Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Portland State
Wildcats head to Portland State Saturday night
2/17/2023 10:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State is 9-5 in Big Sky play and in third in the league standings with four games remaining.
• Weber State continues its road trip Saturday night in the Pacific northwest against Portland State. The Wildcats and Vikings will tipoff at 7 p.m. Pacific time (8 MT) from Viking Pavilion in Portland. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with the WSU radio broadcast with Steve Klauke on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 14-13 overall and 9-5 in Big Sky play, currently third in the league standings. The Wildcats are coming off a 52-49 win over Sacramento State on Thursday.
• Portland State is 12-15 overall and 6-8 in Big Sky play, currently in a tie for fifth in the league standings. The Vikings have won their last two games and are coming off a 79-70 win over Idaho State on Thursday night.
• Weber State beat Portland State 84-68 on Jan. 19 in Ogden. The 84 points is the most the Wildcats have scored in a game this season. WSU shot a season-best 57 percent from the field and was 10 of 18 from 3-point range. The 'Cats led by as many as 30 points in the second half. Five Wildcats scored in double figures in the win, with Dillon Jones totaling 17 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
• WSU standout Dillon Jones had his 16th double-double of the season in Thursday's win, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds, to go along with three assists and two steals. The 16 double-doubles is currently tied for the third-most of any player in the country. Jones has led the Wildcats in scoring 15 times this season and has scored in double figures 22 times and has reached 20 or more points six times. He is eighth in the Big Sky in scoring at 15.7 points per game and has reached double figures in 12-straight games and 20 of the last 21 games.
Jones leads the country in defensive rebounds at 10.0 per game and is seventh in the nation in overall rebounds at 10.8 per game. He leads the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
He also has had 10 or more rebounds in 10 of the last 13 games and has led the Wildcats in rebounding in 17-straight games and 20 of the last 21 games. He ranks fifth in the Big Sky in assists at 3.8 per game, is second in steals at 1.6 per game. He is fifth in the Big Sky in free throw percentage at 82.5 percent. He now ranks sixth in WSU history in career rebounds with 765 in 82 career games. He just passed 1,000 career points and also ranks fifth in career steals.
• Steven Verplancken added 12 points in Thursday's win, the 21st time he has reached double figures this season. Verplancken is second on the Wildcat team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. He is the only Wildcat that has started all 27 games this season.
Alex Tew scored in double figures for the seventh time this season with 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting. Tew is shooting 56 percent from the field.
• With a 9-5 conference record, the Wildcats are currently third in the league standings with four games remaining. With one more win, or other teams losses, Weber State will clinch at least a top six finish that would ensure a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, which will be held March 4-8 in Boise, Idaho.
• The Wildcats improved to 7-1 on Thursday's this season with the win over Sacramento State, and in Big Sky play WSU is 6-0 on Thursday's. Weber State is 4-5 overall on Saturday's and 3-4 on Saturday's in Big Sky play.
• 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.
• Portland State leads the Big Sky in scoring offense, blocks, steals and turnover margin, where it ranks15th in the country. The Vikings are 11th in the nation in fast break points and 25th nationally in turnovers forced per game. Cameron Parker is seventh in the nation in assists at 6.2 per game.
• Weber State holds a 44-18 all-time series lead over Portland State, including the win earlier this season. However, over the last four years, the series is tied 5-5.
In games in Portland, Weber State is 15-14 all-time, but the Vikings have won the last two and three of the last four games.
• Weber State will play its final two home games of the regular season next week, hosting league-leading Eastern Washington on Thursday, and Idaho on Saturday. The final regular season game will be February 27 at Northern Arizona.
