Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Hawai'i
Weber State takes on Hawai'i Sunday night in Honolulu
11/15/2024 5:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State is playing Hawai'i for the first time in 49 years. Sunday's game will be streamed on ESPN+
• Weber State men's basketball heads to the Aloha State for a matchup with the University of Hawai'i on Sunday, November 17 in Honolulu.
• The Wildcats and Rainbow Warriors will tipoff at 5 p.m. Hawai'i time (8 MT) at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
There will be no Weber State radio broadcast of the game.
Live stats are available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• This will be the first meeting between the two schools in 49 years.
• Weber State is 1-2 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 then lost 76-48 at Oregon State last Friday night and is coming off an 88-58 loss at Nevada on Wednesday in Reno, before heading to Hawai'i.
• Through three games, three Wildcats are scoring in double figures, led by Blaise Threatt who is averaging 13.7 points per game, along with 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Dyson Koehler is second at 10.7 points and Viljami Vartiainen is averaging 10.0 per game.
• The Wildcats have three starters returning from last year's team in seniors Threatt, Koehler, and Alex Tew. Koehler and Tew have both played three seasons and nearly 100 games at Weber State. Threatt is WSU's leading returning scorer who averaged 10.8 points per game last season.
• Weber State won 20 games last season and has five players returning that played last season. 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 has played in 95 career games and has scored more than 900 points with 165 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, Trevor Hennig, Saadiq Moore, and David Hansen who is expected to red shirt this year.
• Vucinic was the first Wildcat with a double-double this season as he finished with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in the game at Nevada on Wednesday. It was the first double-double of his career in his 91st career game.
• 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 39-29 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.
• 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.
• Hawai'i is 3-0 to begin the season. They have home wins over Life Pacific, San Jose State, and Pacific to win the 58th Annual OUTRIGGER Resorts Rainbow Classic. Hawai'i is playing its first six games at home.
Through three games, the Rainbow Warriors are shooting 54 percent from the field and have four players in double figures. Tanner Christensen, a Utah native, leads the team in scoring at 15 points per game. He played the last two seasons at Utah Tech.
• Hawai'i finished 20-14 overall last season and was fourth in the Big West at 11-9. They were picked seventh in this seasons preseason coaches poll. WSU's next opponent, UC Irvine, was picked first.
• This will be the first meeting between Weber State and Hawai'i in 49 years. The two teams last played two games in Honolulu in December 1975.
Weber State holds a 4-2 all-time series lead over the Rainbow Warriors who first met in the old Swenson Gym in Ogden in 1967. The Wildcats beat Hawai'i 94-64 in the 1972 NCAA Tournament in Pocatello. Bob Davis scored 32 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Wildcats past Hawai'i which was ranked 12th in the nation at the time.
Another connection to Weber State for Hawai'i was 30 years ago in 1994, when the Rainbow Warriors played in the NCAA Tournament at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah on the Weber State campus. Hawai'i, under coach Riley Wallace, lost to Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim in the first round. Trevor Ruffin led the Rainbow Warriors with 24 points.
• This is Weber State's first time playing in the state of Hawai'i in 23 years. The Wildcats last played in Hawai'i when they won the Big Island Invitational in Hilo in 2001 with wins over LSU, Wisconsin, and Colorado State. WSU also played in tournaments in Hawai'i in 1998 and 1994.
• 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.
• Sunday's game wraps up a three-game road trip for the Wildcats. Weber State will play the next two games at home, beginning on Friday, November 22 against UC Irvine. They will also host Justice College on Monday, November 25.
