Weber State basketball: Threatt vs. McLaughlin classic gets Wildcats in win column
-
- Weber State guard Blaise Threatt (0) scores past Northern Arizona’s Ali Ragab (22) on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
-
- Weber State guard Trevor Hennig preps to shoot a 3-pointer against Northern Arizona on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
-
- Weber State’s Dyson Koehler operates the offense against Northern Arizona on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
-
- Weber State’s Dyson Koehler (4) leans back to shoot against Northern Arizona on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Monday night turned into one of those nights where if you were in the Dee Events Center, you were glad to be there.
A crowd of 2,537 witnessed an all-time Big Sky duel between seniors Blaise Threatt of Weber State and Trent McLaughlin of Northern Arizona.
Their back-and-forth resulted in a career-high for both players, but it was a Viljami Vartiainen 3-pointer and two Trevor Hennig free throws that iced a 77-73 win to finally get the Wildcats a home victory and cap a week of what Hennig simply called “adversity.”
Threatt finished with 34 points and 10 rebounds on 12-of-18 shooting, dictating the game any time the ball was in his hands. McLaughlin cashed in 35 points that included a 7-of-14 clip from the 3-point line.
“We looked better tonight than I think we’ve looked at home this whole year so it was fun to see,” Threatt said. “(McLaughlin) is a fantastic player, we know that. … so I was extremely locked in all day.”
“It feels great,” Hennig added. “The biggest thing for us is just trusting the process, not trusting the result.”
WSU head coach Eric Duft said the Wildcats have had to “reinvent ourselves” three times this season due to illness and personnel, and that his team has bought into each change. That included a long film session and practice on Sunday to prep for the team’s third game in five days.
“Great leadership from our veteran guys,” Duft said. “I think yesterday, Dyson (Koehler) talked more in practice than he has in four years combined … and our guys fed off that.”
Weber State (9-15, 3-7 Big Sky) scored 32 points in the first 12 minutes and led 35-15 in the first half with a clear plan: run, run, run. And, after a Saturday output that at one point netted a 5-of-32 mark on two-pointers, the Wildcats came out Monday and made 9 of their first 11 shots and 12 of their first 16.
With Weber up 42-30 at halftime (nearly reaching Saturday’s full-game mark of 49 points), McLaughlin and timely 3s from Diego Campisano chipped WSU’s lead down to five twice before Threatt helped push it back to 10.
But finally, Northern Arizona (13-10, 4-6) closed the gap for good. Threatt drove for a bucket and broke his college career-high for 31 points, eclipsing his Colorado Mesa career mark of 30 and his WSU high of 27.
The next play, McLaughlin pulled up for a crisp 3-pointer, which cut the score to 69-65 with 4:10 left.
Weber State went empty on a pair of possessions and, on Carson Towt’s 16th rebound with a tip-out for NAU, McLaughlin canned another 3 to put NAU up 70-69 with 1 minute left — the Lumberjacks’ first lead since 9-8.
Threatt converted a clutch and-one drive to restore WSU to a 72-70 lead only to have McLaughlin strike again. He rose up a for a deep, stone-cold dagger to get NAU ahead again at 73-72 with 35 seconds left — and push his career-high to 35, eclipsing his previous of 31.
Weber had an answer. Northern Arizona trapped Threatt out top and left Vartiainen open for a right-wing triple. The sophomore buried it, the Dee erupted and WSU led 75-73 with 25 seconds remaining.
“It feels good to have a win at home and see the fans as excited as we were,” Threatt said. “We just appreciate everybody for coming out, win or loss, every night they come out and support us. It feels good to finally give them something to cheer about. Hopefully we can continue … we have to have that same energy and effort we had tonight.”
Out of a timeout, Threatt stuck to McLaughlin and made it impossible for the nation’s fifth-leading scorer (entering Monday) to get a look. Campisano had to make a play, drove and WSU’s Koehler gave a strong contest on a paint fadeaway that Campisano left short.
Hennig secured the rebound with 2.1 left and calmly swished two free throws to seal the game.
“The biggest thing is just having confidence — having confidence in yourself and in your teammates,” Hennig said.
Hennig scored 12 points in the game’s first 11 minutes, then finished with 14 on his two clutch freebies. Koehler finished with eight points and five rebounds. Nigel Burris pulled down eight rebounds in 15 minutes.
Campisano netted 12 points on 4 of 9 from behind the arc. Jayden Jackson added 10 points. WSU held NAU to 38% field goal shooting while going 47.4% on offense, while outscoring the Lumberjacks 32-20 in the paint.
WSU next plays Idaho State, hosting the Bengals on Saturday.
WOMEN MAKE NAU SWEAT
The Weber State women played well on their third straight road game in five days but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter for an 81-76 loss Monday night in Flagstaff against second-place Northern Arizona.
Kendra Parra’s second-quarter jumper cut NAU’s lead to 32-29 but the Lumberjacks outscored Weber 13-5 in the final 3:40 to lead 45-34 at halftime.
Weber State answered with a 13-6 run in the third quarter, cutting it to 51-47 on two Antoniette Emma-Nnopu free throws.
Taylor Smith opened the fourth quarter with a score in the paint, making NAU’s lead 63-58, but that was as close as it would get until two Parra free throws with 15 seconds left capped the scoring. Sophie Glancey helped the home team pull away to lead by as many as 13 in the fourth.
Weber State (8-12, 5-5 Big Sky) outscored NAU 42-36 in the second half. Parra led the Wildcats with 22 points and four assists, shooting 11 of 12 at the foul line. Smith totaled 18 points and four assists, and Emma-Nnopu tallied another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Rose Bubakar chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
The stars did their jobs for NAU (18-5, 9-1). Taylor Feldman totaled 27 points, five rebounds and five assists. Glancey added 23 points and 10 rebounds.
