If you missed the Weber State vs Utah Valley game on Saturday night, you missed out.
As a fan of college basketball, the action on the court was everything you could have hoped for. It reminded me of why I strongly prefer college basketball over the NBA. Physical play, tough defense, players going at each other, coaches and players getting fired up, technical fouls, monster blocks, amazing finishes at the basket and a close, hard fought game. It had it all. Unfortunately, the Wildcats came out on the losing end of it, falling to the Wolverines 64-62.
Judging by the anemic crowd size (3,609), and the fact that the game was during the same time as the college football playoff, not to mention the weekend before Christmas, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that a lot of Wildcat fans missed the game.
Aside from the pathetic crowd, the game had the feel of a conference basketball game. No one was "mailing it in". Guys were diving for loose balls, driving hard to the basket, and playing physical and tough for all 40 minutes.
In the final play, as has become the norm in a close game under a Duft/Rahe team, we tried to go iso with our best player, Blaise Threatt, and let him make a play. All 3,609 fans in attendance knew this was coming, as did the UVU players and were able to smother him and not even let him get a good look or chance for a drive to the basket. As time ticked down, Threatt shot and missed a contested three. Tough way to end a very competitive game. But hey, at least you can't say the game wasn't entertaining.
Through the 13 games played so far this season, two players have separated themselves as the clear leaders on this team. Those two players are senior point guard Blaise Threatt and senior shooting guard Miguel Tomley.
Threatt has established himself as the go to guy early in the season, using his strong 6'3" 210 lb. frame to bully his way past defenders while driving to the basket. You can tell just by looking at the guy that he has put on some muscle and gotten a lot stronger since he first showed up on campus. There are not a lot of point guards in the Big Sky that will be able to match his physicality. But, to complement the brute strength, the guy finishes with incredible skill and finesse, and has shown that he is not a bad jump shooter as well.
With Dillon Jones now in the NBA, Threatt has no doubt become the leader of the Wildcats. Where last year, it was clearly "Dillon's Team", it feel like this year, it is "Blaise's Team", as the broadcasters on ESPN+ also noted. Threatt currently leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg including a season high 27 points at Hawaii back in November. He leads the team in assists at 4.1 per game, showing his ability as a passer and playmaker, and also leads the team in steals at 2.6 per game. His strong frame helps him secure 5.5 rebounds per game, good enough for third on the team, which is very impressive, especially for a point guard. He reminds me a lot of Jeremy Senglin back in 2016.
I cursed Tomley's name last season when he played for Idaho State. In the game in Pocatello last season, he went off for 26 points against the Wildcats, draining three after three after three. Never, did I ever, consider the possibility that a player from ISU would transfer to Weber, but man I am sure happy he did.
I can't remember ever seeing a Wildcat with a more beautiful shot. The guy's stroke is smooth as butter. Tomley is most effective as a catch and shoot guy. You'll see him put the ball on the floor to create some space for his jump shot, but when he has his feet set and pulls the trigger, watch out. In today's game, where teams take more threes than ever before, Tomley is a welcome sight, providing a consistent threat from anywhere on the court.
Even when he doesn't take and make a lot of shots he still has a major impact on the game, which was the case during the UVU game. Tomley only scored 7 points on Saturday, largely due to the lock down defense he faced all night. Credit Utah Valley, they did their homework, knew what a threat Tomley could be and obviously made it a part of their game plan to shut him down. However, that opened things up elsewhere: Vasilije Vucinic dropped 13 points, mostly from inside the paint, and Nigel Burris went bombs away from all over the floor, scoring a season high 17 points.
Having a dead eye shooter in Miguel Tomley changes the game whether he has the ball in his hands or not.
Tomley is the only player on the team, besides Threatt, to average double digit points (12.3 ppg), and I expect that number to go up as he continues to become more and more comfortable in Duft's offense. He also ranks 3rd in the Big Sky in three pointers made per game, at just under 3. Last week, Tomley was named the Big Sky Player of the Week after scoring 21 points, including the game winning layup in the final second, at Utah Tech. Welcome to Ogden Mr. Tomley.
The more curmudgeonly sector of the Weber State fanbase might complain that we are only 6-7 at this point and that we've lost some close games. That may be true, but the Wildcats still have all their goals in front of them. The Cats have not even come close to their ceiling. No team in the Big Sky has looked that dominant through the non-conference and the Wildcats should be well poised to make a run at a Big Sky Title for the first time in 9 years. My gosh, has it been that long?
The Cats will head on a paycheck collection trip to Eugene, Oregon next weekend, and the real season starts on January 2nd at Northern Colorado. I'm excited to see what Threatt, Tomley, and the rest of Wildcats can do this season.
Merry Christmas
Go Wildcats
Michael Garlick
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