Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
#2 Montana State
Wildcats and Bobcats meet again in Big Sky semifinals
3/7/2023 8:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and Montana State meet again in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
• It's on to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament and it's a rematch from last year's semifinals as longtime rivals Weber State and Montana State meet again. The Wildcats and Bobcats will tipoff at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 from the Idaho Central Arena in Boise. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Tony Parks and former Wildcat coach Joe Cravens on the call. It will also be streamed 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.
• Weber State is 18-14 overall and advanced to the semifinals after a 70-64 win over Sacramento State on Monday night. The Wildcats finished 12-6 in the Big Sky regular season and finished third in the league standings. Weber State has won five of its last six games.
• Montana State is 23-9 and finished second in the Big Sky at 15-3 to earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Bobcats beat No. 8 seed Northern Colorado 84-73 on Sunday night to advance to the semifinals. MSU has won six straight and 11 of its last 12 games, with the only loss coming at Weber State on February 9.
• The two teams split the season series this year, each winning at home. Montana State beat Weber State 67-52 on January 14 in Bozeman and the Wildcats won 73-63 on February 9 in Ogden. In the two games the Wildcats shot 49 percent from the field, with the Bobcats at 47 percent. MSU made 14 3-pointers and narrowly won the rebounding margin.
• This is a rematch of last year's semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise. Montana State beat the Wildcats 69-66 last March in the semifinals, then went on to win the tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
• This week marks the 47th Big Sky Conference postseason tournament and Weber State has participated in 45 of the 47 tournaments, the most of any team in conference history. The Wildcats have won the postseason tournament 10 times, the second-most in conference history and have advanced to the championship 17 times. Weber State's last tournament win was in 2016 and the last time the 'Cats advanced to the championship game was 2017. WSU is 49-34 all-time in the tournament.
• This marks the eighth-straight year the Big Sky Tournament is being held at a predetermined site with all conference schools participating. It's the fifth-straight year the tournament will be in Boise at the Idaho Central Arena.
• Two Wildcats earned All-Big Sky honors following the completion of the regular season. Dillon Jones was a unanimous selection for first-team All-Big Sky honors and Steven Verplancken earned third team all-conference honors.
• Dillon Jones earned All-Big Sky first-team honors for the first time in his career after a memorable regular season as he leads Weber State in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
Jones scored 18 points in Monday's win, and tied his season-low with just five rebounds. He has 19 double-doubles on the year, the third-most of any player in the country. He leads the nation in defensive rebounds at 10.1 per game, nearly two rebounds per game above second place. He also ranks eighth in the country in overall rebounds per game at 10.8. He has double figures in rebounding in 21 of 31 games this season.
Jones ranks in the top 10 in the Big Sky in eight different statistical categories. He leads the league in rebounding, defensive rebounding, and minutes played at 35.7 minutes per game. He is eighth in the conference in scoring at 16.6 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games and has reached 20 or more points 10 times. He also ranks second in the Big Sky in steals, fourth in assists, fifth in field goal percentage, and sixth in free throw percentage.
The Columbia, South Carolina native, also continues to move up in the Wildcat record books. He is now 24th in career scoring with 1,120 points in 87 games. He ranks fifth in career rebounding with 817 and eighth in career rebounding average. He is also seventh in career field goal percentage and 10th in career free throw percentage.
• Steven Verplancken earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career as he was named to the All-Big Sky third team. He added 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting in Monday's win. He is the only player that has started all 32 games this season.
Verplancken is second on the Wildcat team in scoring at 13.2 points per game and he scored in double figures in 26 of his 32 games.
• KJ Cunningham had a career-high 16 points in Monday's win and was 6 of 7 from the field. Cunningham has scored in double figures six times this season and is averaging 6.4 points per game. He has started his last 20 games or the Wildcats.
• 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.
• Weber State had a season-low 18 rebounds in Monday's win and won for just the fourth time when trailing in rebounding. WSU also had a season-low in turnovers with six. On the year, the Wildcats are 16-1 when leading in field goal percentage and 2-13 when trailing. WSU is also 13-2 when leading at halftime and 4-12 when trailing.
• Montana State enters the semifinals winners of 11 of their its 12 games, with the only loss coming at Weber State on February 9. The Bobcats won the Big Sky regular season and tournament last year and finished second in the regular season this year.
MSU is seventh in the country in free throws made per game at 17.3. The Bobcats lead the Big Sky in scoring defense and scoring margin and rank second in field goal defense, blocks, steals and turnover margin.
• Weber State is 89-41 all-time against Montana State the most wins against any team in its history. WSU is 5-4 against the Bobcats in the Big Sky Tournament, including last year's MSU win.
• The winner of Tuesday's game will take on the winner of No. 4 seed Montana and No. 9 seed Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Championship game, which will be on Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
