Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Sacramento State
Up Next: Wildcats return to Big Sky play at Sac State Thursday
1/9/2024 3:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State has won six straight games heading to Sacramento State Thursday night.
• With a six game winning streak, Weber State returns to the road and Big Sky Conference play as the Wildcats play at Sacramento State Thursday night.
• The Wildcats and Hornets will tipoff at 6 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. MT) from The Nest in Sacramento. 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 11-4 on the season and has won six straight games. The Wildcats won the second game of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge with an 83-78 win at Oral Roberts last Saturday night in Tulsa. Sacramento State is 4-11 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
• Weber State junior standout Dillon Jones was named Big Sky Player of the Week for the fifth time this season and the 13th time in his career after averaging 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game, and shooting 68 percent from the field in two Wildcat wins in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. Jones had 23 points, including the game-winning shot with less than a second left in WSU's win over South Dakota State on Wednesday. He was 9 of 12 from the field, including four 3-pointers, had six rebounds, and tied his career-high with nine assists in the win. He followed that up with 26 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double in Saturday's road win at Oral Roberts. He was 10 of 16 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free throw line. He also dished out six assists in the win. In the two games, he was 19 of 28 from the field, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Jones has won five of the nine Big Sky Player of the Week honors so far this season.
• 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 also leads the conference in minutes played, and is third in steals, and fourth in field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He ranks third in the nation in double-doubles with 10 in 14 games this season. He is also third in the nation in defensive rebounds and 14th 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, sixth in assists, seventh 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.
• Wildcat junior Dyson Koehler added 17 points and made a career-high four 3-pointers in the win at Oral Roberts. Koehler is averaging 9.9 points per game on the season. Over the last four games, Koehler averaging 14.8 points per game and has made 17 3-pointers. He is also shooting 62 percent from the field over the last four games.
• Junior transfer Blaise Threatt added 13 points in the win at Oral Roberts. He has scored in double figures in the last four and six of the last seven games for the Wildcats. He is third on the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game and leads the team in field goal percentage at 59.1 percent.
• Weber State ranks ninth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 61.9 points per game. The Wildcats are also 11th in the country in fouls per game, 19th in free throw percentage, 19th in turnover margin, and 29th in scoring margin.
• The Wildcats lead the Big Sky in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal defense, free throw percentage, and turnover margin. They are second in 3-point percentage and rebounding margin and third in scoring offense, 3-point percentage defense, and field goal percentage.
• 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).
• Sacramento State is 4-11 on the season and 0-2 in Big Sky play heading into Thursday's game. The began conference play with road losses at Idaho and Eastern Washington, then went 1-1 in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge with a win over Kansas City and a loss at St. Thomas. David Patrick is in his second season as head coach at Sacramento State.
• The Hornets lead the Big Sky in rebounding at 38.4 per game and in rebounding margin at +7.4. Individually Duncan Powell is 10th on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game. He also ranks second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage and is third in rebounding.
• Sacramento State was 14-18 last season and finished sixth in the Big Sky at 7-11. The Hornets were picked fourth in the preseason coaches poll and fifth in the media poll prior to this season.
• This will be 60th all-time game played between the two schools with Weber State holding a 49-10 all-time series lead. The Wildcats have won the last seven games and have not lost to the Hornets since the Big Sky Tournament in 2020. The Wildcats were 3-0 against the Hornets last year, including a win in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in Boise.
In games in Sacramento, Weber State is 22-7 all-time and has won the last four games played at the Nest.
• After Saturday, Weber State returns to Big Sky play with two road games at Sacramento State on Thursday and Portland State on Saturday.
