Weber State basketball rallies in 2nd half for huge upset at Utah State, 75-72
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- Weber State guard Steven Verplancken Jr. (11) looks past Utah State’s Sean Bairstow (2) on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, in Logan.
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- Weber State forward Dyson Koehler (4) rises to the hoop as Utah State’s Sean Bairstow (2) looks on in a game Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, in Logan.
Utah State men’s basketball entered Monday undefeated and playing for a 10-0 start, which would set a record for the best start in program history.
And the Aggies, favored by 17 points, hit that margin with a 25-7 lead to start the game and were off to their high-scoring ways.
But Weber State rallied, stiffened up defensively and completed a huge comeback, a signature win and possibly the upset of the college basketball season, claiming a 75-72 win in Logan.
USU’s Steven Ashworth intentionally missed a free throw with 1.6 seconds left and when the rebound scramble resulted in time expiring, Weber State’s team converged in a midcourt celebration to a small rain of boos from the stunned crowd inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
“Great win for our university and for Ogden. Really proud of our team,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said.
It’s WSU’s second win in three tries in Logan and the series is 3-3 in the last six contests. For this season, it’s Weber State’s third straight victory overall. And it’s the first time since 1978 that Weber State has defeated Utah State in football and men’s basketball in the same season.
“We got the pace of the game where we needed it … we played it kind of on our terms in the second half,” Duft said. “Proud of our guys and their ability to stay with it … we’ve played with much more purpose these last several games.”
Trailing 43-29 at halftime, Weber State got Steven Verplancken Jr.’s first 3 of the night and a Dyson Koehler three-point play had the Wildcats (5-7) off to a 10-2 run to start the second half.
An Alex Tew post push and a Dillon Jones 3-pointer put Weber State up 53-48 with 10 minutes left, marking a 24-5 margin to begin the half.
The sequence of the night came with just under four minutes left.
On two straight possessions, Utah State (9-1) leading scorer Steven Ashworth hit 3-pointers to tie the game at 61-61 and 64-64. But both times, Weber State answered with triples from Junior Ballard and a corner make from KJ Cunningham, who started at point guard in place of injured Keith Dinwiddie Jr.
Verplancken hit from deep on a stone-cold, face-up 3 on WSU’s next possession to put the Wildcats up 70-65 with 2 minutes left.
Ballard scored WSU’s final points: a long jumper at the 1:10 mark, and free throws with 16.9 left to seal it.
Both teams had five players reach double-digit scoring.
Jones led Weber State with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ballard scored 14 points off the bench, a near-perfect shooting night if not for two missed free throws (5 of 5 overall, 2 of 2 from deep). Koehler totaled 12 points and five rebounds, Cunningham had 11 points and Verplancken added 10.
Tew and Handje Tamba each pulled down five rebounds (Tew scored six points), and WSU allowed just three offensive rebounds on 29 USU misses.
“Our guys stepped up. We had some big rebounds. Tamba came in, he played nine minutes and had five rebounds,” Duft said. “Just a tremendous effort.”
For Utah State, Ashworth led with 16 points. Sean Bairstow had 14 points, Dan Akin 12, and Taylor Funk and Max Shulga added 10 apiece.
WSU shot 10 of 20 from 3, its third straight game at exactly 50% from deep with 10 or more makes, withstanding an uncharacteristic 9-of-16 outing at the free-throw line.
Utah State shot just 8 of 23 from 3 and a season-low 42% from the field — and couldn’t overcome it by going 22 of 29 from the foul line (plus-13 in points at the line). The Aggies’ 14 assists were their second-lowest total this season.
Weber State finishes non-conference play on Thursday at BYU.