Weber State basketball unearths itself from hole but can’t crest hill in loss to Idaho
MBB final: Idaho 75, Weber State 67
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- Weber State guard Jace Whiting (24) passes out of traffic against Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State center Declan Cutler rises for a dunk against Idaho’s Jackson Rasmussen (12) on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Jace Whiting (24) ties up Idaho’s Trevon Blassingame, left, on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr., right, dribbles as Idaho’s Biko Johnson takes a tumble on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris, center, drives into the paint against Idaho’s Seth Joba on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Jace Whiting (24) rises for a floater against Idaho’s Trevon Blassingame (1) and Brody Rowbury (0) on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Edwin Suarez Jr., center, has his shot blocked by Idaho’s Brody Rowbury, right. on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr., center, takes the ball to the rim against Idaho’s Biko Johnson (3) on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State players, from left, Nigel Burris, Trevor Hennig, Jace Whiting and Tijan Saine Jr. huddle during a game against Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr., right, attempts a shot over Idaho’s Seth Joba (21) on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris, center, battles for a rebound against Idaho’s Jackson Rasmussen, left, and Brody Rowbury on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — About all there was to Saturday night’s basketball game was the fact that Weber State men’s basketball began the contest 2 of 17 from the field while Idaho hit five 3s in the opening 11 minutes, started the game on a 10-0 run and took a 27-8 lead with 9:15 left in the first half.
The entire 35:45 of game time after WSU went down 10-0 showed the Wildcats have fight but Saturday, it was a Sisyphean effort all the same. Idaho held off Weber at several points and ultimately led wire to wire in a 75-67 victory to end the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak.
“I think we weren’t as ready with the physicality they came out with. We just weren’t ready. It’s unacceptable and it shouldn’t happen again,” WSU junior guard Viljami Vartiainen said. “The way we started the second half is the way we should start out the game. It’s on us; it’s on me and the older guys to hold each other accountable to not let that happen.”
Tijan Saine Jr. capped a great week of offense with 25 points, six assists and five steals while drawing 11 fouls and going 15 of 17 at the foul line, finding any which way to score on a night the Wildcats struggled to. The Weber State junior totaled 48 points, 11 assists and eight steals this week.
Vartiainen was the only other Wildcat in double figures, finishing with 12 points despite only playing 19 minutes due to foul trouble. He provided the only bright spot of the opening 11 minutes with a four-point play to stop Idaho’s 10-0 start but picked up his third foul just before Idaho guard Kolton Mitchell drained a 3 for the 27-8 advantage.
That hampered Weber’s ability to rally against the Vandals, who dealt with tons of foul trouble on their own (the game finished with 56 fouls and 65 free-throw attempts).
“I didn’t really recognize our team tonight … and, you know, we learned a valuable lesson tonight. The margins are small in conference, it’s going to be a battle each and every night, and you’ve got to be in the battle,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “I just never felt at any point tonight that we were as sharp mentally, and on edge, as we have been.
“I do think it’s a good learning experience. We are not good enough to just kind of go through the motions … and sometimes the only way to really learn the lesson is, coach can be on you … but sometimes it comes down to, you’ve got to go through it, maybe you fail, and you get up and get onto the next thing, your lessons are learned.”
Malek Gomma scored eight points and hauled in 12 rebounds. WSU won the offensive rebound battle 15-7 but that produced only a 16-13 advantage in second-chance points.
For Idaho, Biko Johnson racked up 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting while skilled freshman forward Jackson Rasmussen added 16 points. Mitchell scored 12 points and most seemed to come at crucial times for the Vandals (11-7, 3-2 Big Sky).
Without freshman guard Duce Paschal and sophomore center Declan Cutler, Weber State (10-9, 4-2) might’ve been buried with no way out. With their team still down 27-12, Paschal stole a post entry pass, grabbed an offensive rebound and forced an Idaho travel while Cutler scored twice in the paint and grabbed two offensive rebounds to finally help the Wildcats climb out of the hole.
“If Declan doesn’t play like that, we’re probably down 25. He was really good in that first half,” Duft said. “Duce had some great energy plays, got his hands on some balls … those guys kept us competitive, at least.
“But your best players have got to play good. … (They’ve) got to be responsible for their own energy, ultimately. And we’ll look at all of it, make sure we remind them on sleeping and eating, getting the rest they need. We’re in the grind right now, and it’s new for a lot of our guys. And that’s OK. We’re learning, we’re growing. I still love this team.”
Saine converted a steal into a layup and made four free throws in the final 3 minutes to cut Weber State’s deficit to a manageable 41-29 halftime tally.
Idaho wing Jack Payne, another of several plagued by foul trouble, hit what turned out to be an important 3 out of halftime. That’s because the Vandals would miss their next six 3-point attempts and the Wildcats got going, with Malek Gomma scoring twice in the paint and Vartiainen and Saine each swishing 3s for an 11-0 run to make it 44-40 with 16:35 left.
Idaho never led by more than eight the rest of the way but, like the Greek figure cursed to push a boulder up a hill, the Wildcats could never crest the top. Each time WSU got the margin back to four, the Vandals would score.
Weber would also see key attempts go wanting, like Edwin Suarez Jr. missing a rebound putback, or ArDarius Grayson being unable to find the net on a transition layup, or Paschal seeing an open corner 3 go halfway down before rattling out. The Wildcats also didn’t help themselves from the free-throw line; staying afloat in the first half by starting 12 of 12 at the stripe, WSU would make only 6 of its next 16 attempts.
Weber State’s one chance to send the rock down the other side of the mountain came with 7 minutes left. Vartiainen, sitting for long stretches because of his four fouls, re-entered and immediately hit a 3-pointer curling off a screen. Despite playing just 13 minutes to that point, Vartiainen shot in 4 of his first 5 overall and was 3 of 3 from behind the arc. He said staying invested and cheering his teammates from the bench, instead of sulking, kept him ready to knock down shots despite being cold.
Soon after, Saine put in his final 3-pointer and Idaho’s lead was down to 58-57 with 6:30 left.
But it fell apart there. Mitchell snatched the momentum away as Idaho got Weber rotating and the guard put in a 3 from the right wing. The Wildcats then got rung up on consecutive offensive fouls trying to free Vartiainen with screens, going against Suarez first and then Gomma — the former a better call than the latter.
Biko Johnson, meanwhile, put in daggers to make those offensive fouls hurt. Like he did many times in the first half, the well-traveled senior guard showed off his shotmaking with a probing turnaround jumper and then a baseline pull-up. Mitchell added a left-handed drive and just like that, Idaho was back up 67-59 with 3:08 left.
Weber State is 4-2 in league play but both losses came at home to the two best teams WSU has played. Now, the Wildcats hit the road to Montana (9-9, 3-2) and second-place Montana State (10-8, 4-1). The Bobcats beat the Griz at home Saturday night; each plays Monday on the road.
Elsewhere around the Big Sky, Portland State (11-5, 5-0) remained unbeaten by handling winless Northern Arizona (6-13, 0-6) in a low-scoring affair. Eastern Washington (4-14, 2-3) blasted Idaho State (10-9, 3-3) in the first half for a comfortable win. Sacramento State (6-11, 2-3) won its second straight game with apparent star Mikey Williams again not playing, topping Northern Colorado (11-8, 1-5) in overtime.
WBB: IDAHO 95, WSU 76
While Weber State women’s basketball finally got some offense going, the Wildcats faced a long night of Idaho scoring in a lopsided road loss Saturday, making WSU 6-13 overall and 0-6 in the Big Sky.
The Vandals (13-5, 4-1) shot a whopping 14 of 22 in the first quarter and, of those eight misses, totaled seven offensive rebounds in the frame for a 33-19 lead. Idaho never looked back and finished with 23 offensive rebounds.
Weber State got 11 points apiece from Fui Niumeitolu, Arizana Peaua and Hannah Robbins. Sydney White and Lanae Billy each had 10 points while Antoniette Emma-Nnopu pitched in nine points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes.
Idaho got 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists from Kyra Gardner. Ana Pinheiro scored 16 points, Hope Hassman 14 and Debora Dos Santos 12.
Weber State next hosts Montana (3-13, 0-5) on Thursday in a matchup of teams both looking for their first win in the Big Sky season, then first-place Montana State (12-4, 5-0) comes to town Saturday.
