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Weber State center Malek Gomma (7) readies to shoot a free throw against UC Irvine on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Irvine, Calif.

Photo supplied, UC Irvine Athletics

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Weber State guard Trevor Hennig, right, challenges UC Irvine defenders on a drive on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Irvine, Calif.

Photo supplied, UC Irvine Athletics

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Weber State guard Trevor Hennig, right, launches a 3-pointer over UC Irvine's Tama Isaac on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Irvine, Calif.

Photo supplied, UC Irvine Athletics

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As disjointed as Weber State men’s basketball looked to start a road contest Saturday night at UC Irvine, the Wildcats bounced back early and had the Anteaters on their heels through 12 minutes.

But one 4-minute stretch doomed the Wildcats to play from behind by double digits for most of the night and UC Irvine outplayed Weber State to a 79-70 home victory at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.

WSU is now 0-3 to start its slate of Division I opponents, with road losses to Utah, Utah State and UC Irvine. Early returns show that, outside of a road game at Utah Valley and when WSU plays Montana, those three opponents are likely the toughest of the season.

“Tough three-game stretch against very good basketball teams. Tip your cap to UC Irvine. Great program, picked to win the Big West,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said in a supplied text statement. “Proud of the way our guys competed tonight. Shots didn’t fall tonight but we showed toughness. We just need to keep focusing on getting better each and every day. Very excited about what this team can become.”

After the three road games, WSU returns for four straight home contests, starting with the Junction City Jam that brings Campbell and UT-Arlington to the Dee Events Center for a three-team event from Nov. 19-22.

The start of the game portended things to come. Edwin Suarez Jr. took and missed WSU’s first five shots, with two blocked inside from Irvine big men. Weber got down 11-2 in the first 4 1/2 minutes.

The Wildcats rallied with an interesting sequence. Trevor Hennig, ArDarius Grayson and Suarez each drew and-one opportunities and made their free throws to spark a rally. Nigel Burris soon made a 3-pointer from behind the arc, and Weber led 16-15 at the 12:15 mark of the first half.

A tough whistle against WSU guard Tijan Saine Jr. started what became the game-deciding rally, especially amid a start where UC Irvine attempted 14 free throws, making 10, in the first 12 minutes of the game. (WSU had just the three, on the three hoop-and-harm plays.)

Saine drove for a tough scoop basket through contact to make it a 21-20 Irvine lead. Replay shows he yelled “and one!” toward the floor as he pushed himself up. The baseline referee whistled him for a technical foul.

Jurian Dixon made one of the freebies and he’d soon have more to say.

The game had few 3-pointers; UCI was 3 of 13 and WSU finished 3 of 17. (Weber’s Division I opponents are shooting just 22.1% from 3 so far this season.)

But Dixon made Irvine’s first triple out of the next timeout. That preceded a string of four straight runout possessions: one off Hennig being blocked that started Tama Isaac into transition, then three consecutive WSU live-ball turnovers that got Dixon a dunk, then a layup, and finished with Derin Saran getting a three-point drive on a foul after a steal.

Suddenly, UC Irvine led 34-22 on a 13-2 run.

Irvine’s three big men — Kyle Evans, Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Elijah Chol — combined to block seven shots on the night. Weber State’s lack of size (the 43rd shortest team in the country) hadn’t seemed to matter in battles at Utah and Utah State, but it was noticeable Saturday.

WSU cut it to 34-30 before Irvine took a 41-32 lead into halftime.

The teams played to a 38-38 knot in the second half. The Anteaters pushed their lead to as high as 17, as late as 60-43 with 10:41 left, before the Wildcats tried to claw back.

Viljami Vartiainen hit WSU’s first 3 in more than 20 minutes of game time, and four Suarez points cut it to 62-50. That came during a stretch where Weber held Irvine without points for more than 3 minutes, forcing one turnover and seeing UCI go 0 of 4 at the foul line. But that was WSU’s last real chance to make a run; turnovers and Vartiainen unable to find the net on a pair of open 3s left the opportunity missed.

When Jace Whiting absorbed a flagrant foul, he and Malek Gomma combined to make three free throws on the possession to cut it to 70-62 with 1:54 left. That started a run where WSU scored 11 points in the final two minutes but could no longer get stops and traded scoring trips to the buzzer.

Dixon, a sophomore, is now scoring at a 19.5 per-game clip, tying his career high with 23 points to lead UC Irvine (3-1) in the win. Saran added 15 points; those two were 14 of 15 at the foul line. Isaac had 14 points and nine rebounds.

For WSU (1-3), Suarez led the scoring effort with 13 points, adding six rebounds, before fouling out in 17 minutes. Hennig added 11 points and six rebounds; those two combined to shoot 8 of 29 from the field. Vartiainen scored 10 points and Burris nine. Gomma totaled eight rebounds. Weber continued its newfound identity on the boards, outrebounding Irvine on the offensive glass 16-11.

WSU outscored Irvine in transition 20-16 and in second-chance points 12-10, but the Anteaters made that up with a plus-nine margin at the free throw line. UCI shot 26 of 38 at the stripe; WSU was 17 of 24.