Ryan ChartrandJosh Akognon has played against the world’s best basketball players. He helped his relatively unknown Nigerian national team beat defending world champion Serbia-Montenegro in 2006.
The 5-foot-11 guard, who is eighth in the nation in scoring, leads Cal State Fullerton (6-8, 0-2 Big West Conference) into Mott Gym at 8 p.m. tonight to face Cal Poly (3-9, 0-2) in an important early-conference game.
If that isn’t enough to motivate the Mustangs, the game will also be nationally televised on ESPNU.
“I love anytime we get any TV exposure,” said Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley. “It gives you a chance to showcase your own kids in your arena.”
Both teams are trying to avoid potentially falling three games behind conference leaders UC Riverside and Long Beach State.
“It’s going to be a big game because we’re 0-2 in conference,” said Cal Poly junior guard Lorenzo Keeler. “By Sunday our goals are to be 2-2 in conference by knocking off Fullerton and Irvine and to play with intensity.”
Keeler will be one of the Mustangs given the unenviable task of guarding Akognon who is averaging 23.5 points per game.
“Josh is a handful,” Keeler said. “He’s instant offense. He’s already gone twice for 40-plus points. Usually if he plays well, it’s easier for them to win.”
Akognon, who transferred to Cal State Fullerton following his freshman year at Pac-10’s Washington State, is currently sixth in the nation in 3-point field goals made per game at 3.9.
“We’ve got to make it tough for him,” Keeler said. “We have to make sure to have a hand up in his face every single time.”
Junior guard Charles Anderson will also see time defending Akognon. He agreed that limiting the quality of Akognon’s touches is an important part of the Mustangs gameplan. “He’s the best shooter we’ll play by far,” Anderson said. “But we’re going to try to do some things to limit his shots.
Akognon’s shooting ability is reminiscent of the nation’s leading scorer, Davidson junior guard Stephen Curry.
Curry, also a relatively small guard, is averaging 29.2 points despite a game in which he was double-teamed for the entire 32 minutes he played, with or without the ball. Curry was held scoreless in the game. His Wildcats still won by 30 points.
Anderson said not to count on a similar strategy against Akognon.
“We respect him,” Anderson said, laughing. “But we don’t respect him that much.”
Bromley said that stopping Akognon is relative to the number of shots he is forced to put up in order to score his points.
“He gets (the shot) off so easily,” Bromley said. “He’s a quick shot guy. He has a great stroke and great rotation. We need to make him take more shots to get his points. I don’t think can you hold him scoreless.”
The Mustangs will be playing a Fullerton team that has similar size on the frontline, a fact that Keeler said helps Cal Poly.
“They don’t have too many bigs,” Keeler said. “I think we match up well.”
Bromley conceded that the Mustangs are not as deep on the frontline as they would like to be, especially after senior forward John Manley was forced to the bench following a back injury just before the season opened.
“Our biggest thing is when Wes Dipprey and Titus Shelton get beat down a little bit we don’t have much depth right now,” Bromley added.
Cal Poly dropped both of its previous conference games on the road, but Anderson said that winning home conference games is an absolute must.
“It’s huge from the aspect that in order to stay in the mix and be in the top half of the conference, you have to win your home games,” Anderson said.
Anderson added that he hopes to see a bigger crowd than normal for the game due to it being nationally televised against a conference-foe with a legitimate NBA prospect.
“Its obviously a lot more motivation having it nationally televised,” Anderson said. “We really want to get a lot of fans there and make it look good. Not only for us, but to see the pride we have for Cal Poly.”