Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
South Dakota State
Wildcats host Jackrabbits Wednesday as part of Big Sky-Summit Challenge
1/2/2024 3:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and South Dakota State will tipoff at 7 p.m. at the Dee Events Center.
• Riding a four-game winning streak, the Weber State men's basketball team opens 2024 with a non-conference home game Wednesday night as the Wildcats host South Dakota State as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
• The Wildcats and Jackrabbits will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Dee Events Center in Ogden. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Tony Parks and former Weber State head coach Joe Cravens on the call. Weber State radio coverage will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Steve Klauke and former Weber State standout and Big Sky MVP David Patten calling the action. Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 9-4 on the season and has won four-straight games. The Wildcats are coming off two dominant wins over Montana and Montana State to open Big Sky play. South Dakota State is 7-7 overall and is the preseason pick to win the Summit League.
• For the fourth time this season and the 12th time in his career, Dillon Jones has been named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. Jones averaged 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game as Weber State opened league play with a 30-point win over Montana and a 22-point win over Montana State. He scored 15 points with five rebounds and five assists and was 6 of 7 from the free throw line in Thursday's 93-63 win over Montana. He followed that up by tying his career-high with 29 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and four steals in Saturday's 86-64 win over Montana State. He was 7 of 12 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free throw line in the win. In the two games, he was 19 of 21 from the free throw line and knocked down three 3-pointers.
• Jones leads the Big Sky in points, rebounds, and assists. He is the only player in the nation currently leading a conference in all three categories. He is also second in minutes played, third in steals, and fourth in field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He is third in the nation in double-doubles with nine in 12 games this season. He is also second in the nation in defensive rebounds and seventh in overall rebounds.
• Saturday's game against Montana State was his 100th career game at Weber State. Jones moved into third place on the Weber State career list with 960 career rebounds. He also moved into 13th in career points and ranks fourth in career steals, seventh in career assists, and eighth in career free throws made. Jones is the only player in WSU history with at least 1,000 career points, 900 rebounds, 300 assists, and 150 steals.
• In the two wins last week, junior Dyson Koehler did not miss a field goal and averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He was a perfect 8 of 8 from the field, including 5 of 5 from 3-point range. He scored 15 points with seven rebounds and two 3-pointers in the win over Montana and followed that up with 12 points, a career-high eight rebounds, and two 3-pointers in the win over Montana State. Koehler is averaging 12 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 62.8 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers over the last six games.
• This week is the first Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, which will feature all 10 Big Sky teams and all nine Summit League teams. Most teams will play two games, Wednesday and Saturday this week. Weber State will host South Dakota State Wednesday and play at Oral Roberts on Saturday.
• Weber State ranks eighth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 59.8 points per game. The Wildcats are also 17th in the country in fouls per game, and rank 22th in free throw percentage at 76.9 percent. The Wildcats lead the Big Sky in scored defense, scoring margin, field goal defense, free throw percentage, and turnover margin. They are second in 3-point percentage, 3-point defense, and rebounding 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 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).
• South Dakota State enters Wednesday's game with a 7-7 overall record. They opened Summit League play with a win over North Dakota on Sunday. SDSU also has non-conference wins over Southern Miss, Towson, and Wichita State. The Jackrabbits lead the Summit League in field goal defense, at 40.5 percent, and they lead the league in steals at 7.1 per game. SDSU is coached by Eric Henderson who is in his ninth season with the Jackrabbits.
• Like Weber State, South Dakota State was picked first in their league in the preseason polls and has the preseason MVP. The Jackrabbits were picked to win the preseason title with 27 first-place votes. Zeke Mayo was named the Summit League was Preseason Player of the Year. He leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists and is second in steals. He is averaging 17.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
• The Jackrabbits were 19-13 overall last season and finished second in the Summit League at 13-5, before losing in the semifinals of the tournament. In 2021-22, they finished 30-5 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• This will be just the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools with Weber State holding a 2-1 series lead. The two teams met in 1978 in Ogden, then played twice during the 2015-16 season. Both teams won at home that season with the Jackrabbits winning 85-68 in Brookings and Weber State winning 99-95 in Ogden.
• After Wednesday, the Wildcats will hit the road for three-straight games, beginning Saturday at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Oklahoma as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. Next week WSU will return to Big Sky play at Sacramento State and Portland State.
