OGDEN, Utah, Feb. 9 - Jackson Stevenett Scored 24
points and Damon Heuir added 18 but Southern Utah had its worst shooting night
of the year Saturday night as Weber State topped SUU 75-58 to put an end to SUU's
five-game winning streak, the team's longest in 11 years.
Although SUU lost the Thunderbirds remain in third place in
the BSC as both Montana State and North Dakota, the two teams immediately
behind the T-Birds in the standings, lost as well. SUU dipped to 8-6 in
conference play and 10-13 overall while WSU improved to 11-2, 16-5 overall.
SUU hit just 16-of-55 shots - 6-of-24 in the second half -
or 29.1 percent. The team's lowest percentage prior to Saturday night was .321
at home vs. Idaho State on Jan. 12.
"Give Weber State credit, they did a good job taking us out
of our sets, making us put it on the floor tonight," SUU Coach Nick Robinson
said after the game. "Offensively they shot 60 percent from the field and 55
percent from 3-point range I guess the only place we did a good job defensively
was on the free throw line [where WSU hit 14-of-23 attempts]."
After taking an eight point lead into halftime Weber put the
game out of range with a 12-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 58-38 advantage. SUU
finally got back on the scoreboard when Cal Hanks hit one of two free throws to
make it a 58-39 game with 8:44 to play. SUU could get no closer than 17 the
rest of the way, however.
Weber State used a 9-0 run to take a 10-point lead in the
first half. Davion Berry hit a 3-pointer at the 12:21 mark to cap the run that
turned a 12-11 edge into a 21-11 advantage. The Thunderbirds pulled back within
21-16 on a Jordan Johnson layup, then after the teams exchanged baskets SUU had
several opportunities to pull within three but Stevenett was called for an
offensive foul, Johnson missed a jumper and Heuir had his pocket picked by
Berry, who went on to score and end the SUU run.
Weber went on to build the lead to 39-26 lead but the
Thunderbirds got the last five points of the half on a Tyson Koehler layup and
three Stevenett free throws to make it a 39-31 game at the break.
SUU hit just 10-of-31 shots in the first half (.323) while
the Wildcats hit 14-of-23 (.609), including 7-of-10 from 3-point range.
Berry led Weber State with 21 points, while Scott Bamforth
and Jordan Richardson each had 15 to lead Weber State.
Weber State also out-rebounded the Thunderbirds, 39-33,
marking just the sixth time this season SUU has lost the battle of the boards.
NOTES: Jayson Cheesman blocked five shots, tying the
sixth-highest single-game total in SUU history (which he already tied once this
season) and giving him 53 for the season, tying him with Sean Allen (1993-94)
for third-place on SUU's single-season blocks list. Stevenett moved into eighth
place on SUU's career scoring list with 1,118 points, passing Gary Crosby, who
had 1,101 points from 1973 to 1975 and he tied Marc Silson (1977-79) in 11th
place on SUU's career rebounding list with 452. SUU had 10 turnovers to 15 for
WSU; it was just the second time the T-Birds had lost this season when turning
it over less than the opponent.
