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OGDEN — Midway through the first half, Weber State was already in the midst of a poor shooting performance.
As the Wildcats moved the ball around, Dillon Jones drove inside, then turned and kicked the ball out to Steven Verplancken Jr., who was wide open and set up in one of his favorite 3-point spots. He let it fly.
The ball went halfway down, spun around and out.
The miss encapsulated the already difficult night the Wildcats were having with their shot, and things didn't get much better as the game wore on. Eventually, the final buzzer sounded and Weber State's nightmare performance against Colorado State ended as the Wildcats fell 77-52.
For a team that's still working to find its offensive identity, the Wildcats suffered one of their worst shooting performances in recent memory. Weber State shot just 33.9% from the field and a miserable 21.4% from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Colorado State went 53.7% from the field and 50.0% from 3-point range.
The only thing the Rams struggled to do in the game was shoot free throws — they barely scraped over 50% shooting.
Things started out slow for the Wildcats and took a few minutes before dropping in their first basket of the night on a Keith Dinwiddie Jr. layup. A couple of 3s by the Rams, and the home team jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. The visitors clawed their way for every bucket and secured their first lead of the night with about 13 minutes to go in the first half.
It was a lead they would never hold again the rest of the night.
The Rams let things stay somewhat close in the opening half when they struggled with many of their open shots. While Weber State gets credit defensively for Colorado State's misses, the Wildcats didn't make things too hard for the Rams. Colorado State shot 46.4% in the first half, but it could have been a lot higher had they managed to hit more of the open shots created by Weber State's defensive lapses.
When the Rams moved the ball into the key to one of their big men, the Wildcats were quick to bring a double team in an effort to force a bad shot or even grab a turnover. While it worked a few times, it often led to a Colorado State 3-point shooter being left wide open as the visitors weren't always quick enough to rotate as the ball moved.
Colorado State had four different players shoot 50% or better from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the best 3-point shooter the Wildcats had was Jones who shot 2-of-4 in the game.
Jones was, once again, the star for the Wildcats and recorded his second double-double of the season, and second in back-to-back games. He tallied 20 points and 14 rebounds, and provided a spark at times for the struggling Weber State team. But one player isn't enough to win a game against a tough Mountain West opponent. The only other Wildcat in double figures was Verplancken Jr. with 11 points.
The good news for Weber State was that they shot better overall in the second half of the contest; the bad news was so did Colorado State. The visitors went into the locker room at halftime having only scored 15 points in the entire first 20 minutes of the game. The Rams led by 21 at the break and went on to win by 25.
As head coach Eric Duft's team travels back to Ogden they'll have a week to get ready before their next opponent. Weber State will participate in the Vegas 4 Tournament next week in Las Vegas.
Their first opponent will be Monday against UC Riverside, and they'll have games on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well. Though the first three games have each presented their own challenges, the Wildcats have a bit of time to try to get things right before some big games on a neutral site as they strive to find the win column again.
