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CEDAR CITY — Saturday’s Big Sky game between Weber State and Southern Utah couldn’t have featured more of a contrast.
The Wildcats are the defending conference champions, are perennial contenders in the hunt for the postseason, and have an NBA All-Sstar as an alum. In sharp contrast, the Thunderbirds have one all-time NCAA tournament appearance and are coming off a 2-27 record.
If the difference in all-time accomplishments weren’t enough, Weber held a 26-6 all-time record over Southern Utah entering Saturday’s game. The Wildcats couldn’t extend the record to 27-6, as Southern Utah picked up its first win over Weber as a member of the Big Sky, 70-60.
The Wildcats had won nine straight games against Southern Utah, and Weber coach Randy Rahe attributed the loss to a lack of toughness and ability.
“We’re the kind of team, our room for error is not very big,” he said. “We've got to have everybody playing well, especially on the road. We did not have three, four guys play very well.”
Weber opened with an early 8-2 run, but Southern Utah responded to take a 17-16 lead with 8:53 left in the first half. The Thunderbirds finished the first half leading 36-33, with a shooting percentage of 62.5 percent.
"We got beat," Weber coach Randy Rahe said.
Rahe said Southern Utah’s strategy fared well against the Wildcats early.
“I’m going to give Southern Utah a whole bunch of credit,” he said. “I thought they played outstanding. I thought they played good tonight, and we didn’t match their intensity, their hunger, and their edge. When you don’t match it on somebody else’s home court, that’s what happens.”
The Wildcats responded in the second half, opening a 9-4 run. However, Southern Utah responded again, taking a 54-46 lead with 8:30 left to play. It was part of an 8-0 run that eventually gave the Thunderbirds a 62-46 lead and control of the game.
All night, Weber forward Richaud Gittens provided a helping hand for the Wildcats. Gittens led all scorers with 18 points.
The junior forward said his performance was a reflection of Rahe’s pregame instructions.
“Coach talked about coming out with an intensity, having an edge,” he said. “That’s what I tried to do, and I wanted everyone to do it. But, like Coach said, we win as a team and we lose as a team.
“Give all the credit to Southern Utah.”
However, he was one of the lone bright spots for Weber’s offense. The Wildcats finished shooting 34.7 percent. A game after guard Jeremy Senglin scored 25 points, Senglin shot just 1-for-10 from the floor.
Southern Utah’s Casey Oliverson and Tyler Rawson led the Thunderbirds with 16 points apiece. The Thunderbirds now have a two-game winning streak in conference after beating Idaho State Thursday.
Thunderbirds coach Nick Robinson said the win over a conference power like Weber State is a positive development for his program.
“Weber State — they’re a great basketball team and the top half of our league,” said Robinson, who is in his third season at Southern Utah. “We came out and gave great energy throughout the game.
“Two teams matched up tonight that are both very young. In terms of the program, we’re moving in the right direction. I’ve said that a long time, but tonight we were able to see it come together defensively, as well as offensively.”
