Aggies Earn Rare Road Victory : Grant, Tueller Reach Milestones as the Titans Fall

Greg Grant became the all-time scoring leader in Utah State history Thursday night, but he only scored half his season average and was sitting on the bench when the Aggies rallied from a three-point deficit in the last two minutes to beat Cal State Fullerton, 74-68, in front of 1,642 in Titan Gym.

Grant scored 13 points before fouling out with 3:55 remaining. He has 2,002 career points and is 63 shy of former University of the Pacific’s Ron Cornelius, who owns the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. record.

The game also was a milestone for Rod Tueller, the Utah State coach, who recorded his 100th win. But it was even more meaningful on a short-term basis. The Aggies, who stumbled to a 2-7 start in conference play, are now in sixth place in the PCAA with a 5-7 record (9-12 overall), leap-frogging the Titans (5-8, 12-13) in the standings.

Perhaps even more significant was the fact that the Aggies finally won a PCAA road game after losing their first five this season. And they managed to do it on a night when Grant, the conference’s leading scorer, was off his game . . . and out of the game when it was decided.

“The 100th win will help me remember this night with Greg, but we hope to have a few more together and he’s got more records to set, Tueller said. “The most important thing is we finally won on the road and we did it without Greg.”

For the Titans, their Season of Discontent took on new forms Thursday. Before the game, Coach George McQuarn suspended forward Tee Williamson for the rest of the season for disciplinary reasons. Williamson, who reportedly had been warned early in the season about the language he directed at members of the Titan coaching staff, repeated the offense this week and was dismissed.

Williamson, a junior transfer from Arizona State, was shooting 35% from the floor and averaging two points and three rebounds per game.

Williamson might not be missed, but Fullerton is still wondering where the “real” Kevin Henderson is. Henderson, making his first start since breaking his foot Dec. 22, was once one of the conference’s best defenders and still figures to be a first- or second-round NBA draft pick.

Thursday night, however, Utah State guard Kevin Nixon went around and over him for a career-high 27 points, making 7 of 9 field goal attempts and 13 of 13 free throws.

“Kevin (Nixon) figured he had a little step . . . he stole the ball from him twice early and outran him once, and he’d never do that against a healthy Kevin Henderson,” Tueller said. “So he was playing with confidence tonight.”

Henderson said: “We simply lost . . . do I have to answer anymore questions?”

McQuarn, who watched the Titans rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to take a 68-65 lead with 2:14 left before turning the ball over twice and missing two free throws down the stretch, had a little more to add, though.

“We never should have been in the position where we had to come back from 15,” he said. “We played hard for the last 16 minutes, thanks to the crowd, who deserves the credit for getting us going. I certainly couldn’t.

“Before that, we stunk the place up. We were an embarrassment to what Titan basketball is supposed to be all about. We didn’t have a good practice all week and we played that way.”

Now, the Titans are bunched with three other teams with five conference wins--Utah State, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific--all battling for the last three spots in the PCAA Tournament.

Fullerton outscored the Aggies, 18-8, in an eight-minute span late in the second half and went ahead, 68-65, on two Kerry Boagni free throws with 2:14 left. But Nixon fed Nathan Grant (Greg’s brother) for a backdoor layup and then the Aggies knocked away Henderson’s pass intended for Herman Webster underneath.

Nixon came up with the loose ball, went the distance for the layin, was fouled by Henderson and made the free throw for a 70-68 Utah State lead. Webster missed two free throws on the Titans next possession and the Aggies made four straight in the waning seconds when Fullerton was forced to foul.

Statistically, it looked like a much easier win for the Aggies. They outrebounded the Titans (35-27) and shot better from the floor (56%-44%) and the free throw line (93%-58%).

It wasn’t the kind of night Greg Grant-watchers are used to from the 6-8 senior who will turn 26 next month. The son of a Utah judge who’s been shooting baskets in his basement through countless winter storms says he’ll never forget it, though.

“It wasn’t a great game for me, but it was neat that we won,” he said. “It was exciting, though, especially to be able to break it on a night when Coach Tueller got his 100th win.”