Weber State basketball: Wildcats hang until late in rock fight with Washington to open season
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- Weber State guard Steven Verplancken Jr., right, battles Washington’s Frank Kepnang (11) for a rebound Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in Seattle.
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- Weber State forward Dillon Jones (2) drives against Washington’s Keion Brooks Jr. (1) during a season-opening men’s baskeball game Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in Seattle.
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- Weber State forward Louie Jordan (5) defends the drive of Washington’s Keion Brooks Jr. (1) during a season-opening men’s basketball game Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, in Seattle.
In a night where both teams dealt with foul trouble and muscle cramps in a hot, humid Alaska Airlines Arena, the University of Washington made enough shots to pull away from a scrappy Weber State squad for a 69-52 victory late Monday night in Seattle, marking the men’s basketball season opener for both squads.
Weber State led for 13 minutes in the first half before a cold spell against the Huskies’ zone defense gave Washington the scoring run it would need to get a foothold in its home gym.
“We addressed some defensive issues the last few days in practice that we had from our exhibition game,” said Eric Duft after his WSU head coaching debut. “We didn’t make shots and they had a lot to do with that. They’re an athletic, very talented team. But defense travels.
“We didn’t make shots, we played kind of poorly on the offensive end and were still in the game the whole way … We’ve got to continue that mindset and keep building on that because we’re going to score points.”
Kentucky transfer and forward Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 20 points and seven rebounds, and his lone 3-pointer helped the Huskies hold off Weber’s final push in the second half. PJ Fuller added 10 points. Weber State held Washington to six assists on 24 field goals.
Sophomore guard Keith Dinwiddie Jr. led Weber State with 14 points in his debut after transferring from San Diego State. His 11 early points set up Junior Ballard for a 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats their largest lead at 22-16 with nine minutes left in the first half. Dinwiddie shot 4 of 7 from the field.
Junior shooting guard Steven Verplancken Jr. scored 12 points and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for Weber State in his WSU debut after arriving from Southern Illinois. Third-year forward Dillon Jones struggled from the outside, shooting 0 of 6, but totaled eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Ballard’s 3 for the 22-16 lead was the last field goal Weber State would make over the next 10 minutes. Washington went on a 15-1 run to end the first half so, when freshman big man Daniel Rouzan scored on a baseline cut from Dillon Jones to open the second half to end the drought, Washington led 31-25.
The Huskies went to an extended zone with big men Braxton Meah (Fresno State transfer) and Frank Kepnang (Oregon transfer) anchoring the middle to help create the WSU scoring drought. Kepnang totaled three blocks and the Huskies had seven total.
The Wildcats loosened up the middle of the zone to open the second half, putting Jones at the high post and getting several baseline-cutting layups. A Jones driving bucket cut Washington’s lead to 41-38 with 13:05 left.
Soon after, both Dinwiddie and Ballard had to leave the game with cramping issues for a time and Washington began to retake control. Still, UW’s lead never got bigger than 11 points until after the under-four-minute media timeout. UW freshman guard Keyo Menifield tossed in a pair of late 3-pointers to widen the margin.
Weber State played without expected starting center Alex Tew, still out with an ankle sprain. Freshman Handje Tamba started in his stead, with Rouzan backing him up. Weber State was plus-four in the scoring margin when either Tamba or Rouzan was on the court at center, and got into trouble without them.
That especially showed up on the glass, where Washington and its size ended up with 10 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points.
It was the first playing time in Tamba’s college career; he graduated high school early and attended Tennessee last season, where he redshirted. He finished at a plus-four in the plus-minus ledger, scoring two points. Rouzan totaled six points and six rebounds in 17 minutes.
True freshman Louie Jordan was pressed into duties at center for his first college minutes due to foul trouble — not a natural position for the lengthy WSU shooter — and he was minus-20 in just nine minutes of action.
WSU finished 16 of 45 from the field, including 4 of 23 from deep. Washington shot 24 of 51 and was 4 of 17 from the 3-point line until Menifield’s two late makes.
Weber State next plays at home Thursday, hosting Western Colorado.