Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Wyoming
Wildcats continue road trip at Wyoming Saturday
12/15/2023 9:07:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State will take on Wyoming Saturday night in Laramie.
• Weber State continues its Mountain West Conference road trip with a game at Wyoming Saturday night in Laramie.
• The Wildcats and Cowboys will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday night from the Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Digital Network. The Weber State radio coverage will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Steve Klauke on the call. Live stats and video links will be available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 5-4 on the season. The Wildcats are coming off a 72-55 loss at Nevada on Wednesday night in Reno. The Wolfpack shot an opponent season-high 57 percent from the field and the Wildcats committed season-high 15 turnovers.
• Junior transfer Blaise Threatt started the game for the Wildcats and posted a season-high 18 points against Nevada. He was 8 of 12 from the field with two 3-pointers. He also dished out four assists. Threatt, who transferred to WSU from Colorado Mesa, is averaging 9.0 points and 2.8 assists per game, while shooting 56.7 percent from the field.
• Wildcat standout Dillon Jones had his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds at Nevada. Jones leads Weber State in points, rebounds, assists, and steals this season. He has twice been named Big Sky Player of the Week. He leads the nation in defensive rebounds and is sixth in the country in total rebounds at 10.9 per game. He is also first in the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game.
• Jones was the unanimous selection as the Big Sky Preseason MVP. He is a two-time first-team all-conference selection and a two-time all-district selection. He participated in the G League and NBA Draft combines this summer before returning to school. He has played in 95 career games at Weber State and ranks fourth in school history in career rebounding. He is also 16th in career scoring, fourth in steals, and ninth in free throws made. He has 44 career double-doubles.
• Senior Steven Verplancken scored in double figures for the seventh time this season as he finished with 10 points against Nevada. Verplancken is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and has 22 3-pointers on the year. He is also a perfect 19 of 19 from the free throw line this season. He is one of three players in the country with at least 19 attempts that has not missed a free throw this season. Verplancken earned All-Big Sky honors last season and was named to the preseason all-conference team this year.
• Weber State ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 60 points per game. The 72 by Nevada was the most the 'Cats have given up this season. WSU is also 17th in the nation in fouls per game at 13.8 and 31st in turnover margin.
• WSU leads the Big Sky in scoring defense and scoring margin. The 'Cats are second in free throw percentage, 3-point percentage and turnover margin.
• Weber State has all five starters returning from last year and the Wildcats were picked first in the Big Sky Conference preseason media and coaches polls. WSU had two players named to the Big Sky preseason all-conference team in Jones and senior Steven Verplancken.
• The Wildcats are coached by Eric Duft who returns for his second season as head coach and his 18th season overall at Weber State. He spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach under Randy Rahe before becoming the 10th head coach in WSU history in May 2022. Weber State finished 18-15 overall last season and was third in the Big Sky at 12-6.
• Weber State has one of the most international rosters in the country as the Wildcats have eight players that come from outside of the United States, representing six different countries. Two players are from England (Louie Jordan, Alex Tew), and two from Serbia in cousins Marko and Nemanja Sarenac. WSU also has players from Switzerland (Arnaud Revaz), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Handje Tamba), Finland (Viljami Vartiainen), and the Dominican Republic (Steven Verplancken).
• Wyoming is 6-3 on the season and has won the last two games. They opened the season with wins over Northern New Mexico and Cal Poly and also have wins over College of Charleston and Furman. The Cowboys are coming off wins over South Dakota Mines and Stephen F. Austin.
• Wyoming is first in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage. The Cowboys are shooting 43.3 percent from 3-point range this season, the best in the country. Sam Griffin is fifth in the nation at 52.2 percent.
• The Cowboys were 9-22 overall last season and 4-14 in the Mountain West. They were picked to finish 10th in the Mountain West preseason poll this year.
• Wyoming is coached by Jeff Linder who is in his fourth season at Wyoming. He is 54-45 with the Cowboys. Prior to becoming head coach at Wyoming, he was an assistant at San Francisco and Boise State before four seasons as head coach at Northern Colorado in the Big Sky.
• Linder was an assistant coach at Weber State from 2006-08 under head coach Randy Rahe. He was on the same staff as assistant coaches with current Wildcat head coach Eric Duft.
• This will be just the seventh all-time meeting between the two teams and the first since 2005. Wyoming is 4-2 all-time against the Wildcats and is a perfect 4-0 all-time in games in Laramie. The two teams last met on New Year's Eve in 2005, a 58-48 Wyoming win.
• WSU will be back home to host Park Gilbert on Thursday, December 21 in a 2 p.m. tipoff at the Dee Events Center. After that, the Wildcats will start Big Sky Conference play hosting Montana on December 28 and Montana State on December 30.
