Energized Montana State ends gassed Weber State’s 8-game win streak, 78-57
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- Weber State guard Koby McEwen (15) drives against Montana State’s Xavier Bishop on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State guard JJ Overton (24) tries to shoot over a challenge from Montana State big man Jubrile Belo on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State’s Dillon Jones (2) drives against a Montana State player on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard JJ Overton (24) rises for a layup against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Montana State center Jubrile Belo (13) posts up against Weber State’s Alex Tew (20) on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) shoots over Montana State’s Abdul Mohamed on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) drives against Montana State’s Abdul Mohamed (0) on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Koby McEwen (15) dribbles the ball in a game against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State guard Zahir Porter prepares to pass the ball in a game against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (5) dribbles against the defense of Montana State’s Nick Gazelas (2) on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State guard Koby McEwen, center, drives against Montana State players Jubrile Belo and RaeQuan Battle on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — In an odd night in the Big Sky Conference, a calendar of COVID-19-related cancellations caused by other teams finally ran down Weber State men’s basketball.
Playing their sixth game in 13 days, it became clear through a sequence late in the first half that the Wildcats’ legs were failing them. And Montana State, a good team on one week’s rest, took full advantage of its opportunity.
Montana State used a run to take an eight-point halftime lead and cruised on hot shooting to a 78-57 victory at the Dee Events Center.
“Montana State played great … they were fresh, I think everyone saw what our team looked like tonight,” WSU head coach Randy Rahe said. “The schedule obviously caught up to us a little tonight. Their heart was in the right place but we just could not move nearly as fast as them. And (MSU) played great.
“They were ready to go, they’ve got a good basketball team. (Head coach Danny) Sprinkle does a great job.”
The decision ended an eight-game win streak for Weber State (18-6, 11-2 Big Sky) and stretched a ballooning streak for Montana State (17-5, 9-2) to eight games of its own. The Bobcats’ last loss was a 10-point home defeat to WSU on Dec. 30. It was only MSU’s ninth win in Ogden in 63 tries and its largest win over Weber State in program history.
WSU senior guard JJ Overton hearkened back to his team’s home loss to Fresno State and called the game “a bump in the road,” repeating what he said after that loss in December, with a smile: “we’ll be OK.”
Weber State struggled to get consistent offensive looks in the first half, especially after center Dontay Bassett was benched with two quick fouls in the opening minutes. But Dyson Koehler came off the bench and provided a spark, scoring on a baseline drive and drawing a foul on a driving dunk attempt to cut MSU’s lead to 22-19.
With 5:25 left in the half, Koehler got a perimeter steal and nearly scored six straight for WSU, but his contested, transition layup rolled off the rim. Xavier Bishop raced the other way and drove for a layup in the space of four seconds.
That bucket was part of an 8-0 MSU run over four straight possessions that all came by guards driving past their defenders and scoring at the rim: Bishop twice, Amin Adamu once and RaeQuan Battle once.
That made it 30-19 with 3:58 left in the first half and, it seemed, the writing was on the wall. Add in that Montana State rectified a 3-of-20 shooting night from 3-point line on Dec. 30 with an 11-of-21 performance Saturday, and the Bobcats had full control of the game.
It wasn’t for lack of effort, Rahe said, just that his players didn’t have enough “juice” left to make it a perfect 6-0 in the stretch.
“We’re going to dump this thing and give our guys two full days off. We’ll get our energy back, get our legs back … I’ve never been through a stretch like that,” Rahe said.
Bishop led all scorers with 18 points and eight rebounds for Montana State. Big man Jubrile Belo added 17 points and eight rebounds, Adamu scored 17 points and Battle added 15.
For Weber State, Seikou Sisoho Jawara scored 14 points. Koby McEwen and Zahir Porter each scored 11 points. Dillon Jones totaled four points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Going forward, the Wildcats are likely to take two days off, Rahe said, with recovery the goal. The schedule of games has also prohibited practice for the last two weeks, which players said they looked forward to before hitting the road.
“Having a few days to practice … sharpen up our skills, sharpen up our tools, get some confusion out of the way — fix that up, and get back on a roll again,” Overton said.
BIG SKY’S BIG PICTURE
Overall, Weber State went 5-1 in the 13-day stretch, including a 3-1 mark against teams who entered the period in a virtual tie for second place. At 11-2, Weber State remains in first place ahead of Montana State and Southern Utah, who are both 9-2.
“I told the guys how proud I am of them. We played six in (13 days), against four of the top teams in our league, and that’s tough duty,” Rahe said. “They did a hell of a job getting through it, they just didn’t have it tonight.”
Elsewhere in the Big Sky on Saturday night, Idaho State surprisingly hammered Montana 86-63 for its second Division-I win of the season, dropping the Griz to 8-4 in fourth place. SUU held off Eastern Washington 84-72 at home. Northern Colorado is 6-4 after defeating Northern Arizona on Saturday.
Monday’s slate of games includes Southern Utah at Montana and Montana State at Idaho State. Southern Utah still has all four games left to play against the two Montana schools.
MSU 74, WSU 71
Weber State women’s basketball suffered yet another final-minute heartbreaker Saturday afternoon in Bozeman, Montana.
Montana State built its lead to 55-47 with eight minutes left when WSU guard Kori Pentzer hit two 3s to make it a one-point game.
Later, WSU took a 63-62 lead with 1:50 left on an inside bucket from Emma Torbert. But Montana State shot 5 of 6 from the foul line in the ensuing six seconds due to two common fouls and a technical, taking control at 67-63, and Weber State could not close the gap from there. Down 3, Aloma Solovi’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer was blocked by MSU star Darian White.
Daryn Hickok totaled 22 points and eight rebounds for Weber State (8-14, 4-9 Big Sky). Jadyn Matthews added 18 points and eight rebounds.
A much-improved team has taken its share of hard losses. In 13 league games, WSU has two outliers: a 28-point win at Portland State and a 21-point loss at Idaho. The remaining 11 games have been decided by an average of 5.2 points. WSU is 3-8 in those games, including an overtime loss, and five losses by four points or less — three of those coming on baskets at the buzzer.
