Rejuvenated Weber State basketball stifles Northern Arizona in home win
MBB final: Weber State 72, Northern Arizona 53
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- Weber State guard Viljami Vartiainen, center left, flies into Northern Arizona’s Karl Poom (9) during a drive in a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) maneuvers past Northern Arizona’s Kavon Bradford during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris, right, drives through a jersey tug by Northern Arizona’s Isaiah Shaw during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Duce Paschal (9) drives baseline against Northern Arizona’s Diego Campisano during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State center Declan Cutler (15) looks to score against Northern Arizona’s Karl Poom (9) during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State center Malek Gomma (7) rises to shoot during a Big Sky Conference game against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard ArDarius Grayson (12) shoots over Northern Arizona’s Brennan Peterson (7) during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State students cheer for the camera during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) drives against Northern Arizona’s Brennan Peterson during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward David Hansen readies a 3-point basket during a Big Sky Conference game against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Duce Paschal handles the basketball during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State men’s basketball head coach Eric Duft cheers on his team during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) battles Northern Arizona’s Brennan Peterson (7) on a drive during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Viljami Vartiainen passes the ball up court during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State students hold up W’s during a WSU free throw in a Big Sky Conference game against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris surveys the court during a Big Sky Conference game against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Duce Paschal, left, tries to keep his dribble against Northern Arizona’s Ryan Abelman (11) during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Down two key rotation players and coming out of a fog of illness while preparing for the team’s fourth game in eight days, Weber State men’s basketball spent the 45 hours between Thursday’s loss to Northern Colorado and tipoff for Saturday’s contest against Northern Arizona focused on rest and treatment.
The only official team activities Friday were a stretching session, film, and cryotherapy — not therapy where you cry about having lost five of the last six games, but exposure to extreme cold air and gas meant to reduce inflammation and speed up muscle recovery.
Saturday, the Wildcats only had a short shootaround and a walkthrough.
For a moment, returns were dicey. Northern Arizona started 4 of 5 from the field and made 4 of its first 6 3-point attempts. As a team giving up 11 3-pointers per game at a nearly 50% clip over the last five games, it looked like Weber State might be doomed again to a struggle defensively — especially against an NAU side that had figured things out with a new lineup and was No. 3 in offensive efficiency in Big Sky games.
But after going down 13-6 early, WSU found its legs and held NAU to 14-of-44 shooting (31.8%) overall and 3 of 17 (17.6%) from the 3-point line over the game’s final 35 minutes, and the Lumberjacks were held to fewer than 60 points for only the second time against non-power foes as Weber State buried the visitors 72-53 at the Dee Events Center.
WSU improved to 19-2 in the last 21 games against NAU and a 55-8 mark in Ogden, capping a stretch the team hopes to put behind it headed into the final third of league play at 6-6 and in fourth place.
“We just stayed to our principles, stayed solid,” WSU junior guard Tijan Saine Jr. said. “It’s a testament to our character. We’ve had a couple rough losses, rough days, practices were sluggish, four games in (eight) days. We figured out a way to get it done.”
Bench forward Karl Poom gave Northern Arizona (9-16, 3-9 Big Sky) a lift late in the first half, scoring six points in the final 4:20 which included following his own free-throw miss for an emphatic dunk. That tied the game 30-30.
Tijan Saine Jr. and David Hansen hit 3-pointers to put WSU up 38-32 at halftime, and that was only the start of the game-changing run that gave WSU the lead for good.
The second half began with WSU center Malek Gomma getting two of his six offensive rebounds, which led to a Viljami Vartiainen floater. Poom soon garnered a personal foul against Vartiainen and a technical foul on the same play; Saine and Vartiainen made all four free throws to cap a 16-2 run for a 46-32 lead with 17:15 left.
WSU head coach Eric Duft said his team made some “silly mistakes” defensively early but took care of it for most of the game.
“Overhelping off certain guys; some of those in the first half were mindboggling, to be honest with you. The guys were playing hard but you’ve got to stick to what we’re trying to do as well,” Duft said. “I just thought we dictated more on that end. We’re not as tall as other teams and experienced, but we’re athletic. Duce is an athlete, and (Grayson), those guys can move. I thought they dictated a lot more tonight.”
NAU got its deficit to single digits only once after that, coming when Ryan Abelman made two technical free throws (referees issued three technical fouls in the space of 6 minutes) to make it 46-37.
Saine and Nigel Burris took over from there; Burris scored nine points and Saine eight over the next 8 minutes to spur a 19-6 run, putting WSU ahead 65-43 with 6:11 remaining and all but ending the game.
Saine finished with 20 points and five assists to lead Weber State (12-13, 6-6). Burris had 13 points and four rebounds, and Vartiainen scored 10 points. Gomma pitched in eight points and nine rebounds, while WSU had eight players make at least two field goals, even absent Jace Whiting and Trevor Hennig.
Isaiah Shaw’s three 3-pointers gave him a team-high 10 points for NAU. Poom added eight points and five rebounds.
Weber outrebounded NAU 39-27 and, with Gomma, freshman guard Duce Paschal also had nine rebounds for the Wildcats.
“Duce was going through this deal, worrying about his shooting. After the other night, I said, ‘You’re worrying about the wrong things. … Get out there and be who you are,'” Duft said. “‘You’re one of the better defenders we’ve ever had here as a freshman.’ He had nine rebounds tonight, that’s a heck of an effort. That’s who he’s got to be; he’s got to fly around and not worry if the ball is going in or not.”
Now it’s time for a standard road trip as WSU goes to Idaho (13-11, 5-6) on Thursday and Eastern Washington (7-17, 5-6) on Saturday.
Portland State survived for a one-point win at Sacramento State, moving the Vikings to 10-1 in league play and handing the Hornets their first home loss in conference play. PSU is now three games ahead of second place in the loss column because a surging Eastern Washington swept its Montana road trip, leaving Montana and Montana State tied for second at 8-4.
In fourth, WSU is a half-game ahead of Idaho, EWU and Sac State. Its final six games are all against teams in the top two-thirds of the standings and four are on the road.
WBB: NAU 73, WSU 65
Weber State women’s basketball led 58-51 with 8:07 to go and didn’t score for another 7 1/2 minutes, getting on the wrong side of a 19-0 run to see a late lead slip away again in a road loss at Northern Arizona.
Hannah Robbins led Weber State (7-18, 1-11 Big Sky) with 16 points, three blocks and three steals. Antoniette Emma-Nnopu totaled 13 points and 13 rebounds. Lanae Billy scored 11 ponits but was 3 of 12 from the 3-point line; after a 45.6% clip that made her one of the best in the country last season, Billy is 33.6% from deep this year.
Big Sky scoring leader Naomi White, a freshman, took it to WSU again. The Northern Arizona guard scored 31 points to lead NAU (8-17, 4-8); her marks of 37 and 31 against Weber are her two career highs.
