The Cowboy defense struggled against an effective Weber State Wildcat offense as the Cowboys’ comeback bid would draw just short in a loss to the Big Sky conference favorite.
The Wildcats would open the scoring down low but Akuel Kot would quickly answer for the Cowboys’ first points with a nice drive to the point for two. The Wildcats would answer that with their first three pointer but Sam Griffin would score his first bucket down low as well. Kot would break away on a fast break to score his second bucket and Caden Powell would score down low as the Cowboys jumped out to an early 8-5 lead over the Wildcats. Griffin would continue to show off his versatility as he’d score his second bucket off a tough lay-in and Kot would knock down his first three. Brendan Wenzel would score his first buckets with a lay-in and a three as the Cowboys began to break away before a Wildcat three would make it a 20-14 game in favor of the Cowboys midway through the first half.
Kot would continue his excellent start to the first half as he’d show off his quick handle as he’d break down his defender on two straight possessions and drive for two. He’d also hit a nice pull-up jumper as Kot was on his own 6 point run. The Wildcats wouldn’t go away, though, as they’d keep it at a one point game. Kobe Newton would get on the board and push the lead back to four with his first three pointer as the Cowboys continued to fight to maintain their lead. The Wildcats would fight back and make it a tie game at 29 before a Wenzel two pointer would push it back to two with 6 minutes left in the half. The Wildcats would continue to answer and then some as they’d take a 38-31 lead late in the half as the Cowboys were in a 3 and a half minute scoring drought late before Griffin would score at the free throw line. The Wildcats stayed hot as they’d take a 44-33 lead going into halftime as they were on a 15-2 run and the Cowboys didn’t score a single field goal for about the last 7 minutes of the first half.
Despite the deficit, the Cowboys had a decent first half, shooting nearly 50% from the field and only had 6 first half turnovers, though many of those were costly turnovers late in the half that contributed to the Wildcat 15-2 run. Kot was extremely efficient in the first half with 13 points on 6/9 shooting. Wenzel also had a nice half with 7 points, but he picked up 3 fouls in just the first 20 minutes. The Cowboys put the Wildcats at the line quite a bit in the first half as well, as they were a perfect 9/9 from the stripe.
The Wildcats would continue their run out of the half, scoring the first points of the second half to extend their lead to 48-33 before Wenzel would hit the first shot for the Cowboys in a long time. Powell would finish through contact and Kot would cash in a nice contested mid-ranger plus a couple free throws as the Cowboys were on a nice 10-0 run to bring the game to single digits before the Wildcats would answer and push the lead back out to 10. Cam Manyawu would earn his first bucket of the night to answer but the Wildcats would answer that as well to maintain their 10 point lead. Griffin would finally knock down his first three of the contest but once again the Wildcats would answer that with a three of their own as both teams would trade buckets as Newton would also hit his second three as the Cowboys would continue to try and chip away at the Wildcats’ 58-51 lead midway through the half.
The Cowboy defense couldn’t string enough stops together to pull themselves closer than 7, as the Wildcats continually had the answer.as Wenzel and Kot would make it a 5 point game before the Wildcats would hit another 3 to push it back out to 8 at 63-55 with 8:45 left in the game. Griffin would score but the Wildcats couldn’t miss as the lead was back out to 12 with 5 and a half to go. Griffin would score again with a deep three but again the Wildcats would hit a three to answer to maintain their lead. Griffin and the Cowboys would do their best to comeback but it wouldn’t be enough as their defense couldn’t get a stop as the Wildcats would win the contest 84-71.
The Cowboys shot well in the game, shooting 49.1% from three and 38.9% from deep. The Cowboy defense left a lot to be desired, as they allowed the Wildcats to shoot 56.4% from the field and 46.7% from deep. The Wildcats held a 29-25 advantage on the glass. Despite the loss, the Cowboys took better care of the basketball as they only had 10 turnovers in the contest.
Kot led the Cowboys in scoring with a season-high 24 points as he shot 10/18 from the field. Griffin paced him with 22 points to go along with 3 assists. The Cowboys were led on the glass by Manyawu with 7 rebounds.
The Cowboys will take on South Dakota State in their next contest on Dec. 20th, with the game set to tip off at 5 p.m.
