Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah State
Wildcats host Aggies Wednesday
12/14/2021 9:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball
9-1 Weber State hosts Utah State for the first time in four years.
• Weber State continues its four-game homestand with two instate marquee games this week beginning Wednesday when the Wildcats host Utah State at the Dee Events Center.
• The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. and will be televised throughout Utah on KJZZ TV and will be streamed on ESPN+ with Dave Fox, Lance Allred and Tim LaComb on the call. WSU radio broadcast with Steve Klauke and David Patten will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats at WeberStateSports.com.
• Weber State enters Wednesday's game with a 9-1 overall record. The Wildcats started the season with an 8-0 record, their best start in 36 years. WSU had wins over Duquesne as well as UMass, Ball State, Green Bay and Dixie State. They also opened Big Sky play with two home wins over Northern Arizona and Portland State. WSU suffered its first loss of the season last Wednesday with a 94-60 loss at Washington State. The Wildcats bounced back with an 82-36 win over Maine Fort Kent on Saturday. WSU shot 53 percent from the field and had a season-high 47 rebounds.
• Weber State has won 15 straight home games, which is tied for the 10th longest active home winning streak in the nation.
• Through 10 games, senior Koby McEwen leads the Wildcats in scoring and is eighth in the Big Sky at 15.6 points per game. He has scored in double figures in all but one game so far this season. McEwen, a native of Toronto, spent his first two seasons at Utah State from 2016-18. He was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2017.
• Dillon Jones is averaging 12.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He ranks second in the Big Sky and 12th in the nation in rebounding. Jones has led the Wildcats in rebounding in nine of 10 games this season. He also has six double-doubles on the year, tied for the fifth most in the country. Jones, the 2021 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, is also third in the Big Sky in steals and is shooting 58 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.
• Sophomore Seikou Sisoho Jawara, a preseason All-Big Sky selection, is averaging 12.2 points per game and leads the Wildcats in assists at 3.1 per game. He has scored in double figures five times this season. Sisoho Jawara earned second team All-Big Sky honors last season.
• Senior transfer JJ Overton is averaging 12 points per game and shooting 57 percent from the field. He also leads the Big Sky in steals at 2.0 per game. He has scored in double figures in seven of 10 games this season. Overton transferred to Weber State this summer after two seasons at Utah Valley.
• Weber State leads the Big Sky and is 27th in the nation in field goal percentage at 48.7 percent. The Wildcats are 9-0 this season when leading their opponent in field goal percentage and 0-1 when trailing. WSU has shot 50 percent or better five times.
• The Wildcats are currently 24th in the nation in turnover margin at +4.9. The 'Cats have had fewer turnovers that their opponent in seven of the eight games this season.
• WSU reached 80 or more points for the sixth time this season in Saturday's win. The Wildcats improved to 145-9 under coach Rahe when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
• Utah State enters Wednesday's game with a 7-3 record. USU's wins this season include Richmond, Penn, Oklahoma and UT Arlington. The Aggies are coming off a 82-50 win over New Orleans last Saturday. This week's game will be just the second true road game of the season for Utah State. The Aggies loss at 82-71 at BYU last Wednesday.
• The Aggies are fourth in the nation in assists, averaging 19.8 per game and is fifth in the country in total assists. USU has had 20 or more assists five times this season.
• Senior Justin Bean is averaging a double-double at 21.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. He ranks 12th in the nation in scoring and is fourth in rebounding. He has seven double-doubles this season, which is the second-most in the nation. He is also sixth in the country in field goal percentage at 65.6 percent.
• Rylan Jones is 12th in the nation in assists at 6.0 per game.
• The Aggies were 20-9 overall last season and finished 15-4 in the Mountain West. USU was picked to fifth in the preseason poll.
• Utah State is coached by first year head coach Ryan Odom who came to Utah State after five seasons at UMBC. He led the Retrievers to an upset win over Virginia in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the first 16 seed to ever beat a No. 1 seed.
• This will be the 73rd all-time meeting between the two schools with Utah State holding a 44-28 series lead. The Aggies have won the last two games, six of the last eight and 10 of the last 13 games against the Wildcats. The two teams did not play last year. The last meeting was an 89-34 win in Logan to open the 2019-20 season.
• In games in Ogden, Weber State holds a 17-16 series lead. This will be Utah State's first visit to Ogden in four years. The last game played at the Dee Events Center was a 65-59 Weber State win in the season opener of the 2017-18 season. The series is 3-3 over the last six games played in Ogden.
