OGDEN — Things have taken a turn for the worse for Joe Cravens and his Weber State Wildcats.
In the last two weeks alone, Cravens suspended two players — including his starting point guard — for academic reasons, lost starting center Lance Allred to a torn lung, and watched his team (4-3) drop two straight road games, including a 74-62 loss to Nevada on Saturday.
Both suspended players have returned, but Allred, who ripped a hole in his lung in a violent coughing spell during his bout with bronchitis last week, will likely be out for another 10 days. Not great news considering that the Wildcats, who host the University of Portland tonight in the Dee Events Center, are in the middle of their toughest stretch of the pre-season.
"Any time you lose a starter it causes some chemistry problems," Cravens said. "But we can't spend a lot of time worrying about what we don't have. You just play with the cards you're dealt."
All three of the Wildcats' losses have come against quality teams — Utah State, Southwest Missouri State and Nevada. And the quality keeps coming, including tonight's matchup with the Pilots (5-2), who hail from the West Coast Conference.
The Pilots were blown out by No. 4 Duke, 84-43 in Durham, N.C. on Sunday, but that score was probably an aberration, because the Pilots are no pushovers. Already this season Portland has beaten Nevada and won at both New Mexico and Oregon State.
"We've played some very good teams," Cravens said. "But Portland may be the best team we've played to date. They play with great energy, great confidence and composure and they have good players. To say I'm concerned would be the gravest understatement I've made this year."
Sophomore Eugene Jeter tops the Pilots with 17.1 points per game, while fellow guard Donald Wilson contributes 16 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.3 rebounds per game. Last week was the second straight that Wilson was named WCC Co-Player of the Week.
Weber State has never lost to Portland in five meetings, defeating the Pilots 78-71 last December in Portland.
Slobodan Ocokoljic continues to lead the Wildcats, averaging 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Nic Sparrow follows with 12.9 points and 4.1 rebounds. With Allred — the team's third leading scorer and second leading rebounder — out of action, the Wildcats will start 6-foot-8 senior Pat Danley, who is an effective inside presence when he avoids foul trouble.
If the Wildcats are unable to overcome the loss of Allred or if they don't "turn the corner on the defensive end," as Cravens said, they might well find themselves with their first three-game losing streak since the 2001-02 season. And the future doesn't bode well, either.
"We've got Portland (tonight), then BYU later this week," said Cravens, "and then we come back and play Winthrop, who just beat Georgia by 20 points. So it doesn't get any easier."
Game time tonight is 8:05 p.m. Tipoff is an hour later than usual because of a double-header with the Weber State women's team. The Lady Wildcats (1-6) host North Texas at 5:45 p.m. in the Dee Events Center.