By: Juan Saucedo

Daily Titan Staff Writer

It’s November again, and the smell of turkey will soon fill the air along with the sounds and sights of college basketball playing on the television.

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team will provide an appetizer tonight for those hungry for college hoops when the Titans face UCLA at 9 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion, tipping-off ESPN’s second annual 24-hour college basketball marathon.

As the Titans attempt to impress college basketball pundits and fans nationwide, the team is eager to start the journey toward improving on last year’s 15-17 overall record (7-9 in the Big West).

Yet, the Titans’ chances at defeating power-house UCLA haven’t seemed better.

The Bruins haven’t looked anything like the team they were for the past two seasons, which were highly-ranked and in contention for the national title.

UCLA also hasn’t dominated its opponents during their two preseason games. The Bruins barely squeezed past Concordia, 62-61, and then defeated Humboldt State, 74-57, relying on their starting five for most of their points in the matches.

On the other hand, the Titans have shown that they have depth that may serve them well tonight against the Bruins.

CSUF started the season by defeating Cal State Los Angeles, 69-58, in an exhibition game and then routing Hope International University, 93-57, in the season-opener.

The Titan’s performance against HIU stands out because the bench combined to score 51 points, which is more than half of the team’s scoring.

Orane Chin led all scorers with 18 points, coming off the bench for the Titans.

Andy Newman, associate coach, said after the HIU game that the Titans had a well-rounded performance.

Jer’Vaughn Johnson, a 6-foot-6-inch, 240-pound redshirt junior power forward, said the players on the bench will definitely improve the team’s depth at every position.

“I think we have five guys on the bench that could be starters anywhere else,” he said.

Gerard Anderson, a 6-foot-6-inch, 205-pound senior small forward, said he feels good about the team getting a chance to showcase its talent during the televised game.

Anderson, who’s in his second year as a starter, said he has been preparing more mentally than anything else. He said he’s currently taking a mental toughness class that’s helping him change his approach to the game.

“I feel that the mental part is the most important part of the game,” he said.

Anderson said the team is taking things one step at a time by focusing on one game at time and not getting too ahead of themselves.

“We’re not really worried about it,” he said. “We don’t want to feel like we’re playing a bigger team, like … we’re playing UCLA. We just want to go in there and get a ‘w.’”

Johnson, a junior who’s playing his first year as a starter, said he has been trying to get back in basketball shape during the off-season because he sat out last year.

He said he’s approaching the UCLA game like any other game, adding that he’s not worried about playing in front of a large crowd. He feels the team can handle it.

“Hopefully we could get rid of the pre-game jitters before the game,” he said, adding that he will be listening to Lil’ Wayne to get pumped up.

He said Head Coach Bob Burton has been getting the team familiar with the Bruins’ offense, so they will know how to defend against it.

“Right now our biggest strength is rebounding and defense,” he said.

The Bruins were a good defensive team last year as well, Johnson said.

However, he said he likes the team’s chances due to the fact that the bench players could help slow down the UCLA offensively.

“We practice hard, and we’ve done a lot of conditioning,” Johnson said.

Anderson said he feels that this year’s team has a better shot at making a run at a Big West Conference title.

“(Coach Burton’s) philosophy is: If we can deal with him, then we could deal with anything,” Anderson said. “He brings a lot of energy during practice … a lot of emotion, a lot of fire, just to keep us going.”

“Every day we try to have a hard practice,” he said.

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ESPN’s College Basketball Marathon Television Schedule (Pacific times)

9 p.m. – Cal State Fullerton at UCLA on ESPN

11 p.m. – San Diego State at Saint Mary’s on ESPN

1 a.m. – Northern Colorado at Hawaii on ESPN

3 a.m. – Monmouth at St. Peter’s on ESPN

5 a.m. – Drexel at Niagara on ESPN

7 a.m. – Clemson at Liberty on ESPN

9 a.m. – Northeastern at Siena on ESPN

11 a.m. – Arkansas-Little Rock at Tulsa on ESPN

1 p.m. – Temple at Georgetown on ESPN

2:30 p.m. – Binghamton at Pittsburgh on ESPN2

3 p.m. – TBD (NIT) at Duke on ESPN

4 p.m. – Tennessee vs. Texas Tech women’s game on ESPNU

4:30 p.m. – Arkansas vs. Louisville on ESPN2

5 p.m. – Gonzaga at Michigan State on ESPN

5 p.m. – Northern Illinois at Illinois on ESPN360.com

6 p.m. – Duquesne at Iowa on ESPNU

6:30 p.m. – Connecticut vs. Texas women’s game on ESPN2

7 p.m. – Memphis vs. Kansas on ESPN

8:30 p.m. – TBD (NIT) at Arizona State on ESPN2

NOTE: All the games, except for the Duquesne at Iowa and the women’s game between Tennessee and Texas, will be streamed live on ESPN360.com.