What Duke faces against Cal State Fullerton in NCAA tournament. A look at the matchup
Duke facing Cal State Fullerton in Friday night’s NCAA tournament first-round game won’t be the first time the Blue Devils have faced a Big West Conference team in the postseason.
Duke even has a loss to that league, although it was a long time ago in a far different college basketball world.
UNLV played in the Big West when the Rebels won the 1990 NCAA tournament, blistering Duke 103-73 in the championship at Denver.
Fullerton, of course, is nowhere near as talented as that UNLV team. But the Titans are in the NCAA tournament facing Duke, one of the sport’s premiere programs, nevertheless.
“It’s no secret who we’re playing,” Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor said Thursday. “We’re playing college basketball itself. So I’m anxious to see this group in that environment and how they handle themselves. I think we have a very mature, very experienced group, but it’s a different animal when they’re getting on that stage.”
So what will the Blue Devils face in Fullerton when they play at 7:10 p.m. Friday night on CBS? Here’s a look.
Big West champions
Fullerton finished second in the Big West regular-season standings, but knocked off regular-season champion Long Beach State, 71-70, in the league tournament final last Saturday to claim the NCAA tournament automatic bid.
The Titans (21-10) are seeded No. 15 in the West Region, which pits them against No. 2-seeded Duke (28-6).
Big tests? Not many
Fullerton played just one team that made the NCAA tournament field of 68 during the regular season. Wyoming beat the Titans, 79-66, on Nov. 29.
According to KenPom.com, Fullerton’s strength of schedule ranked No. 223 nationally. The Titans are rated No. 153 in the NET.
Plenty of experience
Four seniors are key to Fullerton’s attack in 6-7 forward E.J. Anosiek, 6-6 Tray Maddox, 6-2 Damari Milstead and 6-1 Jalen Harris. That gives the Titans a big edge in that area over Duke, which starts three freshmen.
Anosike leads Fullerton in scoring (16.5) and rebounds (8.3). Milstead averages 12.1 points and 2.8 assists per game. Harris has made 42.4% of his 3-pointers while Milstead has hit 36.9%.
Experienced teams have proven to be a problem to Duke over the years since the Blue Devils annually rely on freshmen.
A 15 over 2 upset?
Well, it’s happened to Duke before and it happened just last night to serve as a reminder.
Ten years ago this week, a No. 2-seeded Duke team lost 75-70 to 15th-seeded Lehigh at Greensboro Coliseum. That’s why at least one former Duke player, Andre Dawkins, wasn’t in the mood for getting off any Kentucky jokes when the No. 2 seeded Wildcats lost, 85-79, to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s on Thursday night.
Duke’s defensive matchup
For the season, Fullerton hasn’t been a strong shooting team. The Titans hit only 44.7% of their shots from the field this season, No. 129 nationally. Teams have shot 41.6% against Duke, which has the Blue Devils No. 90 nationally in that defensive category.
That said, the Titans shot 53% when it beat Long Beach State in the Big West tournament final. Milstead hit 5 of his 8 3-point attempts, which caught Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s attention.
“Milstead and Anosike really make them go,” Krzyzewski said. “Milstead’s had a terrific end of season, and Anosike’s been the leading scorer in their conference and can play either the four or five. They look differently when he goes from one to the other, so they can give you a couple different looks.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 11:06 AM.