Utah Holds Off Fullerton

FULLERTON —  Utah may be ranked No. 4 in college basketball, but Coach Rick Majerus didn’t think his team looked anything like that Saturday night against Cal State Fullerton.

The Utes (3-0) escaped Titan Gym with a 74-67 victory in front of a crowd of 2,023, but Majerus had one word for it: Ugly.

“It was an ugly game, and I can’t be any more succinct than that,” Majerus said. “We aren’t really that good. We are overrated, and I’ve said that from Day 1.”

The Titans (1-1) outscored Utah, 43-36, in the second half, but Utah’s 14-point halftime lead turned out to be too much to overcome. Fullerton shot only 29.6% from the field in the first half, but finished at 41.1% after going 51.7% in the second half.

“We were a little tentative offensively in the first half, but that happens sometimes when you play someone of this caliber,” Titan Coach Bob Hawking said. “But our kids adjusted well at halftime.”

A full-court press helped Fullerton cut Utah’s lead from 18 points to seven with slightly less than five minutes left, but the Titans couldn’t get over the hump.

“We played with a lot of energy and passion at that point,” Hawking said. “The press helped. We’ve got some quickness, and the kids really scrambled.”

But Utah’s strength inside was decisive. Senior forward Keith Van Horn led the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds, and 6-11 center Michael Doleac scored 18. They were a combined 13 of 25 from the field. The Utes also had a 37-27 rebounding advantage.

“We were really struggling in the first half trying to get shots over their size,” Hawking said.

Guard Chris Dade led the Titans with 16 points. John Williams had 15 and Craig Whitehead 10.

“We have this thing about coming out strong in the second half,” Dade said. “The press helped us. I think we showed that we can compete with anyone. We wanted to give them a good game after what happened last year.”

Utah won last year’s game in Salt Lake City, 108-58.

The Utes started strong, shooting 66.7% from the field in the first half and finishing at 54%. Utah was five for five on three-point shots, and led 38-24 at the break. Utah’s aggressive defense kept the Titans off balance, and Fullerton struggled with its outside shooting.

Chris St. Clair, one of the Titans’ best from three-point range, missed three in a row from behind the arc after coming off the bench seven minutes into the game.

“He was zero for four in the first half, and we know he can shoot it,” Hawking said. “But it’s not just one guy. If any of our guys had stepped up and made some plays, it might have been different.”

Utah kept the pressure on in the second half, and was threatening to pull away before the Titans scored 11 consecutive points to cut the deficit to 59-52.

Dade made two consecutive three pointers, and St. Clair stole the ball for a layup. Then guard Ali Nayab’s three-pointer cut the lead to seven points. Doleac’s layup stopped the surge, and Van Horn’s three-pointer kept Utah in control.

“You have to give Fullerton credit for how hard they played in the last five minutes,” Majerus said. “They played with a lot of tenacity. They played with the kind of confidence you have after beating BYU. And we played like a team that wasn’t that good.”

Majerus, who didn’t emerge from the visitors’ locker room until 30 minutes after the game, said he also was unhappy with his team’s free-throw shooting in the second half. The Utes were 15 of 25 after the break and shot 59.3% for the game.

“Fullerton was very scrappy, but they didn’t guard us at the free-throw line,” Majerus said.

Utah will be back in Orange County Saturday to play Arizona in the Wooden Classic. Fullerton goes back on the road Tuesday for a game at Montana.