fullerton is 0-8 against UCLA, all in Pauley Pavilion. Then it's on to Pepperdine Saturday for a likely run-and-gun battle with the Waves.

TELEVISION: The game will be televised live on FSN Prime Ticket. Bill MacDonald and Sean Farnham are the announcers.

AUDIO: All Titan games can be heard live on the internet on computers with sound cards. Listeners may access the CSF Athletics home page at www.fullertontitans.com and follow the links. Justin Alderson will be at the microphone with Danny Lee joining him for the UCLA game.

VIDEO: All Titan home games and road Big West Conference games are available via videostreaming on a subscription basis. Details are available on the Big West website at www.bigwest.org.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
No. Name Ht. Yr. ppg r/apg Quick Notes
F 2 Scott Cutley 6-5 Jr. 20.7 8.0r Scored 31 points in his Titan debut at Louisiana-Lafayette
C 5 Justin Burns** 6-7 Sr. 13.2 9.0r Big West Conference player of the week two weeks ago
G 3 Bobby Brown*** 6-2 Sr. 16.3 4.0a Totaled 41 points and 8 assists in last two games
G 22 Ray Reed 5-11 Jr. 14.8 4.2a Leading Big West Conference in steals with 3.0 per game
G 0 Frank Robinson* 6-4 Jr. 13.3 5.7r Bothered by leg cramps in two of three games to date
OFF THE BENCH:
F 21 Kenneth Alexander 6-6 Jr. 6.0 4.8r Leads substitutes with 3 blocked shots
F 34 Marcus Morgan 6-5 Jr. 3.3 3.7r Started first three games
C 42 Andrew Green 6-6 Jr. 6.3 4.8r Leads team in rebounds per minutes played
F 43 Chris Minardo 6-10 So. 8.6 3.6r Scored 38 points in first two games; started first three
G 54 Marcus Crenshaw 5-10 So. 12.7 3.7a Leads team with 14 3-point field goals; questionable due to ankle injury
*letters earned

SERIES HISTORY: UCLA has won all eight meetings, all in Pauley Pavilion, the most recent on Dec. 13, 1997, a 120-91 rout. That's the most points the Titans ever allowed in a game. A brief series synopsis:

Dec. 29, 1986 - Bruins hang on for 72-71 win (Henry Turner trey at buzzer for CSF for 21 pts.); Charles Rochelin 8-for-9 FGs for 17 points

Dec. 28, 1987 - Rochelin goes 7-for-7 for 14 points in 74-65 Bruins' win; Titans lead by one early in second half; Turner gets 24

Dec. 23, 1989 - Don MacLean 26 and Trevor Wilson 23 as Bruins overpower Titans, 87-75; Mark Hill 24, Cedric Ceballos 18 for CSF

Dec. 23, 1991 - No. 2-ranked UCLA wins, 86-80, after CSF led, 74-73 at 3:19 behind Agee Ward's 30 points; MacLean 23 for UCLA

Dec. 30, 1992 - Don Leary hits first 5 treys (8 of 15 for game for 25 points); Bruce Bowen gets 25, but UCLA wins, 90-82; Ed O'Bannon 23

Dec. 10, 1994 - 44-40 UCLA with 18:00 to go; 99-65 final; O'Bannons combine for 41 (Charles 23, Ed 18); Winston Peterson 26 for CSF

Nov. 28, 1995 - Defending NCAA champs hear boos as CSF leads opener at half, 30-29; final 79-63; J. R. Henderson & Chuck Overton 19

Dec. 13, 1997 - Game is close for 10 minutes... J. R. Henderson 23 points for UCLA, Chris Dade 26 for CSF

Vs. THE PAC-10: Fullerton is 3-19 vs. the Pac-10 but won its most recent meeting, 85-83 in overtime, at Oregon State on Mar. 16, 2005, in the post-season NIT. The team-by-team breakdown: 1-0 vs. Washington; 1-1 vs. Oregon State; 1-2 vs. Arizona; 0-1 vs. California; 0-2 vs. USC; 0-2 vs. Arizona State; 0-3 vs. Oregon; and 0-8 vs. UCLA.

Vs. NO. 1: Fullerton has played the nation's No. 1-ranked team at least six times, all in the form of UNLV. The last meeting was on March 2, 1991, in Titan Gym as Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon, et al, completed an unbeaten regular season. Fullerton scored a memorable 86-78 victory over the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Rebels on Feb. 24, 1983, in an overflow Titan Gym. Fullerton's most recent game against a highly ranked team was a Nov. 30, 1996, loss (74-67) in Titan Gym to No. 4-ranked Utah (Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller). Previous No. 1 encounters: 2/24/83 - Fullerton 86, UNLV 78 1/19/87 - UNLV 73, Fullerton 65 2/12/87 - UNLV 74, Fullerton 64 3/6/87 - UNLV 99, Fullerton 65 1/4/91 - UNLV 98, Fullerton 67 3/2/91 - UNLV 104, Fullerton 83

ABOUT THE BRUINS: UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland and Titans' Head Coach Bob Burton are good friends and UCLA assistant Donny Daniels was Fullerton's head coach for the three seasons prior to Burton's arrival. But Howland and Daniels aren't playing. Arron Afflalo (16.7 ppg), Josh Shipp (13.5 ppg), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (13.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg), Darren Collison (12.0 ppg, 6.8 apg) and Lorenzo Mata (7.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg) are. UCLA rode last year's national runnerup spot and the championship of the Maui Invitational in late November to the top of the polls. Maybe they will be looking ahead to Texas A&M in the Wooden Classic in Orange County on Saturday.

ABOUT THE TITANS: The Titans are trying to post their third consecutive winning season, something that hasn't been done in Fullerton since Coach George McQuarn posted four winning records between 1981-82 and 1984-85. They got off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1989-90, but then lost at Eastern Washington, 110-100. They came back to complete a home-and-home sweep of Texas-San Antonio on Saturday night, 76-67. They are averaging 90 points a game and have six players averaging in double digits.

The Titans feature three returning "regulars" in seniors Bobby Brown at point guard and Justin Burns at center and junior guard Frank Robinson, who was the Big West Conference's "sixth-man" of the year in 2005-06. Four-year transfers Scott Cutley and Marcus Crenshaw from Kent State and Ray Reed from Georgetown have made an immediate impact along with community college transfers Kenneth Alexander and Marcus Morgan from West Valley, Andrew Green from College of the Sequoias and Chris Minardo from Citrus College. Six different players (Minardo, Reed, Crenshaw, Cutley, Brown and Burns) have led the Titans in scoring in their first six games.

THE COACH: Bob Burton is 53-42 in his fourth year at Cal State Fullerton and career. At .558, Burton has the second best winning percentage of any Titans' head coach, trailing only Bobby Dye (109-78, .583). He is 1-1 vs. the Pac-10 (L at Arizona State and W at Oregon State).

ON THE ROAD: Under Coach Bob Burton, the Titans have made dramatic strides as a road team. In the past two seasons plus so far this year they are 22-18 away from Titan Gym. In the previous 10 seasons the combined road record was 30-115.

BOBBY FOCAL POINT: Senior point guard Bobby Brown is the focal point of the Cal State Fullerton program. An unheralded product of Westchester High School in Los Angeles, he has developed into one of the nation's finest players and an All-America candidate. He tested the NBA draft waters last summer but opted to return for his senior year. He has been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard and is on CollegeInsider.com's pre-season Mid-Major All-American team. He has made numerous pre-season All-Big West Conference teams and is projected as player of the year by many. Last year he was first-team All-Big West and second-team All-NABC District. He needs 462 points this season to become the Titans' all-time leading scorer, surpassing All-American, Olympic gold medalist and 6-year NBA veteran Leon Wood. After three games he is averaging 16.3 points and 4.0 assists while making 8 of 20 3-point field goals.

SUPER SUB: Junior Frank Robinson was the key Titan off the bench last year when he was selected the "sixth man" of the year in the Big West Conference. He became a starter for the final three weeks of the season and played to an all-conference level, averaging 16.6 points over the last seven games capped by a 25-point, 12-rebound effort in defeat to Long Beach State in the semifinals of the post-season tournament. Overall, he averaged 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds and was No. 3 in the conference in 3-point field goal accuracy at .445 (49 of 110). He also led the conference in steals at 1.66 per game. In three starts this year he has twice scored 16 points.

BURNS WINS HONOR: Senior Justin Burns was selected the Big West Conference Player of the Week last week after posting a pair of double-doubles in victories at Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana-Lafayette. He averaged 15 points, 13 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2 blocks for the week. With three double-doubles this season, he has moved into the Titans' career Top 12 list with 8. He had five double-doubles and picked up another one against Cal Maritime with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Scott Cutley: Kent State transfer Ray Cutley broke in with a bang, scoring 31 points with 11 rebounds in his Titan debut at Louisiana-Lafayette. It was only the 62nd 30-point game by a Titan at the Div. I level. He scored the game-tying buckets in the final minute of both regulation and overtime. He came back with 19 points at Eastern Washington and a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards vs. Texas-San Antonio.

RAY REED: Georgetown transfer Ray Reed leads the Titans in points (89), assists (25) and steals (18) through the first six games. He just missed a triple-double against Hope International when he had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Marcus Crenshaw: He started the first three games and averaged 18 points. Playing considerably less minutes, he has averaged 6.5 points in the last two games. He leads the team with 11 3-point field goals.

WESTCHESTER CONNECTION: Westchester High School, one of California's most successful prep basketball programs in recent times, leaves a lot of flavor on the Titans' roster. Current players Bobby Brown, Scott Cutley and Jarrel Lake all played there while Titan Assistant Coach Marlon Morton was on the WHS staff. Last year's team had two more former Comets in Jerard Moret (who transferred to West L.A. College) and John Clemmons (eligibility expired).

ONLY ONE NEW STOP: Lafayette, Louisiana, with its Cajundome is the only stop on the Titans' basketball itinerary this year where the Titans have not previously competed. Conversely, three new opponents are visiting Titan Gym -- California Maritime, Bethune Cookman and Louisiana-Lafayette.

SURVEY SAYS: Cal State Fullerton was a consensus third-place prediction at the annual Big West Conference Basketball Media Day on Oct. 25. Both the media and coaches polls had Fullerton behind Pacific and Long Beach State.