Rim shots

Second (and third) comings

Familiarity apparently is overrated.

Of the 11 players who have appeared for Cal State Fullerton this season, none started his college career with the Titans.

Five played exclusively in junior college -- three at West Valley in Saratoga, Calif. -- and one started at a four-year school, then spent one year at a community college before coming to Fullerton.

Of the others, star forward Scott Cutley transferred from Kent State, as did Marcus Crenshaw. Ray Reed came from Georgetown, Frank Robinson from East Carolina and leading scorer Josh Akognon from Washington State.

--

He’s for real;

are they?

Led by Stephen Curry, Davidson has won 22 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in the nation. However, the entire streak has come against Southern Conference opponents.

Davidson was 3-5 after a 75-63 loss to UCLA at the Wooden Classic in Anaheim on Dec. 8. The Wildcats then defeated the Citadel in their conference opener before losing to North Carolina State on Dec. 21.

The Wildcats haven’t lost since.

How long Davidson will survive outside of conference play is an unknown, but this seems certain: Curry will keep on scoring.

He has reached double figures in 59 consecutive games, is fifth in the nation in scoring at 25.1 points a game, averages 4.8 rebounds and has a team-high 60 steals. He’s also shooting 89.8% from the free-throw line (114 for 127).

--

On the defensive

Defense is a longtime staple at Georgetown, and this season is no different.

The Hoyas have the best field-goal percentage defense in Division I, their opponents shooting only 36.4%. They are also among the leaders in points given up, 57.3 a game.

--

Handle with care

You could say first-time entrant University of Maryland Baltimore County has no shot of advancing past its opening-round game against Georgetown, and you’d probably be right.

But if you said the America East Conference champions made it this far because they play with care, you’d definitely be right.

Thanks to 5-foot-8 point guard Jay Greene, these Retrievers rarely lose a ball.

UMBC commits the fewest turnovers in Division I, 9.6 a game, and has the best assist-turnover ratio, 1.61-- 492 assists, 306 turnovers.

As for Green, his 7.3 assist average is second in the nation, as is his assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.60 -- 234 to 65.

--

Fouled up

Folks at Portland State say Deonte Huff plays bigger than his 6-foot-4 frame, and certainly he has loomed large for a program headed to the tournament for the first time.

Huff, a senior guard from Lancaster High and Antelope Valley College, is the team’s second-leading scorer (13.9) and leading rebounder (6.1).

He’s also continued to foul up opponents by getting to the free-throw line.

As a sophomore at AVC, Huff took an average of 10 free throws a game. For the Vikings this season, he has taken a team-high 155, making 116 (74.8%).

Portland State takes a 23-9 record, best in school history, into its first NCAA tournament appearance Thursday against Kansas.

-- Mike Hiserman