Weber State University Athletics
Weber State Plays Four Of Its Next Five On The Road, Beginning At Sacramento State Thursday
1/20/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State takes to the road for two games this week at Sacramento State on Thursday, January 22 and at Northern Arizona on Saturday, January 24.
HOME: 5 - 2 ROAD: 3 - 4 NEUTRAL: 2 - 2
BIG SKY: Home: 2 - 1 Road: 2 - 0
GAME #19 vs. @Sacramento State
WHEN: Thursday, January 22, 2009 SITE: The Hornets Nest (1,200)
WHERE: Sacramento, California TIME: 7:05 p.m. (PST) / 8:05 p.m. (MST)
STATISTICAL MATCH UPS
CATEGORY SAC Big Sky W S U Big Sky
Scoring Offense 58.6 63.8 68.6 77.2
Scoring Defense 73.9 81.2 69.1 69.8
Scoring Margin -15.3 -17.4 -0.5 +7.4
Field Goal % .404 .406 .463 .457
Field Goal % Defense .485 .504 .431 .422
3-Point Field Goal % .379 .420 .387 .435
3-Point Field Goal % Def. .408 .481 .344 .342
Free Throw Shooting % .703 .725 .731 .795
Opps FT Shooting % .699 .752 .708 .714
Rebounding Offense 29.7 30.7 32.4 35.2
Rebounding Defense 34.9 33.3 32.4 32.2
Rebound Margin -5.2 -2.6 =0.0 +3.0
Assists 10.10 8.83 11.16 13.00
Turnovers 14.73 14.33 15.55 12.80
Blocked Shots 1.94 1.50 2.83 2.20
Steals 4.52 4.16 4.94 6.60
SACRAMENTO STATE "Hornets"
HEAD COACH BRIAN KATZ
BRIAN KATZ is in his first season as head coach of the Hornets. KATZ comes to Sac State after 19 years of coaching in the junior college ranks in California. ... He has spent the past 15 seasons at San Joaquin Delta JC in Stockton, California where was 348-138 (.716) overall and 130-32 (.802) over the past five seasons. His 2004-05 squad posted a 30-2 record overall and a 14-0 mark in league play. ... He spent four seasons at Lassen JC in Susanville, California where he was 87-47. All told, Katz was 435-185 (.702) on the JC level.
SERIES HISTORY
Weber State leads the overall series, 25-4, and are 23-4 vs. the Hornets since the 1996-97 season when Sac State joined the Big Sky Conference. ... The Wildcats are 11-3 overall when playing at Sacramento State. The three losses came in 2003-04 (61-64), 2004-05 (72-78) and in 2006-07 (83-105). That 06-07 game came after the Wildcats had wrapped up the Big Sky regular season title. WSU went on to win the Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Sac State's only other win came IN OGDEN during the 2005-06 season (73-66). ... There have been two OVERTIME games played in the series. Both of them have been in The Hornets Nest. WSU won 76-72 in 2001-02 and 76-73 in 2005-06 avenging the home court loss to the Hornets that season. ... Last year the Wildcats swept the series winning 69-56 in Ogden and 89-69 in Sacarmento..
LAST YEAR IN SACRAMENTO - Monday, March 3, 2008
The Wildcats remembered the 105-83 beating they took the previous year and did not overlook the Hornets on this occasion. DAVIIN DAVIS scored 22 points and ARTURAS VALEIKA HAD 10 points and 20 rebounds in the 89-69 win. ... Sac State led 37-35 at half time holding the Wildcats to just 12-27 (.408) shooting overall and 4-11 (.364) from the three-point line. .... Weber State came out in the second half smoking hot on both ends, hitting 20-28 (.714) from the field while holding the Hornets to just 10-39 (.256), the Wildcats out scored the Hornets 54-32 in that half. STEVE PANOS added 17 points. ... JASON DAVIS led Sac State with 17 points, CLARK WOODS added 16. ... WSU held Hornet guard VINNIE McGHEE, the 2007-08 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, to zero points and 0-10 shooting. McGHEE transferred to Cal State Northridge where he is sitting out this season as a red-shirt.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Sacramento State comes into Thursday's game with an overall record of 1-18 and a 0-6 mark in Big Sky play. ... The Hornets have a current 13-game losing streak. Their only win came on December 3 at home against arch-rival UC Davis, 82-80. ... Sac State is coming off an 89-64 home court loss last Sunday afternoon vs. Northern Arizona. ... Sac State led by senior guard LOREN LEATH (6-2, 190). Coming into Thursday's game, Leath is tied with Montana's Anthony Johnson for second in overall scoring honors in the Big Sky this season at 15.8 points per game. In the six Big Sky Conference regular season games, Leath's average has jumped to 20.7 points a game. A big chuck of those points came @Northern Colorado where he dumped 41 points on the Bears. Leath is one of the top free throw shooters in the league at .813 (52-64), and ranks 2nd in Three-Point Shots made per game at 2.42. ... Down low, JUSTIN ELLER (6-8, 235 Jr.) is averaging 10.7 points and is tied with EWU's Brandon Moore as the league's top overall rebounder at 6.9 boards per game and is averaging an even seven per contest in league play. ... Guard ANTONIO FLAGGS (6-3, 180 Jr.) lead the Big Sky Conference in overall Free Throw Percentage at .878 (43-49), but is just 13th in league game-only at .813 (13-16).
PROBABLE SACRAMENTO STATE STARTERS
Pos.No. Name HT WT CL HOMETOWN PPG RPG APG
F-40 Justin Eller 6-8 235 Jr. Yreka, CA 10.7 6.9 0.9
C-4 Randy Adams 6-8 220 Sr. Moreno Valley, CA 6.8 4.0 0.7
G-23 Loren Leath 6-2 190 Sr. Oakland, CA 15.8 3.1 0.7
G-14 Mike Marcial 6-1 180 Jr. Clovis, CA 1.5 1.8 2.5
G-34 Jonathan Malloy 6-5 190 Jr. Compton, CA 2.4 1.4 0.8
RESERVES
G-22 Antonio Flaggs 6-3 180 Jr. Pittsburg, CA 8.2 2.2 1.0
C-50 Mike Edwards 6-11 205 Jr. Tracy, CA 4.6 2.3 0.3
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY "Wildcats"
HEAD COACH RANDY RAHE
In his first season at Weber State RANDY RAHE set the bar high. He took the a team which was 10-17 the year previous and molded them into a 20-12 team in 2006-07.. The Wildcats were picked to finish 6th in the Big Sky Conference pre-season coaches and media polls, but Rahe and the Wildcats rose to the top to finish league play 11-5 and tied with Northern Arizona for the regular season crown. But the Wildcats won the tie-breaker by virtue of their in-season sweep of the Lumberjacks. The 'Cats went on to beat NAU in the finals of the Conference Tournament and earned the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. ... For those efforts, Rahe was named BIG SKY CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR and the USBWA DISTRICT VIII COACH OF THE YEAR.
Last year, Rahe's team finished 16-14 overall, but posted a 10-4 mark in league play finishing third. ... Rahe is now 46-34 (.575) overall at Weber State and as a head coach and 25-12 (.676) in Big Sky Conference regular season games. ... RAHE is 3-1 vs. Sacramento State in his tenure at Weber State, 1-1 vs. the Hornets when playing in Sacramento.
RADIO /T V
Thursday's game will be carried LIVE on KLO (1430 AM with CARL ARKY calling the action. ... The PRE-GAME SHOW will air at 7:30 p.m. (MST).
A QUICK WSU HISTORY LESSON
The Wildcats are in their 47th season as a four-year institution on the NCAA Division I level and their 46th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. ... In 1962-63 Weber became the first junior college in the country to moved from the juco ranks directly into NCAA Division I basketball. ... Since then, the Wildcats have won 17 Big Sky Conference titles and made 15 appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
ALL-TIME RECORD
Weber State's all-time record in Division I basketball stands at 842-493 (.631). ... In 46 years of hoop action the Wildcats have had just EIGHT LOSING SEASONS and in 21 of those 45 seasons have posted 20 WINS OR BETTER!.
HOME SWEET HOME: THE DEE EVENTS CENTER
The 2007-08 season marks the 30th season of playing in the 12,000 seat Dee Events Center. .... Opened on Nov. 1, 2007, the first regular season basketball game was played on November 29 against Long Beach State with the Wildcats prevailing 99-96 in overtime. .... The 'Cats have enjoyed tremendous success over the years at the DEC. They have an overall record of 348-95 (.785) under the dome including a 13-2 record in 2006-07 and 11-2 in 2007-08. ... Weber State's overall home court record, counting the 15 seasons in old Swenson Gym is a solid 528-113 (.8237). ... The Wildcats were a staggering 180-18 (.909) in Swenson Gym! .
WINNING AND LOSING - THE H D L GOOD CHOLESTEROL FACTOR
In the 10 games WON by the Wildcats this year, KELLEN McCOY (13.3 ppg) has been WSU's top scorer. He's also been the top scorer in the eight games LOST (13.5 ppg). ... The deciding factor has been the play of NICK HANSEN, DAVIIN DAVIS and DAMIAN LILLARD. ... In the 10 games won, that trio has averaged a combined 34.1 ppg and 10.9 rebounds. Davis has averaged 12.1 ppg / 3.9 rpg; Lillard 11.3 / 3.2 rpg and Hansen 10.7 / 3.8 rpg.. Together they have shot 48 percent from the field. .... In the eight LOSSES, they have averaged jus 21.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and are shooting 62-164 (.378) together from the field. ... HANSEN is 26-61 (.462) from the three-point line in the 10 wins, and 12-38 (.316) in the eight defeats. ... DAVIS is 34-66 (.515) from the field in the wins and 31-48 (.438) in the losses. ... LILLARD is only 7-9 (.778) from the free throw line when the ?Cat lose, but is 19-24 (.792) when they win.
...CONTINUING ON THAT ROAD...
...The Wildcat are averaging about the same field goal attempts when they win (51.3) as when they lose (48.7). The same goes for three-point attempts, 20.2 when they win and 18.4 when they lose. ... It's at the FREE THROW line where there's a big difference. The Wildcats are 92-135 (11.5 made/16.9 atts) in those games lost, but are 171-225 (17.1 made/22.5 atts) in victory. ... In the 10 wins, the Wildcats have averaged 31.4 first half points and 41.2 second half. ... In the eight losses they have averaged 31.5 first half points but just 29.5 second half points. ... In the 10 wins, FIVE Wildcats have averaged in double figure scoring, but just two (McCoy: 13.5) and Steve Panos: 10.4) in the eight losses.
THE LAST TWO
The Wildcats shot just 45-104 (.433) from the field in the two home games last week, but held MSU and Montana to just 41-103 (.398). ... From the three-point arc, WSU was 15-36 (.417) and the opponents 14-42 (.333). ... The Wildcats were 36-45 (.800) from the free throw line, MSU and Montana were a combined 34-46 (.739).
ODDS AND ENDS...
In BIG SKY games thus far, Weber State ranks 1st in Scoring Offense (77.2) while Sac State is last giving up 81.2. . . . The Wildcats are the league-only games leader in getting DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS (28.20 pg) but are last in getting OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS (7.00 pg).
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats play AT NORTHERN ARIZONA this coming, Saturday, January 24 in a 6:35 (MST) tip-off inside the Walkup Sky-Dome. ... Beginning on Thursday, the Wildcats play FOUR of their next FIVE games on the ROAD. ... The only HOME GAME between Jan. 22 and Feb. 12 is against Idaho State on Saturday, January 31 at 7:05 p.m.
PROBABLE WEBER STATE STARTERS
Pos.No. Name HT WT CL HOMETOWN PPG RPG APG
F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 RsFr. Mountain View, WY 9.2 4.9 0.7
F-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Jr. Pocatello, ID 8.8 2.8 1.4
C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Jr. Salt Lake City, UT 10.2 5.2 0.3
G-33 Kellen McCoy 5-6 180 Sr. Norman, OK 13.4 3.1 2.5
G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 Fr. Oakland, CA 9.9 3.3 2.4
RESERVES
F-31 Daviin Davis 6-4 190 Sr. Midland, TX 9.8 3.3 2.4
C-55 Trevor Morris 6-9 235 So. Nampa, ID 4.2 3.6 0.3
F-32 Darin Mahoney 6-8 220 Fr. Heber City, UT 2.4 2.9 0.6
RANDY RAHE QUOTES
ON SAC STATE: "Fans and media persons are trying to make this a ?trap game', but there is no such thing this season in our league. Sac State has struggled, but they have some weapons. Loren Leath has showed he can explode and take over a game on the offensive end and their big men down low are very aggressive on both ends of the court. This game is no different for us than it was going to Portland State. We need to focus, play hard, play smart and keep our intensity at a maximum to succeed."
