Titans Suffer Letdown in Loss to Utah State

Perhaps a little spoiled by his team’s flash of brilliance Thursday night, Cal State Fullerton basketball Coach Brad Holland expected a little more than he got from the Titans against Utah State on Saturday night.

Coming off a 62-point second half in a 97-72 victory over Nevada Thursday, the Titans went flat in a 59-52 loss to Utah State in a Big West Conference game at Titan gym.

“We just proved how inconsistent we are,” Holland said. “We play well one game, then two days later we come out without collective spirit.

“If I knew which key I could turn to get some of that inspiration, I would get them made and hand them out to everybody.”

He might want to start with the starting lineup.

Starting guard Greg Vernon scored 16 points to lead Fullerton (5-16, 2-11 in conference play), but three other Titan starters--center David Frigout, and forwards Darren Little and Winston Peterson--combined for only six points.

Peterson, who leads the Titans in scoring with a 15.7 average, was shut out in the second half and finished with four points.

Frigout had two points on one-of-five shooting.

And Little, who scored a season-high 24 points in the victory over Nevada, was scoreless and missed his eight shots from the field.

“Darren was a different player tonight,” Holland said. “He didn’t resemble anything like he did Thursday night.”

Nor did the Titans, who lost at home to Utah State (10-11, 7-6) for only the third time in 14 games.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play,” said Vernon, who scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. “I don’t know if it’s because of an emotional high from Thursday night or what. We were stagnant, and we had no continuity with the offense, no flow, until the last five minutes of the game.”

That’s when freshman Josh King, a reserve guard who was held scoreless in the first half, tried to bring the Titans back.

King scored eight of his 12 points, including two three-pointers, in the final 2 minutes 51 seconds as the Titans cut an 11-point deficit to four, 54-50, with 59 seconds left.

Fullerton had two chances to close the gap, but King missed a three-pointer with 43 seconds left, and Fred Amos threw the ball away with 35 seconds remaining as Utah State pulled away and swept the season series.

“The guys in there the last four or five minutes did a great job of fighting to get back in it,” Holland said. “We need that.”

The Titans led, 23-22, at halftime, but quickly fell behind in the second half when they couldn’t shoot over the Aggies’ zone defense. The Titans shot only 33% (10 of 30) in the second half and 34.5% (19 of 55) for the game.

Going inside was no use. Frigout, 6 feet 9, and Peterson, 6-6, couldn’t shoot over Utah State’s Nathan Wickizer, a 7-foot center, and 6-7 forward Jon Wickizer.

“We had no inside game,” Holland said. “Utah State did a good job of doubling down inside. I don’t know if we did anything well tonight.”

Titan Notes

Freshman guard Chris St. Clair didn’t suit up for the Titans because of a hip injury he suffered Feb. 6 at San Jose State. St. Clair played only 10 minutes Thursday night against Nevada, and Coach Brad Holland held him out for precautionary reasons Saturday night. St. Clair is expected to return to practice by Tuesday. “He just wasn’t physically ready yet,” Holland said. . . . The Titans narrowly avoided matching their worst offensive performance of the year--a 59-50 loss at Utah State Jan. 15.