Weber State University Athletics
Weber State Hosts Southern Utah University This Saturday, December 12 at 7:05
12/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
For Release on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009
OVERALL RECORD: 4-4 / Big Sky: 1-0 HOME: 3 - 1 ROAD: 1 - 3 NEUTRAL: 0 - 0
BIG SKY GAMES: Home: 0 - 0 Road: 1 - 0
GAME #9 vs. SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY
WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 209 SITE: DEE EVENS CENTER (12,000)
WHERE: OGDEN, UTAH TIME: 7:05 P.M. (MST)
WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 209 SITE: DEE EVENS CENTER (12,000)
WHERE: OGDEN, UTAH TIME: 7:05 P.M. (MST)
TEAM STATS COMPARISON
CATEGORY SUU WSU
Record 3-6 4-4
Points Scored 67.66 74.87
Points Allowed 70.11 72.87
Scoring Margin -2.45 +2.0
Field Goal % .451 .423
FG % Defense .402 .452
3-Point FG % .336 .277
3-Pt FG % Def. .307 .379
Free Throw % .750 .762
Opps FT % .708 .761
Off Rebounds 12.33 12.75
Total Rebounds 38.22 36.87
Rebound Margin +6.2 +3.9
Assists 12.66 12.12
Turnovers 19.89 11.62
Blocked Shots 3.67 2.75
Steals 6.55 6.37
Fouls 19.78 20.37
SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY “Thunderbirds”
HEAD COACH
ROGER REID is in his 3rd season as head coach of the Thunderbirds. ... Coming into Saturday's game in Ogden, Reid is 25-45 (.357) at SUU. ... Prior to taking over at SUU, Reid spent two seasons as the head coach at Snow JC in Ephraim, Utah. Under his guidance the Badgers finished second in always tough Scenic West Conference. ... Reid's coaching career spans 36 seasons. He coached at Payson High School (1971-74) and Clearfield High School (1974-78) then left to join the basketball staff at Brigham Young University where he served under Coach Frank Arnold and Coach Ladell Andersen from 1978 through 1989. ... In 1989-90, Reid was named head coach at BYU. He guided the Cougars to five NCAA Tournament berths. Reid's teams posted an overall mark of 152-76, winning three Western Athletic Conference championships. ... A native of Springville, Utah, Reid attended the College of Eastern Utah for two seasons where he excelled in both basketball and baseball. ... Reid transferred to Weber State College where he played basketball under Coach Dick Motta in 1966-67 and 1967-68. The 1967-68 team posted a 21-7 record and won the Big Sky Conference championship. That team became the first squad in Weber State history to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. ... Reid earned All-Big Sky honors in basketball and baseball both seasons he competed. ... He earned a bachelor's degree from Weber State in Physical Education graduating in 1968.
SERIES HISTORY
Weber State holds a 19-6 lead in the overall series which began in 1981-82. ... The Wildcats are 14-2 at home vs. the Thunderbirds. ... SUU's victories in Ogden came in 1986-87 (92-90 OT) and in 2004-05 (62-56). ... The overtime game played in 1986-87 is still the only overtime game in the series. ... In the last six games, each team has won three times. ... WSU's largest margin of victory in the series was a 37-point win (97-60) in Ogden during the 1983-84 season. ... SUU's largest victory margin was a 21-point victory (68-47) in Cedar City during the 2005-06 season.
LAST YEAR IN CEDAR CITY - Dec. 13, 2008
Despite committing 29 personal fouls and losing FOUR players to disqualifications, the Wildcats kept their poise down the stretch and escaped with a 66-62 victory. .... Southern Utah led 26-24 at halftime led by DAVIS BAKER who scored 11 of his game high 27 points. ... That, however, would be SUU's last lead of the game as the Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders to begin the second half. ... NICK HANSEN'S three-ball at the 19:16 mark gave WSU the lead for good and ignited an 18-6 scoring run by the Wildcats, taking a 42-32 lead with 13:25 left. ... Weber State's biggest second half lead came with 4:40 left (57-46) on a lay up by Daviin Davis. ... SUU's DAVIS BAKER then knocked down a three-pointer which began a 10-2 scoring run for the Thunderbirds. Baker scored eight those 10 points and his two free throws with 59 seconds left made it a three-point game (59-56) for the Wildcats. ... Southern Utah fought back to within two points, three different times, during those final 59 seconds. The Thunderbirds trailed 64-62 with six seconds left after Dave Marek made one of two free throws. ... WSU's Kellen McCoy was fouled with two seconds left. He made both free throws sealing the win. ... The Wildcats were led by Daviin Davis who came off the bench to score 17 points and had four blocked shots. NICK HANSEN had 13, DAMIAN LILLARD, 11 and STEVE PANOS chipped in with 10. .... Tyler Quinney tossed in 18 for the Thunderbirds to go along with the 27 from DAVIS BAKER.
LAST TIME IN OGDEN - Dec. 19, 2006
Dan Henry's basket with 1:13 left in the game proved to be the game winner and gave the Wildcats a 59-57 win. ... SUU's Junior Abrahao had a potential game-tying jumper with five seconds left, but it was blocked by Arturas Valeika and the ball went out of bounds giving the T-Birds one last shot. SUU threw the ball into Orlando Griego who fired up a game-winning three-pointer as the buzzer sounded but it skipped off the rim. ... SUU took a 30-26 half time lead, holding the Wildcats to just 8-27 (.296) shooting. ... David Patten led the Wildcats with 11 points and Tyler Billings came off the bench to score 10. ... Southern Utah was led by Steve Barnes who scored 14 points and had five assists. Griego added 12. ... Weber State out rebounded the Thunderbirds 40-21.
SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS
Southern Utah comes to Ogden with an overall record of 3-6. They are 2-1 at home, 0-4 on the road and 1-1 on neutral courts. ... SUU began the season at the Hawai'i Tip Off Classic where they lost to Hawai'i (65-48), defeated McNeese State (68-59) and lost to Big Sky member, Northern Colorado, 73-51. ... SUU began play in the Summit League last weekend, dropping road games to Centenary (93-85 OT) and Oral Roberts (68-53). ... The Thunderbirds lost at Utah State (89-49) on November 28. ... DAVIS BAKER (6-5, 195 Sr. Guard) is one of four players scoring in double figures for the Thunderbirds. Baker is averaging 16.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. RYAN BRIMLEY (6-4, 180 Jr. Guard), a transfer from Snow College via Hillcrest High, has come off the bench in the first eight games to average 11.5 points a game. ... JAKE NIELSON (6-3, 200 Soph. Guard) averages 10.4 and MATT MASSEY (6-9, 232 Soph. Center) averages 10.2 points and leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 boards per game. ... SUU is holding its opponents to just 40 percent shooting from the field and just 31 percent from the three-point line.
SOUTHERN UTAH PROBABLE STARTERS...
PNO NAME HT WT CL. HOMETOWN PPG RPG APG
F-34 Matt Massey 6-9 232 So. Brisbane, AUSTRALIA 10.2 6.3 1.2
C-44 Matt Hodgson 6-11 225 Fr. Booval, AUSTRALIA 5.8 3.7 0.2
W-4 Jake Nielson 6-3 200 So. Aurora, CO 10.4 4.0 2.4
W-25 Davis Baker 6-5 195 Sr. Coto de Caza, CA 16.2 5.1 0.9
G-12 Scott Friel 6-4 210 Fr. Riverton, Utah 4.0 3.0 3.0
OFF THE BENCH
W-10 Ryan Brimley 6-4 180 Jr. Sandy, UT 11.5 2.4 0.8
W-2 Brian Cameron 6-3 190 So. Draper, UT 4.0 1.0 1.0
W-23 Jordan Weirick 6-4 196 Fr. West Jordan, UT 3.4 1.9 0.7
F-33 Byron Byrd 6-5 220 Sr. Newark, NJ 3.0 3.0 0.5
2009-10 SUU GAME RESULTS
11-13 #at Hawai'i 65-48 L
11-15 #McNeese State 68-69 W
11-16 #Northern Colorado 73-51 L
11-19 U. OF SOUTHWEST 111-51 W
11-21 WAYLAND BAPTIST 79-61 W
11-25 TENNESSEE TECH 72-65 L
11-28 at Utah State 89-49 L
12-3 *at Centenary (OT) 93-85 L
12-5 *at Oral Roberts 68-53 L
#Hawai'i Tip Off Tournament - Honolulu, Hawai'i
*The Summit League game
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY “Wildcats”
PROBABLE STARTERS
P/#NAME HT WT CL. HOMETOWN PPG RPG APG
F-23 Franklin Session 6-3 175 Jr. Los Angeles, CA 9.0 6.6 2.4
F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 215 So. Mountain View, WY 9.4 4.1 1.0
C-45 Steve Panos 6-8 245 Sr. Salt Lake City, UT 10.6 5.6 0.4
G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 185 So. Oakland, CA 20.6 3.4 3.6
G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 205 Sr. Pocatello, ID 8.3 3.4 1.8
OFF THE BENCH
G-15 Lindsey Hughey 6-3 200 Jr. Grand Prairie, TX 6.0 3.0 1.8
C-55 Trevor Morris 6-9 240 Jr. Nampa, ID 4.8 2.9 0.5
F-33 Matt Washington6-7 220 Jr. New Orleans, LA 4.8 3.2 0.2
F-30 Darin Mahoney 6-8 225 So. Heber City, UT 3.2 3.3 0.0
G-21 Josh Noble 6-2 195 Jr. Brooklyn, NY 0.3 0.7 1.0
HEAD COACH
Weber State's RANDY RAHE, begins his 4th season at the Wildcat helm. ... In his three short seasons, Rahe's teams have captured two Big Sky Conference regular season championships (06-07, 08-09), the Big Sky Post-Season Tournament championship (06-07), and an NCAA post-season berth in 2006-07. ... Rahe was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both 06-07 and 08-09. ... Rahe is 61-40 (.604) overall in his three seasons as Weber State, and 37-12 (.755) in Big Sky Conference games. ... Rahe's teams have posted a HOME COURT record of 36-8 (.818) during his tenure. ... Rahe is 2-1 vs. Southern Utah
2006-07 20-12 overall 11-5 Big Sky
2007-08 16-14 overall 10-6 Big Sky
2008-09 21-10 overall 15-1 Big Sky
2009-10 4-4 overall 1-0 Big Sky
FIRST HALF WOES CONTINUE FOR WILDCATS
It's a good thing that games are decided in the second half. Otherwise the Wildcats would be 0-8 in the regular season. ... The Wildcats have found themselves behind at half time in all eight regular season games in 2009-10, and were behind at half in a Nov. 7 exhibition game at home vs. Colorado Christian as well. WSU has been out scored by an average of five points (36.87 to 31.87) in the first half this season. ... In five of the eight games played, WSU has shot 42 percent or better in the first half. ... The only first half in which the 'Cats have shot 50 percent or better came at home vs. Utah.
THREE DESPITE THE THREE
The Wildcats now have a three-game win streak in tow heading into Saturday's game at home vs. Southern Utah. ... In those three victories, the Wildcats hit just 16-62 (.258) shots from behind the arc while their opponents made 18-48 (.375). ... WSU is averaging 21.62 three-point attempts per game and making an average of 6.00.
TAKING CARE OF THE BASKETBALL
The Wildcats have been taking very good care of the basketball this season and in the last two games in particular. ... After a season low five last week at home vs. Utah (zero in the 2nd half) the Wildcats committed just seven last Saturday at Sacramento State. ... The Wildcats have had three single digit turnover games this season. They only had nine at UC Santa Barbara. ... WSU had a season high 20 turnover on Nov. 22 at Seattle University.
REBOUNDING AND BALL CONTROL HAVE BEEN THE KEY
While the Wildcats have struggled shooting, they have had no trouble getting rebounds and taking care of the basketball. ... The 'Cats have 102 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS this season, an average of 12.75 per game. That has translated into many second chance points. WSU holds a +3.9 Rebounding Margin over its opponents. ... The Wildcats have had single digit turnovers in each of their last three games (7.00 avg.) and are averaging just 11.62 miscues a game which obviously means more possessions each game.
MATT IS THE CAT!
With just nine players to work with for the season, getting great play off the bench will be a real key to WSU's success in 2009-10. ... It looks like the coaching staff has found a missing puzzle piece with the recent play of 6-7, 220 junior center/forward MATT WASHINGTON. ... At 26 years old, Washington is by far the oldest player on the team but he's playing with the energy of an 18-year old freshman. ... He played a brief minute in the season opener vs. Utah State and did not play at all in road games at UC Santa Barbara and Seattle University. ... When Darin Mahoney couldn't go at home vs. Western State, Washington came in and scored six points. Three nights later he had six points and four rebounds in a hostile environment at BYU. ... After getting two points and one board vs. Utah, he sparked the Wildcats in a second half come back at Sacramento State with six points and three boards. ... In the win over Montana Tech, a case could be made for him being the player who turned it around, coming off the bench to score nine points and grab 10 rebounds. Seven of the points and eight of the rebounds came in the second half. ... The 9 points and 10 boards are both game highs for him in a WSU uniform.
ALL - TIME RECORD
Weber State has an overall record in 47 seasons of 857-498 (.632). ... In those 47 seasons, the Wildcats have had just EIGHT LOSING campaigns! ... The Wildcats have won 20 OR MORE games in 22 of those 47 seasons.
HOME UNDER THE DOME OF THE DEE
The 2009-10 season marks the 31st season of Wildcat basketball inside the 12,000 seat Dee Events Center which opened on Nov. 1, 1977. ... WSU defeated Long Beach State, 99-96 OT in the first game ever played under the dome. ... The Wildcats are 355-97 (.786) playing in the Dee Events Center. . . . Weber State's overall home court record, counting the 15 seasons in the old Swenson Gym is a solid 535-114 (.824)!
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats have just one game next week, taking on the Runnin' Rebels of Nevada-Las Vegas on Thursday, December 17 inside the Thomas & Mack Center. ... Tip off is set for 7:05 p.m. (PST), 8:05 in the Mountain Time Zone. ... The Wildcats won't be back home in the Dee Events Center until Thursday, December 31 (New Year's Eve) with a 3:05 afternoon tip against MONTANA STATE.
RANDY RAHE QUOTES
ON SOUTHERN UTAH. “I have great respect for Coach Reid. He's probably forgotten more basketball than I know. I do know his teams begin everything on the defensive end. They hound you and dog you into turnovers and make it very uncomfortable to run your offense. Davis Baker is a player who can put 30 or more on you in a heart beat. He presents a tough match up for us.”
ON THE WILDCATS: “We obviously didn't have a very nice post-game chat but that game is history and we move forward. I told them we weren't going to watch the game and tossed the CD into the garbage. We will take Thursday off then get back at it on Friday."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballWeber State men's basketball wins at Kansas City - 12/10/25
Thursday, December 11
MBB - at Kansas City - 12/10/25
Thursday, December 11
Weber State men's basketball rolls past Oral Roberts - 12-03-25
Thursday, December 04
MBB - vs. Oral Roberts - 12-03-25
Wednesday, December 03