By Tyler Riggs

Mike Ahmad gets blocked by Babacar Camara on Saturday. Utah State beat Fullerton 87-61 in USU's last home game of the season. / Photo by John Zsiray

Cardell Butler got a surprise visit from his mother, so he surprised her with a career-high 31 points Saturday night.

Butler's 11-of-15 shooting night helped carry Utah State to an 87-61 victory over the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

Before the game, Butler was surprised to see his mom, Rosaria Harris, in attendance.

"It was a big surprise," Butler said. "When she showed up, that started my spark right there."

The "spark" being 22 points in the first half including three-point baskets on three consecutive possessions.

"I told Cardell to go ahead and make a few shots," Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said. "His confidence is kind of contagious."

The confidence bug was definitely in the air for the Aggies all night, with the team making 13 three pointers in 18 tries. The 13 threes tied a school record for most in a game.

"If you shoot 68 percent, you're going to win a lot of basketball games," Morrill said.

Jason Williams added 12 points for the Aggies while Mark Brown and Spencer Nelson scored 10 each. The Titans were paced by center Pape Sow with 18 points and 13 rebounds and freshman point guard Bobby Brown, who had 15 points.

The Aggies had a hard time containing Sow all game.

"[Sow] is something," Morrill said. "We were doubling him, then they started dropping threes out of the double teams."

Possibly the only bad statistic for the Aggies Saturday was the team's free-throw shooting. The team made only half of their 20 freebies.

"If we could get the crowd to just be noisy on free throws," Morrill said. "I'm going to request that next year."

It was the final home game of the season for the Aggies. Butler was honored before the game along with seniors Brown, Mike Ahmad and Chad Evans.

"It's a great way to send the seniors out," Morrill said. "It was just a good night for the Aggies."

Notes:

The Aggies faced a scary moment late in the first half. Spencer Nelson was fighting for position under the Aggies' basket with Pape Sow and Bron Groomes. Nelson received an elbow to the head from Groomes that knocked him to the floor. The elbow hit Nelson's protective facemask, grinding it against his broken nose.

His nose was broken again.

"If I wouldn't have had the mask [my nose] would have been crushed," Nelson said. "I felt it."

Nelson said he was told by doctors that the break wouldn't require surgery but it meant he would be wearing the mask for the rest of the season.

"I've grown attached to [the mask]," he said. "We've been through a lot."

Nelson didn't return to the court with the team after halftime, but returned midway through the second ready to play.

"They said it was broken, but not bad enough to not play," he said. "I might as well play as much as I can."

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