After padding most of their December home schedule with the likes of Central Washington, Oregon Tech and The Coast Guard, Weber State found out what it felt like to be on the other side of a blowout Thursday night against No. 10-ranked Purdue.
The Boilermakers, behind all-American Glenn Robinson, handed the Wildcats their worst home loss ever with a 108-73 victory before 9,305 fans, who probably wished they'd stayed home to watch the bowl games."There wasn't anything about this game that I liked," said Weber State coach Ron Abegglen. "I really thought we could give them a game here. I couldn't believe we could play that poorly in a big game like this in front of a big crowd."
The 9-4 Wildcats had already lost big to the Boilermakers this year, dropping a 97-78 decision at the Great Alaska Shootout. At least they kept the score respectable in that one.
Thursday night, the Wildcats made silly turnovers, missed easy shots and generally looked in disarray against their unbeaten (10-0) opponents.
"Purdue is the kind of team that can make you look bad," said Abegglen. "But most of our problems tonight were mental. We had a lot of mental errors."
With the crowd getting into the game right from the start, the Wildcats jumped to a 5-1 lead. But they failed to score on their next seven possessions, while Purdue ran off 13 straight points. Weber never got closer than seven points as Purdue raced to a 44-29 halftime lead, nearly the same halftime lead (46-29) they held in Alaska.
"The first half was nearly identical to Alaska," said Purdue coach Gene Keady.
The second half was a lot worse for Weber as the Boilermakers buried the Wildcats early, sinking nine of their first 11 shots en route to a 65 percent shooting half. The lead got as high as 40 at 102-62.
Robinson showed why he is considered one of the country's premier players and a certain NBA lottery pick should he decide to turn pro after his junior season. He sank 14 of 24 shots from all over the floor and pulled down 13 rebounds. And if he ever broke a sweat during the game, he didn't show it.
He did have one embarrassing moment in the first half when he missed a showtime, behind-the-head dunk that bounded all the way to midcourt for a backcourt violation. Keady immediately yanked his star and gave him a talking-to.
"You don't do that in any league. You want to keep the fans in their seats when you're on the road. That kind of thing can get them going," he said.
But on this night, it wouldn't make any difference.
The one advantage the Wildcats seemed to have before the game was on the guardline. But Robbie Johnson and Ruben Nembhard were eaten alive by their counterparts, Matt Waddell and Porter Roberts, who beat them upcourt all night.
Johnson and Nembhard combined for 4-of-26 shooting from the floor and nine turnovers. "The guards have got to take charge and get the game organized," said Abegglen.
In all Weber committed 26 turnovers, mostly against a relentless Purdue press. The poor-shooting Wildcats finished just 38 percent from the field and 58 percent from the line.
The Wildcats have one more chance to regroup before starting Big Sky play when they meet the University of San Diego Monday night at the Dee Events Center.
While Purdue and Weber won't likely meet a third time this year, Purdue could come back to Ogden for the NCAA subregionals in March. "I wouldn't mind coming out here in March," said Keady. "This is a nice place."
Especially when you win by 35 points.