Weber State Falls to St. Mary's 87-70

Photo courtesy of Weber State

Going into the game, we knew that Weber State's chances of securing an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament were pretty slim. After Monday night's loss to St. Mary's, it seems those chances are probably getting closer to non-existent.

It was not a "bad" loss, but Weber State doesn't have a ton of chances to impress the voters and committee in the non-conference slate, so this was a big one. In the first half, it looked like it was going to be a good night, as the Wildcats jumped out to a lead as big as 10 points, and entered the break ahead 32-31.

However, midway through the second half, the wheels came off. Weber State took a 52-50 lead with 12:37 to play, but St. Mary's then went on a 28-8 run, sealing up the victory. The Gaels scored 56 points in the second half, and alarmingly struggles in the second half are becoming a trend for the Wildcats.

“We played hard and executed well early on but the last 10 minutes we had some breakdowns,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “We fought extremely hard but we need to improve in some areas. We let them shoot 69 percent in the second half and outrebound us. Damian was fantastic tonight but we need to have more contributions and balance from the rest of the team.”

Damian Lillard was indeed phenomenal, and led all scorers with 36 points. At one point in the second half, he scored 21 straight points for the Wildcats, showcasing his talent and the fact that not a lot of others were stepping up. He finished with 11/18 FG, 2/5 from 3PT, and 12/15 from the FT line. He was the best player on the floor.

Kyle Tresnak was a key going into the game, and he did step up, finishing with 17 points on the game. He was a force in the first half when Weber State went on a run to take the lead, and the only blemish of the day was at the foul line (3/10). Beyond those two guys, Weber State simply did not get production.

Kyle Bullinger was battling an injury, and finished scoreless in 32 minutes. Scott Bamforth was hounded all game long, and had 5 points on just 3 shot attempts. Frank Otis contributed 8 points in 24 minutes. Nobody else scored more than 4. To go on the road and beat a team like St. Mary's, who will be a player in the WCC, you need balance and a lot of guys to step up, but unfortunately they didn't have that in this one.

Weber State will be off until Saturday, when San Jose State comes to town. The loss drops Weber State to 4-1.

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Weber State to Take on St. Mary's

It wasn't the most pretty game for Weber State, but they beat Jacksonville State 69-61 in the first round of the St. Mary's Classic, setting up a championship game tilt with St. Mary's.

As is alarmingly becoming a bit of a trend, the Wildcats jumped out to a big lead, leading by 20 at the break, but let the Gamecocks hang around. The star was Damian Lillard, who had 23 points, shot the ball well, and pulled down 8 rebounds. He was the most consistent outside threat for the Weber.

Weber State still needs to feed the ball inside a bit more. Kyle Tresnak was solid with 10 points and Byron Fulton had a nice game with 8, but they need to keep feeding these guys. If they can get better balance that will serve them very well.

They now take on St. Mary's tonight at 8:30pm mountain time, and the stakes are simple: If they win, the small ripple of Weber State's at-large chances get a little bigger. If they lose, that talk ends. They are certainly good enough for this win, and needless to say it would be a really big one if they can get it.

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An Early Look at Eastern Washington's Schedule

After checking out Weber State's schedule, it's time to look at Eastern Washington's (since they are one of the few that has released their schedule)!

Weber State's had a nice balance of home games and away games, but Eastern Washington is not quite so fortunate. Such are the breaks for mid-major teams sometimes.

Their home slate in the non-conference features South Dakota, UC Davis, Linfield, and Pacific Lutheran. Suffice to say it would be extremely disappointing if they lost any of those games. On the road, however, they were not afraid to challenge themselves.

They will start the year by traveling to Gonzaga on November 11, a team that is the favorite in the West Coast Conference. It will be a tough matchup for EWU inside, but should be an entertaining game against an in-state rival. A week later they will travel to face Oregon, who will be brimming with confidence in year 2 of Dana Altman's tenure, after winning the CIT in his first season.

Their next major conference opponent is Dec 3 against Washington St, another emotional game featuring an in-state rival. While the Cougars lost Klay Thompson, they return guys like DeAngelo Casto, Reggie Moore, and the underrated Brock Motum. On December 14th they will travel to UCLA. The Bruins lost a couple guys early to the NBA Draft, but they will be a fringe top 25 team with Josh Smith and Reeves Nelson still in the mix. Finally, they will travel to take on St. Mary's, fresh off a 25 win season and likely to be playing with a chip on their shoulders.

That is 5 tough road games for Eastern Washington in the non-conference... if they could win 2 of them, they would have to feel very good about themselves. Jim Hayford is not afraid to test his team early on in the season.