Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Utah State
Huge second half lifts Aggies past Wildcats 72-61
11/15/2014 4:37:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LOGAN, Utah – It was a tale of two halves as Utah State exploded for a huge second half to defeat Weber State 72-61 Friday night at the Smith Spectrum in the season opener for both teams.
After holding an 18-point lead at halftime, the Wildcats scored just 14 points in the second half.
Weber State never trailed in the first half and jumped out to an early 20-10 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Jeremy Senglin seven minutes into the game. The 'Cats stretched their lead to 14 points midway through the first half and held an 18-point lead at 47-29 at halftime. WSU shot 57 percent from the field in the first half and outrebouned USU 23-11.
However, the second half was a different story. The Aggies opened the half on an 8-0 run and were just getting started. USU outscored the Wildcats 26-6 in the first ten minutes of the half. The Wildcats missed 17 of their first 18 shots in the half and went nearly 12 minutes without a field goal. Utah State had a 17-0 run during a five minute stretch in the middle of the half. USU outscored the Wildcats 43-14 in the second half.
All total WSU was 4-of-23 form the field in the second half for 17 percent while the Aggies shot 55 percent in the half. For the game the Wildcats shot 38 percent from the field and finished 17-of-23 from the free throw line and the Wildcats outrebounded Utah State 39-32.
“It was obviously a tale of two halves,” said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. “They did to us in the second half what we did to them in the first half. We have a young team and we learned a valuable lesson that you have to play two halves. Everything starts on the defensive end and the second half was about our defense. We weren't aggressive enough and Utah State played very aggressively in the half.”
Senglin led the Wildcats with 14 points and Richaud Gittens had 13 points and seven rebounds. Joel Bolomboy added 10 points and nine rebounds and Kyndahl Hill had nine points and eight rebounds. WSU had just six points off the bench.
Weber State has now lost 10 straight and 16 of the last 17 to the Aggies in Logan.
The Wildcats now return home for the home opener Monday night as they host Presentation College. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be the second half of
