Titans Lose to Utah State in Double Overtime

George McQuarn’s doctor warned him that coming to this isolated, mountain city Thursday night would only make him more miserable. But there he was in Utah State’s Spectrum, with temperatures outside in single digits.

It isn’t the kind of climate to visit when you’re suffering from bronchial pneumonia, as the Cal State Fullerton coach is.

After Thursday night’s 96-95, double-overtime loss to Utah State, McQuarn may never go against doctors’ orders again.

The loss was Fullerton’s fifth straight and keeps the Titans (1-5, 8-7) at the bottom of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. standings. When it was over, McQuarn and his team walked into the bitter cold and boarded a bus to contemplate a most bitter defeat.

“It could have been a very, very big win for us,” McQuarn said between coughs. “Instead, it’s a very disappointing loss.”

Jeff Anderson hit the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds left in the second overtime period to provide the final margin. Utah State (3-4, 10-9) came back from a 95-92 deficit in the final 38 seconds to gain a victory that looked so secure until the final five minutes of regulation.

Oval Miller, who scored eight of Fullerton’s 10 points in the second overtime and finished with a career-high 18, gave the Titans a three-point lead with a tip-in with 38 seconds left.

Seven seconds later, Utah State guard Reid Newey hit a three-point shot from the right perimeter to tie it at 95. It was Newey’s only field goal of the game, and the Aggies’ first field goal since Kevin Nixon hit a three-pointer with 6:10 left in regulation to give Utah State a 68-58 lead. The Aggies scored their next 17 points on free throws. They were 44 of 55 from the free-throw line on the game. Fullerton was 16 of 27.

That the game even went into overtime was enough to make Utah State Coach Rod Tueller cringe. The Aggies had a 71-60 lead with 5:20 left in regulation, and Fullerton was showing no signs of snapping out of the nightmarish slump it has been in most of January. The Titans were taking ill-advised shots, and generally appeared well on the way to their sixth loss in seven games.

But the Titans rallied. Fullerton made enough of a run to cut Utah State’s lead to 72-66 with 3:36 to play. McQuarn went to a 1-3-1 trap designed to create turnovers, and it worked.

“We just folded like an accordion,” Tueller said. “We were aware of it. . . . We knew it was coming. We just didn’t handle it.”

The trap led to three straight Aggie turnovers, the last of which led to an easy basket for Titan guard Eugene Jackson that cut Utah State’s lead to 72-70 with 2:53 to play.

The Titans tied it at 76-76 with 53 seconds left when Derek Jones won a scramble for a loose ball near midcourt and went the distance for a layup. Newey hit both ends of a one-and-one with 36 seconds left to give the Aggies a 78-76 lead, but Alexander Hamilton tied it with a spinning drive to the basket with 20 seconds remaining.

Utah State had an opportunity to win it in the first overtime when, with four seconds left, center Mike Johnson was fouled in the act of shooting. Johnson made the first free throw to tie it at 85-85, but after a Fullerton timeout, he missed the second.

But Newey’s three-pointer and Anderson’s free throw were enough finally to give the Aggies the victory and give Fullerton the latest in a series of frustrating experiences at Logan. Last season, the Titans lost, 82-76, in overtime. They are 1-6 here under McQuarn. The only victory came in 1981-82, when the Aggies finished 4-23.

This loss came despite Fullerton shooting a season-high 57.4% from the field, despite a career-high 14 points from Jackson and despite 19 points and 12 rebounds from Herman Webster. This loss means the Titans can only keep wondering what happened to the team that began the season with seven wins in eight games.

“That’s a good team,” Tueller said. “It’s really a sad tailspin they’re in right now.”