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OGDEN — In terms of game flow, Thursday’s game was characteristic of the rest of Weber State’s season.
It began with a slow start, was followed by a comeback, and along the way, was colored with the drama fans have come to expect from the host Wildcats.
The only thing missing was a victory.
After winning nine-straight games, Weber State fell 75-70 to Eastern Washington with a chance to move into a tie for first place in the conference at stake, and with program legend and current Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard in attendance.
“We were mentally off,” Weber State head coach Randy Rahe said after the game. “I didn’t think we had the mental focus and the energy and the aggressiveness that we’ve been showing for a long, long time. We just did not have it tonight for whatever reason.”
Weber State found itself on the wrong side of an eight-point deficit, 11-3, after Eastern Washington’s Bogdan Bliznyuk scored all eight of his first-half points in the opening 5:09 of the game. The Eagles’ lead swelled to as large as 13 after Jack Perry’s left-corner 3-pointer put Eastern Washington ahead 19-6 with 11:52 remaining in the opening frame.
From there, a lackluster first half for Weber State turned in the right direction as the Wildcats outscored the visiting Eagles 25-13 behind a combined 18 points and five 3-pointers from Jerrick Harding (17 points, five rebounds) and Brekkott Chapman (15 points, 4-8 for 3-point shooting). WSU led — briefly — before giving up a layup at the first-half buzzer to fall behind 32-31 at halftime.
“I didn’t think we played good offense all night,” Rahe said. “This one came down to (Weber State) just did not have the mental edge that we’ve had for a long, long time.”
Weber State opened the second half on a 15-6 run before nine straight points from Bliznyuk gave the Eagles a 47-46 lead with 10:31 remaining.
Shortly thereafter, another Bliznyuk layup gave the Eagles a 51-49 advantage, a lead they would never relinquish, with 9:02 remaining.
A big second half for the Ukranian guard (17 points, 8-12 shooting) underscored Eastern Washington’s 40-14 points-in-the-paint advantage — an edge that put Weber State’s turnstile-esque defense on display.
“We did a good job on him in the first half. In the second half, we had some foul trouble and we couldn’t be as aggressive on him,” Rahe said of his team’s defense on Bliznyuk. “He basicially bullied us and got the shots that he wanted.”
Repeatedly, the Eagles drove and collapsed the Wildcats' interior defense before passing around the incoming help to find open shots near the hoop.
“They were able to get off the ball-screens, and guards didn’t push up as well as we should have,” said Ryan Richardson, who went 4-8 from three to finish with 14 points. “The bigs can only do so much. If they stop over, that’s why they get offensive rebounds. The guards just had to do a better job defensively.”
Things only worsened for Weber State’s guardline when Chapman, Weber’s best perimeter and on-ball defender, fouled out with 2:13 remaining and his team trailing 67-64.
With the Wildcats needing a turnover down the stretch, the combination of Harding, Ricky Nelson, Richardson, Dusty Baker and Zach Braxton (13 points, seven rebounds) was unable to generate an extra possession, and as a consequence, saw the Eagles shoot a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
“You can adjust all you want, which we did, but if this isn’t right, then it doesn’t matter — X's and O's don’t matter,” Rahe said. “They played with more energy, more aggressive and they deserved to beat us tonight.”
Despite the surprising loss, a somber Weber State team remained upbeat about its second-place conference standing heading into Saturday’s contest against incoming Idaho.
“We really take it one game at a time,” Braxton said. “All the time, we’re just focused on the next one. … We’re focused on having a good practice tomorrow so that when Saturday comes around, we’re ready to go, unlike tonight.”
Referencing the quick turnaround, Rahe added, “It’s probably not a bad thing to go play right away.” Dillon Anderson is studying literary journalism as a student at the University of Utah. You can follow him on Twitter @DillonDanderson.
