Allred's big game too little for Cats

OGDEN — There was little question that Weber State center Lance Allred left it all on the court Thursday against BYU.

The only problem was he needed more help from his teammates.

Despite a Herculean effort by Allred, including 27 points and 18 rebounds, the Wildcats were defeated 79-61 by the Cougars in the Dee Events Center.

Prior to the game, WSU coach Joe Cravens said Allred wasn't the concern. Following the loss to the Cougars, his remarks were right on.

The 6-foot-10, 270-pound senior shot 9-of-18 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line to go along with his 10 offensive and eight defensive boards. The double-double was his fifth in a row. The rebounds were a career high and tops in the Big Sky this season.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you can't shoot the ball, you probably won't win, and right now, other than Lance, we aren't shooting very well," Cravens said.

To the credit of Allred's teammates, two finished the game in double figures. Guard Terrell Stovall scored 15 and Troy Goodell added 11, including a trio of 3-pointers. After Goodell, only two other players scored. Jamaal Jenkins had six and Brett Cox had two.

At this point, Weber State can only go up. For starters, Cravens said the Wildcats need to improve defensively.

"Over the last few weeks we've spent so much time on our offense that our defense has slipped," Cravens said. "We just have to continue improving. We're just not real tough mentally yet. But I'm not about to throw the towel in."

Jenkins knows he needs to work harder.

"I think a lot of players have to look at what they are doing individually before we can play hard together as a team," Jenkins said. "I don't think everyone is giving all they can, including myself."

Lance doesn't claim to have the answers for the team, but plans to keep working hard anyway.

"If I had those answers, we would have solved these questions long ago. But I'm the player and coach is the coach and I just got to do my job, which is rebounding and let the offense follow," Allred said. "The least I can do is when I go to bed at night, I can sleep easy knowing I had passion."

The Wildcats will take a few days off for Christmas now before traveling to Utah on Dec. 28.