Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Montana State
Road trip concludes at Montana State Saturday afternoon
1/13/2023 11:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats and Bobcats meet Saturday at 4 p.m. in Bozeman.
• Coming off thrilling last second win at Montana on Thursday night, Weber State continues its road trip through the state at Montana State Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats and Bobcats will tipoff at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon from Worthington Arena in Bozeman. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with WSU radio coverage with Steve Klauke on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 8-9 overall and 3-1 in Big Sky play following Thursday's thrilling win in Missoula. The Wildcats trailed by two with five seconds to play when Dyson Koehler stole the Montana inbound pass, then hit Steven Verplancken for the game-winning 3-pointer with one second left.
• Montana State is 11-7 overall and 4-1 in Big Sky play. The Bobcats have won three-straight games, including a 81-68 win over Idaho State Thursday night. Montana State won the regular season and tournament titles last season and the Bobcats were picked to finish first again this season in the Big Sky preseason polls.
• Weber State sophomore Dillon Jones had yet another career nigh in Thursday's win. Jones had his ninth double-double of the season and finished with 17 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. He also tied his career-high with five 3-pointers and played all 40 minutes. The 21 rebounds is the most by a Wildcat in nearly seven years, since Joel Bolomboy had 23 rebounds against Sacramento State in February 2016. It's also tied for the fifth-most in a game by any player in the country this season. He also moved into a tie for 10th in WSU history with 654 career rebounds.
• The nine double-doubles for Jones is tied for the sixth-most by an player in the country this season. After the 21 rebound night, Jones also leads the nation in defensive rebounds at 9.9 per game and is seventh in overall rebounds at 10.7 per game. He leads the Wildcats in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. He is also first in the Big Sky in free throw percentage at 86.3 percent.
• The 3-point hero in Thursday's win, Steven Verplancken, scored in double figures for the 13th time this season, including seven of the last eight games as he finished with 12 points and knocked down two 3-pointers. Verplancken is averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range. He is the only Wildcat that has started all 17 games this season.
• Weber State won for the first time this season when scoring less than 70 points. The Wildcats are now 7-0 when scoring 70 or more points and just 1-9 when scoring less than 70 points. WSU is also 3-0 when holding opponents under 60 points in a game.
• The Wildcats improved to 6-1 this season when leading at halftime and are just 1-8 when trailing at the break. Weber State is also 7-1 when outrebounding its opponents and 1-8 when trailing in the rebounding margin.
• Sophomore center Alex Tew scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, finishing with 10 points in Thursday's win. He also grabbed seven rebounds, his second-highest rebounding total of the season. Tew is averaging 7.3 points and 3.6 rebounds on the season and over the last five games is averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He also leads the Wildcats with 19 dunks this season.
• Weber State shot 64.7 percent from the free throw line in Thursday's win, the second-lowest percentage of the season. On the year, the Wildcats are now fifth in the country in free throw percentage at 80.6 percent. The Wildcats have shot 80 percent or better nine times and 90 percent or better three times.
• 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.
• Montana State is coached by former Bobcat great Danny Sprinkle who is in his fourth season with the Bobcats. He is 66-40 overall and 38-21 in Big Sky play. He led the Bobcats to a 27-8 overall record last year that included a regular season and tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He was also named the Big Sky Coach of the Year last season.
• The Bobcats lead the Big Sky in scoring defense, scoring margin and field goal percentage defense. They also rank second in the conference in field goal percentage, scoring offense and steals, and rank third in 3-point defense, rebounding margin, blocks and turnover margin.
• The two longtime rivals have met 128 times since Weber State became a Division I school, and the Wildcats hold an 88-40 all-time series lead over the Bobcats. The 88 wins is the most by Weber State against any opponent in its history.
MSU won two of three games last year, including a 69-66 win in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise.
WSU is 32-29 all-time in games in Bozeman and has won six of the last seven.
• Weber State returns to the Dee Events Center for two games next week, hosting Portland State on Thursday, January 19 and Sacramento State on Saturday, January 21.
