Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
'Cats back home to host the Bengals Saturday night
1/26/2024 9:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and Idaho State meet at 7 p.m. Saturday night at the Dee Events Center.
• Weber State returns home for another conference rivalry game as the Wildcats hosts Idaho State on Saturday night.
• The Wildcats and Bengals will tipoff at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Dee Events Center. 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 calling the action. Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 12-8 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats are coming off a loss at Montana in their last game on Monday night. Idaho State is 7-13 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
• Weber State junior standout Dillon Jones posted a new career-high in Monday's game at Montana, as he finished with 30 points. Jones has scored in double figures in all of his 19 games this season and has reached 20 or more points eight times. He is second in the Big Sky in scoring at 19.3 points per game. He leads the Big Sky in rebounding and minutes, and ranks third in steals and free throw percentage and fifth in field goal percentage.
• Jones leads the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists, and steals this season. He ranks fourth in the nation with 12 double-doubles this season and has 50 in his career. He is also third in the country in defensive rebounds and 16th in overall rebounds. He is also 12th in the nation in minutes per game, averaging 36:18 per game.
• Last week Jones became WSU's school record holder for career steals. On Monday he became the ninth player in Weber State history to reach 1,500 career points. He ranks third in school history and fifth in Big Sky history in career rebounds. He is also fifth in WSU history in career assists, sixth in free throws made and ninth in scoring. Jones is the only player in Big Sky history with at least 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists, and 150 steals in a career.
• Wildcat junior Alex Tew also had a career-high in Monday's game at Montana. He finished with 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting, and also pulled down six rebounds. Tew has scored in double figures seven times this season, including six of the last 10 games. He is shooting a team-best 62 percent from the field this season and is shooting 68.4 percent from the field in Big Sky games.
• Weber State ranks 18th in the country in fouls per game, 21st in turnovers per game, 22nd in free throw percentage, and 29th in scoring defense.
• WSU leads the Big Sky in scoring defense, scoring margin, and turnover margin. They are second in free throw percentage, 3-point percentage, and 3-point defense. They also rank third in rebounding margin and 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).
• Idaho State is 7-13 overall and 2-5 in Big Sky play, currently eighth in the league standings. The Bengals are coming off losses to Eastern Washington and Montana State last weekend. ISU started the season 4-4 before losing six straight games.
• The Bengals were 11-21 overall last season and finished fifth in the Big Sky at 8-10. ISU was picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky coaches preseason poll.
• ISU leads the Big Sky in blocks at 3.8 per game. The Bengals also rank second in the conference in scoring defense and steals. Brayden Parker is second in the conference in field goal percentage, third in blocks, and 10th in scoring.
• This will be the 133rd all-time meeting between the two schools since Weber State became a Division I school. The Wildcats hold an 85-47 all-time lead over the Bengals and the 'Cats have won three of the last four against Idaho State. The two teams split the series last season, with each team winning on the road.
In games in Ogden, Weber State is 50-14 all-time against the Bengals, but Idaho State has won two of the last three and three of the last five games at the Dee Events Center.
• After Saturday, the Wildcats will open the month of February with two road games at Northern Arizona on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday. The next home games will be February 8 against Portland State and February 10 against Sacramento State.
