Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

OGDEN — For the second straight year, Weber State men’s basketball scored a big win over Cal Poly.

Last season, the Wildcats won 74-45 in San Luis Obispo, and part of their mid-season turnaround (started out 3-7, closed the year 15-8) can be traced back to that specific game.

No one knows how significant Saturday’s 78-50 win over a much-different Cal Poly team at the Dee Events Center will be in the long term but, for the short-term outlook, it was a good response after Tuesday’s lackluster loss at Utah Valley.

“So we had a truthful film session on Wednesday, and guys saw it and they had a little team meeting afterwards,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “I just know Thursday and Friday, we were locked into practice, and I felt like we were ready to come out and play well tonight.”

Junior forward Dyson Koehler, who started his college career with Cal Poly before transferring to Weber State, scored a game- and career-high 17 points, which included two made 3-pointers in front of the Cal Poly bench, plus five steals.

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

“I’ve been struggling the last couple games, but all my coaches and teammates have had the confidence in me so I just came in here free of mind, just out there to play and have fun,” Koehler said.

After the team got home from Utah Valley on Tuesday night, Duft said Koehler started shooting baskets in the gym.

The next day, Duft took Koehler to Jamba Juice and the two had a good talk. Koehler had been playing well defensively but felt like he was pressing on the offensive end lately.

“I think he tried to relax a little bit more, I think he was really pressing, and he just tried to be a little more free and let it fly and see what happens,” Duft said.

Dillon Jones once again came close to breaking Weber State’s 23-year triple-double drought, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists Saturday.

Weber State (4-3) missed three separate shots in the waning moments that would’ve been his 10th assist, and Jones was visibly frustrated when he was substituted out of the game in the final seconds. Jones said he knew he was close to a triple-double as the game went on.

“We made a lot of shots tonight and I don’t know what my assists are like on the year, but, you know, the same passes I’ve been making all year, I just knew we were making a lot of shots,” Jones said.

Despite the 28-point margin, Cal Poly (3-6) actually outshot Weber State 43.9% to 42.6%; however, the two key stats were turnovers and free throws.

In the first half, Cal Poly shot 53.3% from the floor, but that reflected an 8-of-15 mark in terms of raw numbers because the Mustangs committed 14 turnovers to the Wildcats’ two.

That resulted in Weber State taking 20 more shots in the first half and, helped by shooting 7 for 15 from 3-point range, leading 42-22 at the break.

Cal Poly kept a lid on turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half, but Weber State was too far in front and played too well for the Mustangs’ brief uptick in effort to make a difference.

In the end, Weber State totaled seven turnovers and Cal Poly committed 22, resulting in a startling 37-2 advantage in points off turnovers for the Wildcats.

Duft highlighted WSU assistant coach Jorge Ruiz’s defensive gameplan, which revolved around good coverage on Cal Poly’s ball screens, as one reason the Mustangs struggled offensively.

“They were screening up top, we were switching it and able to be active on our stunts to help the big a little bit, but, you know, we’re a team that if you make contested twos against us, we’re gonna live with that,” Duft said. “We don’t want to give you layups and dunks and 3s.”

“We were just being solid, I think,” Jones said. “‘Solid’ wins in college basketball, and I think players, especially at this level, get frustrated when they can’t necessarily get to their spots and, you know, we’re just right there.”

After shooting 6 of 18 at the foul line at UVU, Weber State made its first 16 free throws against Cal Poly and finished 16 of 19 at the stripe. Koehler shot 8 of 8 at the line.

“We felt like we were shooting those free throws at UVU good, they felt good coming off, so it wasn’t really changing anything coming into this game, just kind of know we can make it, just keep shooting,” Koehler said.

Steven Verplancken Jr. was WSU’s third player in double-figure scoring with 15 points, going 5 for 9 on 3-pointers. Alex Tew and Blaise Threatt had eight points each.

NOTES

Cal Poly assistant coach Keith Berard spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach for Weber State, the season it went 30-7 and finished runner-up in the College Insider Tournament.

The paid attendance was 3,636 fans. One person in the building was Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen, who sat courtside to watch his Finland compatriots Viljami Vartiainen (Weber State) and Tuukka Jaakkola (Cal Poly).

Next up: a road trip to Nevada at 8 p.m. MST Wednesday, Dec. 13. The Wolf Pack (7-1) lost 72-53 against Drake on Saturday in its first defeat of the season.

“(Nevada is) playing elite-level basketball, they’re the best team we’re gonna play before conference,” Duft said.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WEBER STATE 77, UTAH TECH 67

Daryn Hickock led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 8 for 17 from the field and 5 for 9 from 3-point range, as Weber State women’s basketball notched by far its best shooting performance of the season Saturday afternoon for its second consecutive victory.

The Wildcats shot 30 for 62 (48.4%) from the field and 8 for 17 (47.1%) from 3-point range, simultaneously holding Utah Tech to 39.3% overall and 21.4% on 3s.

WSU (2-7) trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter, then led by as many as 20, then eventually cruised to a 10-point win.

Jadyn Matthews had 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting with five rebounds. The Wildcats outrebounded the Trailblazers 40-27 and finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (15 to 14) for the first time this season.

Utah Tech (5-4) is playing without Box Elder High alumnus Emily Isaacson, who tore her ACL in the Trailblazers’ second game of the season.

WSU hosts Westminster at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, for its next game.

Newsletter