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GAME NOTES: Future competitors in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Cougars of SIU-Edwardsville play a school from the Golden State for the very first time when they hit the floor at Titan Gym for their BracketBusters meeting with Cal State Fullerton.

The Cougars have celebrated just four wins this season, but one of those came two nights ago when they dropped in on North Dakota and recorded a 91-76 triumph. The victory snapped a five-game slide and was just the second for the program since the first week of December when it logged back-to-back wins over Drake and UT-Arlington.

As for the Titans, members of the Big West Conference, they take a break from league play where they are third in the standings behind UC Santa Barbara and Pacific. Fullerton could have closed the gap slightly on Wednesday night but the squad suffered a 73-65 loss to the Gauchos at home in this building. The defeat snapped a brief two-game win streak by the Titans.

The Cougars made a season-best 13 baskets from out on the perimeter as they bounced back to claim a 15-point win against North Dakota a couple nights back. Mark Yelovich exploded for a career-high 34 points as he sank 6-of-9 beyond the arc and a stellar 11-of-14 from the floor overall. Cody Rincker, Aamir McCleary and Denykco Bowles all tallied 11 points and Kevin Stineman posted 10 off the bench in only 17 minutes as the squad shot 58.3 percent from the floor. Having to prove their worth against tougher opponents this season, the Cougars have often found their offense suffers in those matchups, which is why they are averaging just 62.0 ppg at the moment. In contrast, the opposition has taken advantage of SIUE by generating 76.0 ppg this season and shooting close to 40 percent behind the three-point line. Yelovich leads the team in scoring with his 16.2 ppg, while McCleary is the only other double- digit scorer with his 11.7 ppg.

Turning the ball over 17 times and shooting only 6-of-22 behind the three- point line, the Titans didn't do themselves any favors as they fell to UC Santa Barbara at home three nights ago. Gerard Anderson, Orane Chin and Aaron Thompson all tallied 14 points in the setback, the latter also clearing 10 rebounds which gave the squad a significant advantage on the glass, 44-28, but not enough to change the outcome. Just in the last week, the Titans have seen a wild swing in scoring, going from 65 points on Wednesday to 113 in a triple- overtime event versus Cal State Northridge last weekend. But no matter how productive the group is, they can always count on Thompson to be one of the leading scorers with his 12.5 ppg. Jacques Streeter is responsible for 10.9 ppg, but his value may lie more in his passing which has resulted in a team- best 119 assists thus far. Johnson (10.4 ppg) always has potential for beefing up his scoring numbers, since he is also the leader on the glass with 6.2 rpg, but he is also his own worst enemy with nine disqualifications already.

SIUE is in for a rude awakening tonight as the Cougars find out just what brand of basketball is played in the Big West and it doesn't figure to be a favorable discovery for the visitors.