Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — Cody John stood in solitary splendor at midcourt, arms raised, mouth agape, the crowd roaring all around him.
The junior guard had just knocked down his second consecutive three-pointer, giving his Wildcats a 38-31 lead and forcing a Northern Colorado timeout, and fans inside the Dee Events Center were swelling to a fever pitch because, after all, John gave them every reason to.
Jerrick Harding, Brekkott Chapman and a host of other teammates met and gathered around him at halfcourt, and inside the circle, smiles swept across each of their faces as they realized that this, a 9-0 run after trailing 31-29 at halftime, was the beginning of the end.
And indeed, the end it was. John kept attacking, ultimately crafting a 20-point, three-assist, two-steal performance that led the Wildcats to a 78-64 win over Northern Colorado Saturday night, their third in a row and one that gives Weber sole possession of first place in the Big Sky.
John had 14 points in the second half, including six in that key 9-0 run early in the session, when his team needed it most. Weber went on to outscore UNC 49-33 in the second half.
“We knew shots were gonna end up falling, so coaches just told us to keep shooting it,” John said of the sequence afterward.
He added: “They ended up falling.”
Coach Randy Rahe said he wasn’t sure if John, who had been banged up from recent games, would be able to play on Saturday, describing him as "all kinds of gimpy" heading into the weekend's game. But despite this, John, according to Rahe, made clear that he would find a way to play.
“I know Cody wasn’t near 100-percent tonight, but Cody is a tough kid and he loves to ball,” Rahe said. “And for him to come out and play like that, just tells you he’s got a lot of confidence right now. He’s tough, he loves to compete.”
In this game, the impact of Weber’s point-guard play went beyond John, though. Playing 36 and 31 minutes apiece, Harding (16 points, three assists, two blocks) and Caleb Nero (10 points, four assists, three steals) also produced efficient offense for the Wildcats, the pair setting the table for teammates and taking turns running the offense in key stretches. According to Rahe, their presence as outside shot-makers gave a historically below-average shooter like John (career 24.6-percent 3-point shooter) more room to operate, and his confidence has risen.
In Rahe’s words, the added spacing from playing multiple-guard lineups is working out exactly as he hoped.
“It helps Jerrick because the ball comes back to him, the attention gets away from him and now he becomes more efficient. … I tell the guys all the time, ‘We’ve got to be an elite ball-moving team. And if we are an elite ball-moving team, then everybody’s involved.”
Almost everybody was involved Saturday, as five Wildcats finished in double-figures, including Chapman—who totaled 11 points and five rebounds—and Michal Kozak (12 points, eight rebounds), who made key plays on both ends, hitting a pair of threes and blocking two shots in a productive 21 minutes.
“He’s a little bit of my security blanket,” Rahe said of Kozak. “I’m just always really comfortable when he’s in the game. … He might not be great at one thing, but he does a good job in a lot of things. And guys like that are invaluable.”
UNC’s Jordan Davis, the Big Sky’s leading scorer, had 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, while Bodie Hume had 14 and Jalen Sanders 10. For the game, the Bears shot 37-percent from the field, including 26-percent from three, becoming the fifth straight Weber opponent to shoot at or below 30-percent from deep.
“We’ve been playing with a little more aggression,” Rahe said. “Our whole thing is, ‘Be aggressive, play fast, be more disruptive.’ And I thought we were able to be more disruptive tonight.”
Follow Dillon on Twitter @dillondanderson.
