From Deseret News archives:
BYU, Weber State basketball: Rahe says BYU loss will be turning point
Weber has shown a tendency to fade away in the 2nd half
The story from the Wildcats' loss to the Cougars was similar to Weber State's other three defeats this season: good and promising first half followed by a dramatic downward spiral after halftime. Frustrated doesn't begin to describe Rahe's feelings after his team failed to match BYU's intensity and aggressiveness in the second half at the purple palace.
"When a team gets aggressive, you either fight back or fade away, and we faded away tonight," Rahe said. "That's not what this program is all about. That's never what we've been all about in my two years here. We've been tough enough and competed hard enough and we're going to get it back."
Rahe said he'll start solving the Wildcats' second-half problems in practice on Thursday, although he wouldn't elaborate as to how. It's safe to say that some conditioning will be involved in Weber State's workout.
"This is going to be a turning point right now," Rahe said. "It's either going to go one way or it's going to go another. We're going to find five guys who want to fight out there."
The Wildcats didn't want to point out any bright spots from Wednesday's game, but they did play well for most of the first half. They traded baskets with the Cougars prior to halftime, and a layup by Kyle Bullinger gave Weber State its last lead of the game at 30-29 with 4:53 left before the break.
"It's simple — we were having fun, we were playing hard," Bullinger said. "We were enjoying the environment and enjoying the challenge, playing together. It's a common theme for the last few games. We've done that for a half."
One half of solid basketball isn't enough to beat most Division I basketball teams, and especially not enough to defeat a good team like the unbeaten Cougars. Weber State allowed BYU to begin pulling away late in the first half, as BYU went on a 9-3 run to take a 46-39 lead at halftime.
BYU made 12 of its first 15 shots in the second half to turn the game into a rout. It was the Cougars' largest margin of victory at the Dee Events Center in the history of the series, and a big reason for it was Weber State's poor defense, and as Rahe put it, a failure to fight back when adversity struck.
"The bottom line is we are not a tough enough basketball team right now — mentally, more mentally than anything," Rahe said. "Until we get that taken care of it's not going to get any better."
Bullinger helped the Wildcats stay in the game in the first half, as he scored a career-high 16 points — all of which came before halftime. Steve Panos had 12 points, and Daviin Davis contributed 10 points and a windmill dunk for Weber State.
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