THE MATCHUP
Weber State moved to 11-1 in Big Sky Conference play with an 80-75 win over Montana in Ogden, Utah on Thursday. That victory helped avenge WSU’s lone conference loss, a 74-72 defeat to UM in Missoula on January 1.
Montana State won 12 of 13 games entering Saturday but did not play Thursday because of Covid issues within the
THE RESULT
Montana State led for all but the first two minutes of the game on the way to a stunningly dominant 78-57 victory. MSU moved to 9-2 in league play with its 13th win in 14 games thanks to exceptional performances from its most veteran players.
Montana State took the lead three minutes into the game and never relinquished it. The Bobcats dominated the game in every facet, particularly on the glass, owning a 38-24 rebounding advantage. MSU shot 54.4 percent and held the hosts to 36.4 percent shooting.
Thursday, Weber’s Koby McEwen, a former Marquette and Utah State transfer, scored 32 points, including 10 at the free throw line. Saturday, he managed 11 points on 3-of-9 and missed all three of his tries from deep.
THE STANDOUTS
The Bobcats won for the second time in third-year head coach Danny Sprinkle’s tenure in Ogden thanks to 18 points and eight rebounds from diminutive super-senior point guard Xavier Bishop. The win also came thanks to 17 points and eight rebounds from junior center Jubrile Belo along with 17 points and six rebounds from senior combo guard Amin Adamu.
Raequan Battle, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who came to MSU as a transfer from Washington, continued his excellent play off the bench, scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting (3-of-6 from 3-point range) in 25 minutes of action.
Weber stud Dillon Jones, who had his 11th double-double of the season Thursday, finished with four points and 11 rebounds Saturday. Seikou Sisoho Jawara hit all three of his tries from deep and finished with 14 points but the Wildcats lost for just the sixth time in 24 outings this season, including their fourth loss in 12 home games.
QUOTABLE
“Big time effort. Super proud of the guys of how connected they were. That was our best 40 minutes this season. That’s a really good team and to hold them to 57 points was solid. They lit us up at our place. We had a mindset today that we wanted to seek the contact. We had to be aggressive for 40 minutes, even if we made mistakes, we had to be the ones doing it.”
Montana State third-year head coach Danny Sprinkle
“Montana State played great and we just didn’t have it tonight. The schedule caught up to us and we didn’t have the energy we needed. We’re going to put this one behind us, get some rest and move on.”
Weber State 17th-year head coach Randy Rahe
“Jubrile battled all game,” Sprinkle said. “They were running multiple guys at him. Xavier controlled the game and Amin in the first half got us off to a good start. If he doesn’t play that well to get us going, I don’t know where we would have been at, but he really put us at ease.”
SOCIAL
WHAT’S NEXT
After three games at home this week, Weber State hits the road, playing at Eastern Washington on Thursday and at Idaho on Saturday.
