Breaking down Duke’s first-round opponent

In what was one of the more anti-climatic endings of a one-point conference championship, Cal State Fullerton locked down Long Beach State and didn’t allow a shot on the final possession of a 72-71 win in the Big West Conference tournament.

Of course, you don’t feel it was anti-climatic if you’re on the CS Fullerton side of things.

Here’s the clip of the winning play, plus the celebration that followed.

While Duke makes the short trip to Greenville, S.C., for this week’s start of the NCAA tournament, CS Fullerton is coming from about 2,300 miles away.

The Titans went 21-10 this season, starting with two single-digit losses to in-state rivals and holding a 4-5 record eight days into December. They got hot with an eight-game winning streak, five of those games as the first five in Big West Conference play.

CS Fullerton lost to Long Beach State in the only regular-season meeting between the Big West’s top two teams, leading by 11 late in the first half and losing 71-61. Revenge came in the tournament final, when the Titans overcame a late-first half deficit and held on at the end.

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Here are some quick-hitting facts about CS Fullerton:

Coach: Dedrique Taylor, 9th season; 121-147 overall.

Last NCAA tournament appearance: 2018 as a 15-seed; lost 74-48 to Purdue.

Best win this season: 67-58 at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 17. Coming off of back-to-back losses and trailing by 10 with about five minutes left in the first half, the Titans beat the highest-ranked KenPom team in the Big West for the second time of the season.

Worst loss: 72-67 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 23 at Northern Arizona’s Walkup Skydome. UT Rio Grande Valley went 8-23 but scored a win over CS Fullerton during Thanksgiving week.

Leading scorer: E.J. Anosike, 16.5 ppg.

Anosike is on his third school in as many seasons, having graduate transferred from Sacred Heart to Tennessee for last season, and then coming to CS Fullerton for this season, his final year of eligibility.

The 6-7, 236-pound forward scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons at Sacred Heart. He played sparingly at Tennessee last season and averaged less than two points per game in 22 games, but has obviously found a comfort level with the Titans.

Anosike had 22 points on 6-for-6 shooting, and 10 of 14 free throws, in the conference tournament final against Long Beach State. He added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Biggest strength (KenPom): Free throws.

CS Fullerton is top 50 in the country in both free-throw percentage (76.4, 31st) and free-throws attempted/field goals attempted rate (35.7%, 48th).

The Titans don’t exactly live up to the nickname – they’ve got one player taller than 6-8, and Lado Laku (6-10) has played once in the past seven games.

Instead, it’s Anosike and senior guard Jalen Harris, a junior college transfer from Los Angeles, both in the top 100 nationally for fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.6 and 5.7, respectively), who put defenses in tough positions by drawing fouls.

Biggest weakness (KenPom): 3-point defense and block rate.

Duke’s primary focus entering the tournament is fixing what has ailed the Blue Devils in the past few weeks:

Defense, to put things bluntly.

But it’s hardly the only concern.

Duke shot the ball at a subpar rate for three games in Brooklyn, with a combined 20-for-71 clip (28.2%) on 3-pointers.

Enter CS Fullerton and its 330th-ranked 3-point defense. The Titans allow teams to shoot 37.1% on 3s, which is the second-worst average of any team in the NCAA tournament. Even in the Big West championship game, Long Beach State made 12 of 27 3s.

Oh, and that lack of height mentioned in the note above?

That plays a factor in CS Fullerton’s block rate of 5.5%, which is 338th in the country. Of NCAA tournament teams, only Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Notre Dame have worse block rates.