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SAN DIEGO — Going into Friday’s second-round game, Arizona coach Sean Miller knew the danger that lay ahead in Weber State.
He knew Weber had a dedicated offensive system; he knew Weber had several all-conference performers; he knew Weber coach Randy Rahe is a well-respected coach. And, when Weber State took a 7-0 lead to open the game, no one was more surprised than Miller. Still, Arizona’s talent allowed it to survive and advance past Weber State, with Arizona beating Weber 68-59 to advance to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
Still, in retrospect, Miller spoke volumes about how Weber State played in the setting.
“Weber is one of the best teams we’ve played all season,” said Miller, who is 5-1 in his first game of the NCAA tournament as a coach. “We played some of the great teams in college basketball, and I don’t care what the name of their conference is … they have a center (Kyle Tresnak) who can score in the low post as well as any player that we have scouted. Their power forward (Joel Bolomboy) I believe will play in the NBA; unbelievable rebounder.”
Weber opened the game on a 10-2 run, keyed by Davion Berry and Bolomboy. Yet Arizona came back, utilizing a strong combination of forward Aaron Gordon and guard Nick Johnson. Gordon and Johnson combined for 34 points for Arizona.
Gordon said he was pleased with his performance against a strong Weber post presence.
“It’s a big-time tournament,” he said. “It’s something you have to rise to the occasion to, and I felt like I did pretty well for my first time. It was fun.”
Arizona led 32-20 at halftime, and led as much as 50-29 with 11:35 left in the game, until Weber State went on a quick run keyed by Richaud Gittens and Berry.
Gittens, who is only a freshman, finished the game with 12 points, and Rahe noted he gave Weber a much needed lift when the mountain Wildcats needed it most.
#WSU
“He came in, and we asked him to be a little more aggressive in the second half,” said Rahe, who is now 0-2 in the NCAA tournament. “(Gittens) has the type of athleticism that can play with high-level athletes and we knew he had a chance to make an impact because of that. He got aggressive, and when he’s like that he’s a pretty good player.
“We had a hard time getting easy baskets, and he got those easy baskets that built our confidence up and everybody else kind of felt like maybe we could do this, but I thought his lift was huge.”
Weber cut the score to 63-54 with 2:34 remaining, and momentum squarely on Weber’s side. Then Johnson drove the length of the floor before being fouled by Berry on a block call that drew loud cries from the Weber fan base.
Berry said the call exemplified the type of competitors both he and Johnson are.
“It was a good play; I felt I beat him to the spot,” said Berry, who finished with 24 points on 5-of-20 shooting. “Didn’t get the call, but Nick is a great guy. Like I say, he’s a friend after this game, but (there) was great respect between both of us and it was a fun game to play in.
From there, Arizona was able to close out the game, with the time running out on Weber State’s chances of becoming the first 16-seed ever to upset a top-seed.
Rahe said his team expected and prepared to win the game.
“It hurts,” he said, “because believe it or not … we came in expecting to win, trying to win. … They got up on us by 20. I thought we could have pulled in the tents and our guys got a little more tough and showed resilience like they have all year.”
Weber State gained significant respect though because of the play of Bolomboy. Miller said Bolomboy is a special player.
“I feel like he’s an NBA player,” said Miller, who has coached NBA players like Derrick Williams. “We have not faced a player who is a better offensive rebounder than him. … Someone said moving forward it’s only going to get tougher in the post. I don’t believe that. I think Weber State’s two post players are about as good as you can get when you consider how big they are.”
For his part, Bolomboy said he enjoyed playing against a post player like Gordon.
“They’re good players, and rebounds didn’t come easy,” said Bolomboy, who finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds. “We battled really good but ended up short in the end.”
Still, with Bolomboy, Gittens and point guard Jeremy Senglin returning next year, Rahe said Weber State is in a prime position to continue on an upward trend.
“I’m excited about our young kids,” he said. “If you look out there tonight, we played quite a few minutes with three freshmen and a sophomore. They’re going to be really great and good leaders in our program because they’re all made of the right stuff, not just as players but the character, the toughness, the unselfishness they have, they’re going to be obviously the foundation of our program.”
