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Weber State basketball up early, loses touch in 88-58 loss at Nevada

By BRETT HEIN - Standard-Examiner | Nov 13, 2024

Weber State men’s basketball led for the first 12 minutes Wednesday night at Nevada.

But foul trouble, long stretches without field goals and an injury to a starter were factors for Weber State, who fell 88-58 in Reno when Nevada heated up in the second half.

Opening the slugfest, WSU led 18-14 when Miguel Tomley hit his second 3-pointer and 20-17 on a Blaise Threatt drive with 9:20 left in the first half.

WSU weathered an 8-0 run and a Threatt jumper had WSU down 33-28 late in the first half.

But Nevada (3-0) started what became a 20-2 run with a 7-0 burst before halftime, leading 40-28 at the break and 53-30 when the rally ended. The Wolf Pack made five 3-pointers in a five-minute span across halftime, including three from Fresno State fifth-year transfer Xavier DuSell, to key the run.

Tomley, meanwhile, did not play in the second half due to an apparent injury; the injury and its extent were unclear Wednesday night and WSU head coach Eric Duft did not give a postgame radio interview.

Weber State (1-2) only made one more 3-pointer after Tomley’s makes. That came when Viljami Vartiainen connected with 6:56 left in the game, a triple that ended a nine-minute field goal drought and cut a large deficit to 72-45.

WSU finished 3 of 20 from distance for the game and shot 5 of 24 overall in the second half. Nevada shot 16 of 27 in the second half.

Nigel Burris fouled out for Weber State and four other Wildcats had four fouls. One of those was Dyson Koehler, who was plus-six in the first half while guarding talented 6-foot-8 guard Kobe Sanders. Referees called 47 fouls and the teams combined for 62 free-throw attempts.

Threatt led WSU with 13 points, shooting 7 of 8 from the foul line while grabbing five rebounds and dishing four assists. Senior center Vasilije Vucinic was a bright spot, totaling 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Tomley scored eight points in 15 minutes. Vartiainen finished with seven points, as did Koehler. Koehler’s points all came from the free-throw line; he grabbed four rebounds in 23 minutes and WSU outrebounded Nevada 37-31 thanks to 16 offensive boards.

Despite shooting 0 of 7 from the field, Koehler finished plus-one in the plus-minus ledger.

DuSell led Nevada with 17 points, shooting 5 of 7 from distance. Oklahoma State transfer Justin McBride scored a career-high 16 points and Nick Davidson was 3 of 3 from the 3-point line for 14 points. Sanders had a quiet but efficient 11 points with six assists, and Tre Coleman added six assists.

Weber State remains on the road, busing to California for a flight to Hawaii. The Wildcats take on the Warriors at 8 p.m. MST Sunday.