Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Nevada
'Cats continue road trip at Nevada Wednesday
11/12/2024 9:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats and Wolfpack will tipoff Wednesday at 7 p.m. Pacific time (8 MT) in Reno. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
• Weber State continues its road trip Wednesday night as the Wildcats head to Reno to take on the University of Nevada.
• The Wildcats and Wolfpack will tipoff at 7 p.m. Pacific time (8 MT) from Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada. The game will be televised on the Mountain West Sports Network.
The Weber State radio broadcast with Carl Arky will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats are available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• This is the second straight year the two teams are meeting in Reno. Nevada beat Weber State 72-55 last December 13.
• Weber State is 1-1 on the early season. The 'Cats opened the year with a dominating 118-35 win over Northwest Indian College last Monday night in Ogden. The 83-point win is the largest margin of victory in school history. Weber State is coming off a 76-48 loss at Oregon State last Friday night.
• Through two games, three Wildcats are scoring in double figures, led by Blaise Threatt who is averaging 14 points per game, along with 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Threatt scored 14 points in each of the first two games and is shooting 67 percent from the field.
• The Wildcats have three starters returning from last year's team in seniors Threatt, Dyson Koehler, and Alex Tew. Koehler and Tew have both played three seasons and over 90 games at Weber State. Threatt is WSU's leading returning scorer who averaged 10.8 points per game last season. Two other players return that played last season, including Vartiainen and Marko Sarenac.
• Weber State returns three starters and two other returning players off last year's team that won 20 games. Gone from last year's team is Big Sky MVP Dillon Jones who was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jones joins Damian Lillard as the only two Wildcats ever drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. He finished his career as Weber State's all-time leader in steals, and ranks second in assists, third in rebounding and fifth in scoring.
• The Wildcats have added several new players to this year's team, including three Division I transfers in junior Nigel Burris and seniors Miguel Tomley and Vasilije Vucinic. Burris is a former Big Sky Freshman of the Year at Idaho and also played last season at Utah State. Tomley played one season at Santa Clara and the last two seasons at Idaho State, where he earned Big Sky All-Tournament honors. He enters the season having played in 92 career games and has scored more than 900 points with 157 career 3-pointers. Tomley is the only Wildcat that was named to the Big Sky All-Conference preseason team. Vucinic played in 88 games over three seasons at the University of Portland. WSU added four high school players, Declan Cutler, David Hansen, Trevor Hennig, and Saadiq Moore.
• The Wildcats are coached by Eric Duft who returns for his third season as head coach and his 19th 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. Duft is 39-28 overall at Weber State and 23-13 in Big Sky play.
• Weber State was picked third in the Big Sky preseason media poll and fourth in the coaches poll.
• WSU played two exhibition games this season prior to the start of the regular season. The Wildcats lost 85-66 at Utah State in a charity exhibition game in Logan, then beat Adams State 83-63 in a home exhibition game last Monday. Blaise Threatt nearly had a triple double with 15 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds against Adams State.
• Weber State has nine players coming from six different countries on this year's roster. The 'Cats have three players from Canada, two from Serbia, and one each from England, Finland, Montenegro, and Japan.
• The Nevada Wolfpack are 2-0 on the early season with two home wins. They opened the season with a 91-75 win over Sam Houston State last Monday night, then beat Washington 63-53 last Saturday night in Reno.
The Wolfpack were 26-8 last season and finished second in the Mountain West at 13-5. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Nevada is picked third in the MWC preseason poll.
• Nevada is coached by longtime college head coach Steve Alford who is in his sixth season at Nevada where he has a 98-58 record. Alford is in his 34th season as a head coach and has a 685-357 all-time record. He was the head coach at Southwest Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico, and UCLA before going to Nevada. He was an All-American player at Indiana and won an NCAA Championship in 1987 with the Hoosiers. He also played four years in the NBA.
• This will be the 42nd all-time meeting between two former conference rivals with Nevada holding a 21-20 series lead. The Wolfpack beat the Wildcats 72-55 last December in Reno. The Wolfpack made nine 3-pointers and had 21 assists with eight steals in the win. Blaise Threatt scored a game-high 18 points for the Wildcats.
• Nevada was a member of the Big Sky Conference from 1979-1992. The Wolfpack lead 11-7 all-time in games in Reno and have won the last seven games played.
• Weber State has a rich basketball tradition and boasts the 26th best winning percentage in college basketball history. WSU has won 22 Big Sky Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament 16 times. The 'Cats have six tournament wins, including a win over North Carolina in 1999. Weber State also boasts several players professionally, including NBA superstar Damian Lillard who played four years at Weber State from 2008-12, and Jones who was drafted this year.
• Wednesday's game is the second of three straight road games for the Wildcats, who will travel from Reno to Hawaii where they will take on the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Sunday night in Honolulu. That game will be televised on ESPN+.
The next home game will be on November 22 against UC Irvine, then host Justice College on Monday, November 25.
