Weber State Tops Idaho State Basketball 83-73; Saine Injured Late
Weber State beat idaho state basketball 83-73 in Pocatello on Saturday evening, but the victory came with a significant caveat: leading scorer Tijan Saine Jr. went down late after rolling his ankle, leaving the Wildcats and their coaching staff to weigh short-term recovery and conference-tournament preparation before a Monday night trip.
Saine’s late ankle injury concern
Saine led Weber State with 24 points and four assists, marking his 12th game in 17 conference contests scoring 20 or more points, but he left the game with about 50 seconds remaining after rolling his ankle while contesting a Cheikh Sow 3-pointer. He slipped on either a wet court spot or a referee’s foot before going down, and WSU head coach Eric Duft described the initial outlook as a possible Grade 1 sprain: “We don’t know yet, we’ll just have to see, ” he said, adding that the team would monitor how it reacts before deciding next steps.
Idaho State Basketball unable to mount comeback
Idaho State basketball trailed for most of the second half after an early run by Weber State established control. All five lead changes occurred on consecutive possessions early, with a Saine reverse layup giving Weber State an 11-10 lead that it would not relinquish. WSU led by as much as 11 in the first half and took a 38-32 margin into the break.
The Bengals used a late full-court press that created enough havoc to cut the final margin, and Connor Hollenbeck’s third-chance tip-in made it 83-73 with 23. 3 seconds left, but Idaho State could not overcome Weber’s halftime edge and sustained second-half runs.
Shooting, depth and next steps
The Wildcats finished 30 of 58 from the field (51. 7%), including a 14 of 25 second-half mark (56%), and they converted 6 of 12 from deep after halftime. Viljami Vartiainen sank 4 of 8 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points and six rebounds; his long-range shooting has him four 3-pointers away from moving past Alex Fisher (1995-98) into eighth on Weber’s career 3-point leaderboard, and his Big Sky 3-point clip sits at 47. 3%.
Other contributors for Weber State included Trevor Hennig with 13 points off the bench, Nigel Burris with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Malek Gomma with nine points and five rebounds. Edwin Suarez Jr. added seven points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals with zero turnovers in 16 minutes off the bench.
For Idaho State, forwards Connor Hollenbeck and Caleb van de Griend scored 15 points each, and bench guard Gus Etchison was held to 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting after a higher-scoring stretch the previous week; Etchison also delivered seven assists.
With the Wildcats headed to Portland for a Monday night matchup, Weber State faces a quick turnaround and a decision point on Saine’s availability for the immediate slate and how to prioritize his recovery ahead of the conference tournament, particularly given that recent results have not produced a meaningful climb in the standings. Coach Duft noted the team’s toughness and the role of adrenaline in late-game injuries, signaling that evaluation in the coming days will determine next steps.
In short, the win preserves Weber State’s momentum in the short term, but the ankle injury to the team’s leading scorer introduces uncertainty that the program will need to manage before its next game and the conference tournament.
