Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
California Baptist
Back on the road for the Wildcats Wednesday at California Baptist
12/6/2022 3:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats and Lancers meet for the first time Wednesday in Riverside, California.
• Weber State heads back on the road for a matchup at California Baptist Wednesday night. The Wildcats and Lancers will tipoff at 7 p.m. Pacific time (8 p.m. MT) from the CBU Events Center in Riverside, California. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with WSU radio coverage on 103.1 FM "The Wave".
• Weber State is 2-6 on the season and coming off a 77-65 loss to Utah Tech Saturday night. The Wildcats have played six of the first seven games away from home. Starting with Wednesday's game, WSU will play four of the next five on the road to close out the non-conference schedule.
• California Baptist is 5-4 on the season and coming off a 64-53 loss at Cal Poly last Saturday. The Lancers have a preseason win at Washington, as well as wins over Central Michigan and UC Riverside. They have overtime losses to Minnesota and Southern Illinois.
• Weber State ranks second in the country in free throw percentage at 82.8 percent. WSU is 130 of 157 from the line through the first eight games and the Wildcats have led their opponents in free throw percentage in every game this season. The 'Cats have shot 80 percent or better from the line in six games.
• Dillon Jones had his fourth double-double of the season in Saturday's game, tied for the 10th most in the nation this season. Jones is averaging 13 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Jones is first in the country in defensive rebounds per game at 8.7. Steven Verplancken is WSU's second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from 3-point range.
• Weber State is led by new head coach Eric Duft who was named the 10th head coach in Weber State history in May. Duft replaced Randy Rahe who retired after 16 seasons as the head coach as the Big Sky Conference's all-time leader in career wins and led the Wildcats to five Big Sky titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. Duft spent all 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Rahe.
• This is the first ever meeting between the two schools. California Baptist is in its fifth season since moving to Division I and is a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Wildcats are facing a team from the WAC for the third-straight game and the fourth time in the last five games. WSU beat Abilene Christian in Las Vegas and the last two games were against WAC teams Tarleton State and Utah Tech.
• WSU is back home Saturday night to host Division II Saint Martin's University at 7 p.m.
