Utes crush Weber State

Utes breeze by former Utah assistant Randy Rahe's Wildcats

Two years ago Randy Rahe took over Weber State's basketball program and has already built them into a strong Big Sky contender. However, the Wildcats were no match for the Utah Utes Wednesday night in Ogden. Utah rolled to a 72-52 victory, blowing the game open late in the second half after early struggles.

Utah had fallen behind 16-4 and looked doomed from the start. However, a 20-2 run late in the second half gave the Utes the lead for good. Utah's victory snaps a two game losing streak and brings Utah's record to above .500 for the second time this season. Utah failed to climb above .500 at any point last season under former head coach Ray Giacoletti.

Raining Threes

Shaun Green, largely absent over the first few weeks of the season, erupted for 18 points, all on threes, and played a big role in Utah's victory. The Utes shot 55% from outside and a ridiculous 83% in the second half. Joining Green in hitting threes were Lawrence Borha (1-2), Tyler Kepkay (1-1), Johnnie Bryant (2-3) and Luka Drca (1-3). The great three point shooting kept Utah rolling for most of the game and allowed them to expand their halftime team.

Other than three point shooting, Utah had little problem scoring. They shot 52% from the field, including 72% in the second half. Leading the team in scoring was Green, followed by Luke Nevill, with 16. Nevill was 8 of 16 from the field and showed some improvement after being completely dominated the past two games. Tyler Kepkay and Bryant were the other two to score in double digits with 10 and 12 respectively.

While Utah's offense cruised, their defense was just as fierce. Utah held Weber to 36% shooting and pretty much kept the Wildcats in check for most of the game. Weber's highest scoring player on the night was Arturas Valeika with 15. No other Wildcat managed to score more than 9 points.

Utah will now have a few days off before traveling to play UC Irvine on the 1st of December.