The basket looked a little bigger for the Weber State men’s basketball team on Thursday against UMass.
After shooting 48.3 percent from the field to pull ahead with a 36-34 lead at the half, the Wildcats’ offense looked nearly unstoppable in the second half by shooting a remarkable 69 percent from the field in the frame.
The Minutemen were unable to keep pace with the potent Weber State attack, falling 88-73 in its first game of the Jersey Mike’s Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“Going into the game, we knew this was an A-10 level opponent,” UMass coach Matt McCall said. “They went on the road and beat an A-10 team. This is a very talented basketball team. They’re physical and shot the ball much better than we would anticipate. Guys that hadn’t made them all year made them tonight. We have an opportunity to play against another really good team tomorrow.”
The Wildcats (3-0) opened the second half on a 10-2 run behind four points apiece from Cody Carlson and JJ Overton to take control of the game. The lead inflated to 15, 65-50, with 9:55 to play.
Five different Weber State players finished in double figures, led by Overton with 21 points. As a team, the Wildcats made 59 percent of their shots in the game and knocked down 11 of 21 shots from downtown.
“Our intensity defensively and our effort defensively wasn’t where it needed to be,” McCall said. “At times it was but at times it wasn’t. We need to be much better there. You can’t be as good as we were against Penn State then come out tonight and give up 88 points. That’s two games now where we’ve given up 90 points. I don’t care who you’re playing, we have to be much, much better. It’s frustrating as a coach that twice we haven’t responded the right way.”
Outside of an impressive performance on offense from Noah Fernandes — who finished with a career-high 21 points and five assists in 36 minutes of action— the Minutemen (2-2) were unable to replicate the offensive output they had in the win against Penn State on Monday.
UMass was just 13-of-37 from three while only Trent Buttrick (12 points) and CJ Kelly (12 points) joined Fernandes in double figures. As the season progresses, McCall is hoping to see more consistency from his team.
“We play well in the second half against UMBC then don’t show up against Yale,” McCall said. “We beat a Big 10 opponent then play that way tonight. In the first half, we were playing pretty good basketball, we just couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”
The Minutemen raced out to a 24-18 lead with 6:30 to play in the first half after Dibaji Walker drained a 3-pointer. UMass led by six, 32-26, after Fernandes scored in transition with 4:11 to play in the half but the Minutemen scored just one bucket the rest of the frame as Weber State outscored UMass 8-2 the rest of the way.
The Minutemen cut the Weber State lead to 67-60 with 7:27 to play but a 15-4 Wildcat run expanded the lead to 82-64 with 3:26 left on the clock.
“In the first half, the ball was moving and there was some possessions where the ball was swung around the perimeter, and maybe we missed, but they were good shots,” McCall said. “That was great offense and we were generating great looks, it just didn’t go in. If that’s the case, we need to go down the other end of the floor, sit down and defend with a level of intensity and effort for 30 seconds. We need to improve there.”
It’s a quick turnaround for the Minutemen, who play their second game of the Jersey Mike’s Classic on Friday against UNC Greensboro. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.