Cal State Fullerton tops Hawaii in OT to advance to semifinals
Once upon a time, a Cal State Fullerton postseason victory over Hawaii would have been considered an upset.
Not anymore. The fourth-seeded Titans advanced to the Big West Tournament semifinals with a 62-60 overtime victory over fifthseeded Hawaii on Thursday afternoon that just put more distance between Fullerton’s past and its new role as an annual contender for the tourney title.
The Titans (19-12) have been an entirely different program over the past seven seasons under Coach Dedrique Taylor, with five winning records, two Big West tourney titles, two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2018, 2022) and two additional postseason invites. The chance to keep padding that resume continues today in a 6 p.m. semifinal showdown with top-seeded regular-season champ UC Irvine (22-10).
“We were resilient,” Taylor said after they survived a thriller against Hawaii (22-11) that included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the Warriors that forced overtime. “We went out there and threw everything we had at them. It was a tight game and we stuck together.”
Thursday’s game was tight and taut throughout, neither team able to put together a sustained run to take control, Hawaii extending the drama with its last-second shot and things tilting in Fullerton’s favor on a 3-pointer by junior transfer Max Jones, a short-range floater by junior Latrell Wrightsell and the gamelong defense of Tory San Antonio.
“Defense and work is the kind of team we are, and we live to get to the last play in a position to win,” said Jones, who finished with a teamhigh 18 points and six rebounds. “It’s a great feeling, but there’s no celebration. For us, it’s survive and move on.”
Hawaii led by a point at halftime and held a 46-38 lead midway through the second half when San Antonio delivered a barrage of defensive highlights, with two field goals, and three efforts in which he was able to draw offensive fouls by Hawaii. Fullerton led by one thereafter and had two leads of three points late in regulation.
The Titans were ahead 56-51 with less than a minute left, but Jovon McClanahan hit a jumper with 46 seconds left. Fullerton got a pair of offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession but could not score and turned it over with 10 seconds left. That set up Hawaii’s Noel Coleman, who worked his way to the top of the arc for the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
McClanahan had Hawaii’s only field goal in overtime, a jumper that gave Hawaii a 60-57 lead, but Jones hit a baseline 3-pointer to tie it. San Antonio disrupted Hawaii’s offense by blocking a shot and forcing a turnover. That led to Wrightsell hitting what proved to be the game-winning shot with 1:13 left.
Hawaii’s McClanahan was at the free-throw line with eight seconds left with a chance to tie, but he missed his first shot and Fullerton grabbed the intentional miss of the second.
The UC Irvine men’s basketball team got back to what they do best on Thursday afternoon.
The top-seeded Anteaters shot 57.9 percent from 3-point distance and didn’t let up on the defensive end of the floor, adding up to a 75-51 victory against eighth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield in a Big West Tournament quarterfinal game at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
Irvine (23-10) will play Cal State Fullerton (18-12) at 6 p.m. today.
JC Butler went 3 for 3 from 3-point distance and scored 13 points off the bench to lead the Anteaters. Devin Tillis paced the UCI starters with 10 points.
“We’re not counting wins,” Irvine coach Russell Turner said. “We came here to play a tournament and we survived today and advanced. Every game we play from here on in is going to be a game of consequence.”
Bakersfield (11-22), which knocked off ninth-seeded Cal State Northridge in the first round on Tuesday, was held to 37.1% shooting from the floor and was 1 for 11 from 3-point distance.
The Anteaters also played Bakersfield on Saturday in the regular-season finale and limited the Roadrunners to 30.2 percent from the floor and 0-for10 from long distance in the 5244 win.
“Our level of play, which shows up most, is our commitment to defense and rebounding,” Turner said. “We were good, really good, at the start of the game with our game plan and our intensity and our focus. That’s one of the reasons we had the success that we had early in guarding them. When we’ve shown we can be like that, we can be a really good defensive team, but we’ve not always been a good defensive team this year, the guys like to play offense better.”
The Anteaters, who were ranked in the top 10 in the nation