Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Portland State
Wildcats head to Portland State Thursday
2/23/2022 12:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State has just three games left in the regular season.
• Weber State returns to the road in the final stretch of the Big Sky season when the 'Cats take on Portland State Thursday night. The Wildcats and Vikings will tipoff at 7 p.m. Pacific time (8 p.m. MT) from Viking Pavilion in Portland. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Steve Klauke will have the call on the WSU radio broadcast on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats at WeberStateSports.com.
• The Wildcats are 19-9 overall and 12-5 in Big Sky play. WSU is coming off an 83-79 overtime loss to Northern Colorado on Saturday. Weber State is currently second in the Big Sky standings with three conference games remaining.
• Portland State enters Thursday's game at 9-15 overall and 7-9 in conference play, currently seventh in the conference standings.
• Senior transfer Koby McEwen scored 29 points in Saturday's game against Northern Colorado. He also had seven rebounds and four assists and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line. It was his 11th time this season scoring 20 or more points and he has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. McEwen is third in the Big Sky in scoring at 18 points per game and is averaging 18.9 points per game in conference games, second-best in the league. McEwen now has 504 points this season, and became the 24th player in WSU history to reach 500 points in a season.
• Dillon Jones recorded his 15th double-double of the season on Saturday, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds. The 15 double-doubles is tied for the seventh-most of any player in the country this season. Jones has recorded double figures in rebounding in 10-straight games. He continues to lead the Big Sky and is eighth in the country in rebounding at 10.8 per game. He now has 301 rebounds this season, and is the 12th player in Weber State history to record 300 or more rebounds in a season. Jones is also averaging 12.5 points per game and shooting 53.6 percent from the field. Jones is also third in the conference in steals and fifth in minutes played.
• Senior Dontay Bassett added 13 points and five rebounds in Saturday's game. Bassett has started the last 13 games for the Wildcats and on the season he is averaging 9.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures in the last four and eight of the last 10 games. Bassett is also second in the conference in blocked shots, in Big Sky games, averaging 1.2 per game. He is also shooting 54 percent on the season.
• Weber State has three of the top five players in the Big Sky in minutes played per game. Seikou Sisoho Jawara is third with Koby McEwen fourth and Dillon Jones fifth in minutes played.
• The Wildcats are one win away from 20 wins this season, which would be the eighth time in 16 years under Randy Rahe the Weber State has won at least 20 games in a season, and the first since 2017-18.
• Weber State ranks fourth in the country in free throws made this season with 445, an average of 15.9 per game. The Wildcats are also ninth in the country in free throw attempts with 600, for an average of 21.4 attempts per game.
• Portland State leads the Big Sky and ranks 13th in the nation in steals at 9.3 steals per game. The Vikings are also first in the conference and 15th in the country in turnover margin at +4.1. PSU is also second in the league in blocks and third in free throw percentage. The Vikings are coached by first-year head coach Jase Coburn.
• This will be the 61st all-time meeting between the two schools with Weber State holding a 43-17 series lead. The Wildcats are 15-13 all-time in games in Portland. The two teams split two games in Portland last season.
• Weber State beat Portland State 80-69 on December 4 in Ogden, in just the second Big Sky game of the season. The Wildcats knocked down nine 3-pointers and outrebounded the Vikings 41-37. Four Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Seikou Sisoho Jawara with 17 points.
• WSU senior Michal Kozak has played in 132 career games, which is now tied for the most games in school history. He needs one more game to pass Jordan Richardson (2010-14) for the most games played in school history. Kozak is also fifth in school history in career blocks with 104 and is 17th in career rebounds with 575.
• After Thursday's game, the Wildcats will head to Northern Arizona for a Saturday afternoon game with the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff. The final regular season game will be on Saturday, March 5 against Southern Utah in Ogden. The Big Sky Tournament will be March 9-12 in Boise, Idaho. The top five teams in the regular season will receive a bye into the quarterfinals.
