SAN FRANCISCO — After San Francisco guard Khalil Shabazz slid on his back, all the way into the padded base of the basket, he quickly sprang up and started sprinting to get back on defense, too quick for a helping hand.
Shabazz had picked off a pass by Cal State Fullerton guard Tory San Antonio, and turned his third steal in the span of a minute into a coast-to-coast sprawling lay-up, giving the Dons a 20-point first-half lead.
The Dons' 91-69 win over the Titans looked to be an offensive showcase — the seventh time in 11 games San Francisco has scored more than 80 points — but as has often been the case in head coach Todd Golden's first season, the gaudy offensive numbers have their roots in defense.
San Francisco (9-2) finished with 21 points off of 15 Fullerton turnovers, along with 15 fast-break points, hoisting up 12 more shots than the Titans. Shabazz's three steals fueled a 26-6 first-half run that all but put the game out of reach.
"He'd be a ridiculous cornerback," Golden said of Shabazz, who had four of San Francisco's season-high 12 steals. "He always finds himself in the right place, so I just try and let him have freedom to take gambles defensively."
After San Francisco opened on a 9-2 run, Fullerton managed to tie things up at 19 with 10:20 to go in the first half, thanks to a baseline layup by Austen Awosika, but over the final 10:05 of the half, the Dons held Fullerton to just 3-of-9 shooting and forced five turnovers.
"We got a few stops early, were able to extend a little bit, but we just gave up baskets," Golden said. "We didn't guard in that little stretch, and they made some shots. That's when we went on that big run, which really started with stops."
San Francisco guard Charles Minlend hit a pair of layups (including a fast-break score off a Josh Pitts turnover) and then drove and kicked to Jordan Ratinho, who broke out of his 3-point slump to nail a triple from the right wing to give San Francisco a 31-21 lead.
"In the heat of the moment, I didn't even realize that happened," Golden said. A Josh Kunen layup and another three by Ratinho —a career 40.3% shooter from 3-point range who had gone 4-for-14 over the previous three games — led into Shabazz's frantic minute.
"He's our game-changer," Golden said of Shabazz. "I haven't seen a guy since Brianté Weber at VCU that can just take the ball from the opponent so easily."
A pair of Shabazz steals turned into a 3-pointer by Jamaree Bouyea (who scored 11 with six assists) and a fast-break dunk by Dzmitry Ryuny, and a third Shabazz poke-away steal at the top of the arc after a dizzying sequence turned into a coast-to-coast lay-up for the redshirt sophomore, putting San Francisco up 45-25 — the Dons' largest lead of the afternoon up to that point.
"I was just reacting," Shabazz said. "I'm just running around, trying to get everything I can, especially on the defensive end."
Over the final 10 minutes of the first half, San Francisco went 11-for-19 and headed into the break leading 47-33. The Dons wouldn't lead by fewer than 14 the rest of the way, widening the lead to as much as 23 in the second half. San Francisco finished with 19 assists on 33 field goals (with a season-low-tying 10 turnovers), while the Titans had 13 on 27.
Fullerton shot 55.6% after the break, but only 25% from three (2-for-8). The Dons held the Titans (3-9) to 4-for-13 from three on the game (30.8%), the third-lowest mark against San Francisco this season.
The Dons were led by sophomore Dzmitry Ryuny, who pulled down six rebounds and scored a career-high 18 on 5-of-8 shooting in 16 minutes. Ryuny went 3-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc, as San Francisco went 11-for-27 from long distance. It was the sixth time this season that the Dons have hit at least 11 3-pointers (all wins).
"For him, it all starts on the defensive end," Golden said. "When he's guarding and rebounding, I feel a lot more confident to play him more minutes, because offensively, he's not ever really a concern. He's a phenomenal shooter."
Ratinho finished 3-of-6 from long distance for 13 points, adding four rebounds in 25 minutes, and senior center Jimbo Lull scored 14 points with a game-high eight rebounds.
After a rough loss at Hawaii, a narrow loss to Arizona State and a convincing win over Cal, the Dons will visit Stanford (9-1) on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. tip on the Pac-12 Network. The Cardinal own a 73-54 win over Oklahoma (7-2) and a 70-54 win over the Titans.
"Stanford's really made a jump," Golden said. "They're playing at a ridiculously high level. They're shooting the ball really well. They seem to be more connected than they've been over the first four years of coach [Jerod] Haase's time there. It's going to be a quad-one win (a road win against a team ranked 1-75 in RPI) for us against an opponent we know. We should have some confidence going in there."
