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OGDEN — If one was to imagine a college basketball coach in Utah that had a reputation as a scrapper, Weber State’s Randy Rahe would fit the bill.
It’s no coincidence then that the famously competitive coach, who was honored before Weber State’s 84-72 win over North Dakota Thursday for his 100th Big Sky win, has a team just like him, that continually has to come back from disappointments.
Rahe’s Wildcats moved to 9-2 in the Big Sky with the win over North Dakota. Weber State led by as many as 15 points while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and making 24 of 27 free throws.
The win over North Dakota was the comeback. The downfall was an overtime loss at Sacramento State, a game which Weber lost on a 75-foot shot with less than one second to go in overtime. The loss ruined what had begun as a successful road trip and affected the Wildcats as they came into the North Dakota game.
I was proud of our guys bouncing back, especially after that tough one we had (against Sacramento State).
–Weber State head coach Randy Rahe
“I was proud of our guys bouncing back, especially after that tough one we had (against Sacramento State),” Rahe said. “You never know how a team’s going to respond after something like that. That one hit home pretty hard. That one did a little emotional damage to us for awhile.”
The Wildcats redeemed themselves in the win over North Dakota, and in the process, redeemed their much-maligned game in the post. Joel Bolomboy earned another double-double, scoring 20 points and gathering 10 rebounds, while Kyle Tresnak scored 16 points.
Tresnak said the improved post play is due to the level of play by Weber State’s guards.
“You really have to focus (on our guards), especially when they’re driving,” he said. “When I’d set a screen for them, my man would stay with them, and that would just open everything up for me and Joel. They were focusing on our guards.”
Early in the season, fans questioned whether Bolomboy would be able to do anything offensively besides dunk. However, after converting 6 of 10 shots and all eight free throws, the sophomore said his game is developing in several areas.
Overall Team Offense
- The Weber St. Wildcats are ranked 90 for offensive field goal percentage shooting 45.5% while attempting 49.5 shots per game. The Wildcats shooting percentages include 71.9% for free throw percentage and 36.5% for three point percentage so far this season.
- The Northern Colorado Bears are ranked 18 for offensive field goal percentage shooting 47.8% while attempting 54.2 shots per game. The Bears shooting percentages include 69.1% for free throw percentage and 37.7% for three point percentage so far this season.
Home and Away
- The Weber St. Wildcats are 10-1 at home this season, 9-2 against conference opponents, and 3-5 against non-conference opponents.
- At home the Wildcats are averaging 73.8 scoring, and holding teams to 63.4 points scored on defense.
- The Northern Colorado Bears are 2-7 while on the road this season, 7-4 against conference opponents, and 6-3 against non-conference opponents.
- On the road, the Bears are averaging 67.0 scoring, and holding teams to 73.2 points scored on defense.
“The improvement I’ve made is just playing harder, longer,” he said. “Just being able to play harder over a longer period of time, I think that’s helped out a lot. I’ve gotten in better conditioning, so that’s helped, too.”
Several offensive categories played in the Wildcats’ favor, but one that proved to be especially important was Weber outscoring North Dakota 22-8 in points off turnovers.
Rahe said he felt the Wildcats responded well.
“Even though we didn’t have the energy and enthusiasm we normally have, the guys still made plays,” he noted. “We picked it up in spots where we needed to, and we made enough plays to obviously win the game. I’m really proud of them for hanging in there mentally.”
Now, the Wildcats welcome Northern Colorado Saturday, a team that throttled the Wildcats, 70-51, Jan. 9. However, this game is of particular importance as the Wildcats have a chance to open up a two-game Big Sky lead over the Bears, who lost at Idaho State Thursday.
Rahe stated he expects Weber will get the best out of Northern Colorado.
“We’ve got probably the most-talented, most-veteran team in the league coming in here that whooped us,” he said. “We’re going to have to play our tails off to compete with them, and that’s the way I look at it. Anything deeper than that, you’re wasting energy and I don’t have a lot of energy right now to waste.”
