Pacific at Cal State Fullerton (+3) - 8:00pm Pacific - Game #753-754

It has been a wacky year in the Big West conference.  Aside from red hot UC Irvine, every other team has shown the ability to win or lose to anyone else.  These two teams are no different.  Both Pacific and Fullerton have lost to UC Riverside, on their own home court no less.  Fullerton was the preseason favorite to win the conference but have disappointed badly going just 3-5 in conference play.  However, the reality is that all Big West teams this year have nothing to play for in the regular season other than seeding for the conference tournament.  To Fullerton's credit, they have been slowed by injuries to their two stars Bobby Brown (ankle) and Jamal Brown (back/nose) in recent weeks.  They also have lost two overtime heartbreakers with their other three losses coming at the hands of league leaders UCI and Pacific, the latter coming on the road.  Fullerton has only played once in the past 12 days so they should be as healthy as they have been in a while.  This is still a very dangerous team that when motivated can play at a very high level.

 

This Pacific team is not nearly as big, deep, or talented as they have been in previous two seasons.  Only one mainstay is back, forward Christian Maraker, but he is rarely aggressive enough to carry the team.  Pacific is 3-1 in Big West road games, but two of the wins were over UCSB and Cal Poly, two of the worst teams in the conference.  In each of their three road wins they trailed at some point in the final 10 minutes of the second half.  They were handed the victories more than they earned them.   

 

The fact that Fullerton played competitively at Pacific easily suggests they can win this game as Pacific is a much better team at home.  In that game Fullerton led by 4 at the half and by as many as 6 in the second half.  This will be the first ESPN network televised game at Titan Gym in over 15 years.  This is just the type of game that Fullerton players get up for.  Point guard Bobby Brown is being watched by many NBA scouts and this is a key game not only for him but this entire program.  Fullerton only must play a B game to win this outright.  Take the points but also consider a money line play.

 

RAS Official Play:  Cal State Fullerton +3  1 UNIT