Cal State Fullerton continues a designed road-heavy start to the season when the Titans visit Stanford in a nonconference game Friday afternoon.
Fullerton (0-1) began a stretch of seven of eight on the road with a competitive 89-79 loss against Grand Canyon on Monday. The Titans also will visit Colorado, Oregon State, UCLA, Pepperdine and Pacific before the end of the month.
Coming off a 14-18 season in the wake of a pair of 20-win campaigns, longtime coach Dedrique Taylor plotted the early schedule to make the Titans a stronger team by season’s end, rather than to maximize nonconference wins.
“It’s a benefit for us to learn how good we are and how good we can be,” Taylor said. “We’re not necessarily worried about the result; we’re worried about the process. And as long as we can get better, it’s important.”
Missouri transfer Kaleb Brown paced the Titans in the opener with 17 points. But all eyes Friday will be on Kendrick De Luna, Fullerton’s 6-foot-10 big man who will draw the unenviable task of dueling Stanford’s 7-foot-1 Maxime Raynaud.
De Luna struggled with foul trouble against Grand Canyon, staying on the court for just 18 minutes. He finished with two points and one rebound.
Raynaud had an all-around outstanding game in Stanford’s 85-62 season-opening home romp over Denver on Monday, contributing 16 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals to a victorious Cardinal debut for coach Kyle Smith.
The new-look Cardinal (1-0) had much more than Raynaud going against the Pioneers. Southern California transfer Oziyah Sellers scored 24 points, while guards Benny Gealer and Jaylen Blakes made it four starters in double figures with 12 points apiece.
“Really pleased for our first home game,” Smith said. “They put some pressure on us, but we were able to settle down and play really well.”
The matchup with Fullerton comes at the same point of the schedule at which Stanford beat the Titans 70-54 in the second game of 2019. The Cardinal went on to win their first seven contests that year en route to their most successful season under previous coach Jerod Haase, going 20-12.
