Weber State returns home, hot from downtown in rout of Idaho


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OGDEN — After nearly a month on the road, the Weber State Wildcats returned home Thursday night to the friendly confines of the Dee Events Center to face the Idaho Vandals. Weber had also not played a full basketball game since Dec. 31, as the game up at Idaho State on Jan. 7 was suspended due to a leaky roof in the arena.

The Wildcats showed little signs of rust, quickly shooting the Vandals out of the building, hitting 14 of 24 from the 3-point line and cruised to a dominating 91-66 victory, stretching their current winning streak to six. Weber State has been on a roll as of late after an uncharacteristic slow start to the season.

“We just get better,” said head coach Randy Rahe. “It takes us awhile to get everybody comfortable and understanding their roles. While you are fighting through that, you just don’t play very well. Now that they are comfortable, they are playing on their natural abilities and it really starts to click.”

The Wildcats shot a ridiculous 58 percent from the 3-point line, finding quality looks from distance behind solid screens and strong team play. The team moved the ball well, with multiple players touching the ball each possession. Weber seemed to make the right pass all night, finishing with 17 assists.

“We executed well,” said Weber forward Kyndahl Hill. “Getting our teammates open was the big thing. Setting great screens and things like that is what helped us get those threes.”

The Wildcats were equally effective on the defensive end, forcing 16 turnovers and scoring 25 points on those giveaways. Weber State did a masterful job in holding Idaho guard Victor Sanders to just 13 points. Sanders came into the night averaging 26 points per game.

“We knew he was a good player and he is going to take a lot of shots,” said Weber guard Jeremy Senglin. “Every shot he does take, we just make it tough. We tried to make him shoot a bad percentage. Our team defense did a great job of that.”

Weber State came out ready to play in the first half but was unable to pull away from Idaho early as each team traded buckets. Both teams shot above 50 percent from the field in the early minutes. The Vandals abused the Weber bigs in the paint and Weber looked a little rusty early on.

“I thought Idaho got off to a great start,” said Rahe. “I didn’t think we guarded really well early and I thought they came out and punched us in the face a little bit. Then from the 10-minute mark on in the first half, we started to guard a little better and got a few stops. Then offensively I thought we started moving the ball well and got everybody involved. We did much better in the second half.”

Senglin broke the standstill wide open in the early minutes of the first half, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Senglin hit three 3-pointers in the period, even with the defense draped all over him. Senglin spoke about his love for tightly defended shots in high-pressure moments.

“I like it,” said Senglin. “My teammates have great confidence in me. I wouldn’t be able to have the ball on my hands if they didn’t have that confidence in me.”

Senglin had a monster night and was the catalyst for the Weber State offensive surge. Senglin finished the night with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting including five 3-pointers. Senglin played with a non-stop motor and brought a speed and fire to the Wildcats.

“It’s a momentum deal,” said Rahe. “Our guys feel it and gain a lot of confidence when Jeremy hits those shots. When he makes a couple shots early everybody feeds off it. He just makes tough shots. For a lot of guys, those are not great shots. He is such a great shooter that they are good shots for him. Our guys feed off his confidence.”

The hot shooting was contagious as Weber opened the second half on a 12-2 run and never looked back. Along with Senglin, Weber had huge performances from Dusty Baker, who hit a perfect 3 for 3 from long distance, and Ryan Richardson who hit on 4 of 8 from the 3-point line.

Jerrick Harding was effective off the bench, scoring 11 points, shooting a perfect 4 of 4. Big man Kyndahl Hill put up 14 points and seven rebounds.

It will be a short turnaround for the Wildcats as they play again Saturday night at home against Eastern Washington. It will be a good test for the Wildcats. Eastern Washington sits at 11-6 on the season and is coming off a 92-85 win over Idaho State.

Weber moves to 8-6 on the season and 3-0 in conference play and now sit alone atop the Big Sky standings. Weber will go out for another extended road trip following the game on Saturday, playing the next three away from home.


Mark Douglas covers Weber State football and basketball for KSL.com. Contact him at markdouglasmail@gmail.com or on Twitter @marktweetsports.

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