Utah State Rolls Past Cal State Fullerton

FULLERTON —  Cal State Fullerton found out Thursday night why Utah State is unbeaten in the Big West.

The Aggies shot 64% from the field, including a remarkable 76% in the second half, and held Fullerton’s John Williams to eight shots from the field and 13 points on the way to a 91-80 victory in front of 1,251 in Titan Gym.

“They’re obviously not 6-0 in the conference for no reason,” said Titan Coach Bob Hawking. “They had already swept the Eastern Division, and they showed how they could do that. They’re a quality team.”

It was only the second time Williams has been held to fewer than 20 points in 10 games. Williams, who originally signed with Utah State but stayed there only a short time, managed only one shot from the field in the first half.

“They were triple teaming me in the first half when I was on the post,” Williams said. “But I expected them to do something like that. I knew they didn’t want me to beat them. But I was able to get out to the perimeter in the second half.”

Guard Kevin Rice made eight of 10 shots from the floor and scored 22 points to lead Utah State, but the Aggies had five other players in double figures. Duane Rogers had 15, and Marcus Saxon and Justin Jones each had 14.

But containing Williams and making 32 of 50 field-goal attempts weren’t the only things Utah State did well on the way to its fifth consecutive victory. The Aggies (13-4), also made 22 of 24 free throws and outrebounded the Titans, 30-17.

“We did a real good job on Williams in the first half, but he broke through the double-team in the second half and hit some shots,” Utah State Coach Larry Eustachy said. “He was more aggressive in the second half, and we weren’t as aggressive against him.”

Fullerton (9-6, 2-3 in the Big West) played without starting forward Craig Whitehead, who was out with a strained groin.

“We were back to the three-guard lineup that we used quite a bit last season, and that compounded our inability to defend inside,” Hawking said. “But someone has to be able to step up in situations like that.”

Chris Dade, only 6 feet 2, moved inside to Whitehead’s forward spot against the Big West’s top rebounding team, and scored 14 points. Ali Nayab and Chris St. Clair started at the guards.

Nayab scored 13 points and St. Clair nine. Reserve guard Dane Plock had 11.

The Titans shot 54.5% from the field and tied their best three-point effort of the season with 10.

“We were left with having to go to the perimeter,” Hawking said. “But we didn’t shoot well enough from three-point range to compensate for what we didn’t get inside.”

With Whitehead sidelined, the Titans never seemed to get into sync in the first half and trailed by 13 points before Nayab made a three-point shot to cut the deficit to 10 points, 39-29, at halftime. Williams didn’t get his first basket until 13 1/2 minutes into the game.

The Titans came back early in the second half and led briefly, 49-47, on a three-point basket by St. Clair that capped a nine-point Titan run, but Utah State turned back that charge and scored seven consecutive points to build the lead back to 10 points with less than four minutes to play.

It was Utah State’s eighth consecutive victory against Fullerton, but Eustachy saw improvement in the Titans.

“Fullerton is a tough team,” Eustachy said. “ We took them very seriously. They’ve won four games on the road already, and that indicates to us they’re a solid team. That’s the first time we’ve given up as many as 80 points all season, and look what we had to shoot to win the game. We just didn’t sustain on defense. We know we have to get better there.”