Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Portland State
'Cats continue road trip at Portland State Saturday
1/12/2024 1:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats and Vikings will tipoff at 5 p.m. Mountain time in Portland.
• Weber State continues its road trip and looks to bounce back after Thursday night's loss as the Wildcats play at Portland State Saturday afternoon.
• The Wildcats and Vikings will tipoff at 4 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. MT) at Viking Pavilion in Portland. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Weber State radio coverage will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Steve Klauke calling the action. Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats saw their six-game winning streak snapped with a 71-69 loss at Sacramento State Thursday night. Portland State is 10-6 overall and 1-2 in league play. The Vikings lost at home to Idaho State on Thursday.
• Weber State senior Steven Verplancken had a career-high 30 points with six 3-pointers in Thursday's game at Sacramento State. Verplancken finished the night 11 of 13 from the field and was 6 of 8 from 3-point range. It's his first time scoring 30 points in his 135 career games at Glenville State, Southern Illinois, and Weber State. He's the first Wildcat to score 30 points since Koby McEwen scored 32 in February 2022. The six 3-pointers is also a career-high for Verplancken and he's the first Wildcat with six 3-pointers in a game in nearly two years.
On the season Verplancken is second on the Wildcat team and 12th in the Big Sky in scoring at 12.6 points per game and leads the team with 38 3-pointers. He is second in the conference in 3-pointers per game at 2.4. Verplancken was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team.
• Weber State junior standout Dillon Jones had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Thursday's game and played all 40 minutes. Jones leads the Big Sky in rebounds and ranks second in scoring and assists. He also leads the conference in minutes played, and is third in steals, and fifth in field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He ranks third in the nation in double-doubles with 10 in 15 games this season. He is also second in the nation in defensive rebounds and 17th in overall rebounds.
• Jones continues to move up the Weber State record books. He is third in school history and seventh in Big Sky history in career rebounds. He also ranks second in career steals and needs five more steals to pass Eddie Gill as the school's all-time leader. Jones is also sixth in career assists, eighth in rebounding average, eighth in free throws made, and 11th in scoring. 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 both the G League and NBA Draft combines this summer before returning to school.
• Weber State ranks 11th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 62.4 points per game. The Wildcats are also 17th in the country in fouls per game and 21st in turnovers committed per game.
• This season, Weber State is 10-0 when scoring 70 or more points, but just 1-5 when scoring less than 70 points, including Thursday's 71-69 loss. Thursday was also the first time this season WSU lost while leading in field goal percentage. Overall WSU is 8-1 this season and 24-2 under coach Duft when leading in field goal percentage. Weber State is also 9-1 this season when leading at halftime and 1-4 when trailing.
• The Wildcats lead the Big Sky in scoring defense, scoring margin, and turnover margin. They are second in field goal defense, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, and rebounding margin and are third in 3-pointers per game.
• 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 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).
• Portland State is 10-6 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play heading into Saturday's game. They are coming off a 69-63 loss at home to Idaho State on Thursday. The Vikings started the season 5-0, including wins over Air Force, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Baptist, and Cal Poly. They also won at Fresno State and were 10-3 entering Big Sky play. They opened conference play with a loss at Eastern Washington and a win at Idaho. Jase Coburn is in his third season as head coach at Portland State.
• The Vikings are second in the Big Sky in rebounding at 37.2 per game and also ranks second in blocks. PSU is third in turnover margin and fourth in scoring defense, steals and field goal defense.
• Portland State was 12-19 overall and was seventh in the Big Sky at 6-11. The Vikings were picked to finish fifth in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll.
• Weber State holds a 45-18 all-time series lead over Portland State and the 'Cats have won the last two and three of the last four games played. Weber State swept the season series last year.
In games in Portland, The Wildcats are 16-14 all-time but PSU has won three of the last five games.
• After Saturday, Weber State is back home for two games next week hosting Eastern Washington on Thursday and Idaho on Saturday.
• At the January 20 home game, Weber State will throw it back 25 years and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1999 Wildcat team that won the Big Sky Championship and beat North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Harold "The Show" Arceneaux and Eddie "The Thrill" Gill are both scheduled to be in attendance, along with a few other members of the 1999 team, and will speak at halftime.
