An in-state rivalry was renewed in Ogden, Utah, tonight when Southern Utah paid a visit to the Dee Events Center for the 35th meeting of the two teams on the hardwood.
A quick 8-0 start by Weber gave the Wildcats a running start to a 77-50 victory and allowed them to avenge the SUU sweep of Weber last year.
Weber's Braxton sat down early with two rebounds and two fouls but it really didn't seem to hurt the Wildcasts as Juwan Williams came off the bench and poured in 13 points for the home team.
Two early offensive fouls on Race Parsons and Paris Davis led to turnovers and points at the other end in the first 8 minutes to help the Wildcats build a quick lead. Weber got out on the run from turnovers and rebounds to score fast break points in the first half.
Coach Robinson said, “We came out and executed the game plan really, really well in the first half.”
Travon Langston kept attacking the basketball for the T-birds in the first period but could only manage to make 3-10 from the field and Weber's Joel Bolomboy cleaned up the boards in the first half with 13 rebounds.
The T-birds had nine players try to make shots in the first half but could only manage 25.9% of them. And, the Wildcats earned a 10 rebound advantage, 37-27.
It was a very difficult first half for the T-Birds who managed just 16 points without a single point coming from the free throw stripe or behind the three-point line.
Coach Robinson said, “We were in attack mode in the first half, and I was really pleased with our effort for 40 minutes tonight.”
Southern Utah started the second half first with four unanswered points but then Weber knocked down five to extend the lead to 30 points. Thunderbirds shot a bit better in the second period but couldn't cut the lead under 21.
The Thunderbirds took great care of the basketball during the game, committing only nine turnovers.
“We improved tremendously in that area (turnovers) from the last game (SUU had 15 TO's at ISU on Thursday),” Robinson said.
Casey Oliverson was the lone T-Bird to score in double figures Saturday night and he did so making 5-11 shots from the field.
Coach Robinson was pleased with the defensive effort against Weber State as it related to the home team's shooting, “Tonight we did a much better job only allowing weber to shoot 46% from the field.”
Weber State improves to 15-6 and 7-1 in BSC play while the T-Birds fall to 4-15 and 2-7 in league play. SUU now returns home to face Idaho on Thursday and Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Robinson stated, “When we return home to start our home stand we've got to do a better job of finishing in the paint and a better job of getting our shooters open.”
