Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Bowling Green
Weber State heads to Arizona Tip-Off this weekend
11/27/2024 1:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats wil play Bowling Green Friday at 11 a.m. and Pepperdine or New Mexico State on Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.
• Weber State heads to the desert for two games this weekend at the Arizona Tip-Off in Tempe, Arizona. The Wildcats will play in the Desert Division of the Arizona Tip-Off and will take on Bowling Green in the first game on Friday, November 29 at 11 a.m. from Mullett Arena in Tempe. WSU will then play either Pepperdine or New Mexico State on Saturday, November 30 at 12 or 2:30 p.m.
• Both games will be streamed online for a fee at passthaballlive.com with a link at WeberStateSports.com. Carl Arky will call the action for both games on the Weber State radio broadcast on 103.1 FM "The Wave".
Live stats are available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State enters the tournament with a 2-4 record. The Wildcats opened the season with a win over Northwest Indian College, then went on the road for three straight games at Oregon State, Nevada, and Hawai'i. WSU lost 93-87 at home to UC Irvine last Friday night and is coming off a 93-45 win over Justice College on Monday night.
• After six games, the Wildcats rank second in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding and 3-point field goal percentage. WSU is also third in scoring margin, free throws per game, and field goal percentage defense.
• Weber State has been led in scoring by Blaise Threatt who has led the Wildcats in scoring in the last five games. Threatt is second in the conference in scoring at 17.7 points per game and has scored in double figures in all six games and has reached 20 or more twice, including a career-high 27 points at Hawaii and 22 points against UC Irvine.
• Threatt is also first in the Big Sky Conference in assist to turnover ratio at 3.5. He ranks second in steals at 2.5 per game and is fourth in assists and fourth in field goal percentage. Threatt also ranks second on the Wildcat team in rebounding at 4.8 per game. Threatt, a senior from Scottsdale, Arizona, is returning home for the tournament this week. He is the son of former NBA player Sedale Threatt.
• Dyson Koehler, one of three returning starters from last year's team, is second on the Wildcat team in scoring at 11.2 points per game and leads the team and is sixth in the Big Sky in rebounding at 6.0 per game. Koehler has scored in double figures three times this season, including back-to-back games.
• The other returning starter from last season is senior center Alex Tew, who is a three-year starter for the Wildcats. Friday's first against Bowling Green at the Arizona Tip-Off will be the 100th career game for Alex Tew at Weber State. He has started in 70 of his 99 games as a Wildcat.
• Wildcat true freshman Trevor Hennig had a career-high 12 points in Monday's win over Justice College. He was 2 of 3 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line in Monday's win, his second straight games scoring in double figures. Through the first six games, Hennig is shooting 52 percent from the field and is 11 of 12 from the free throw line. The North Bend, Washington native is averaging 5.5 points per game.
• 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 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.
• Weber State was picked third in the Big Sky preseason media poll and fourth in the coaches poll. WSU has three returning starters and added several new players, including three Division I transfers in Nigel Burris, Miguel Tomley, and Vasilije Vucinic.
• 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.
• Bowling Green enters the Arizona Tip-Off with the same record as Weber State at 2-4. The Falcons have wins over Taylor and Niagara, with losses to Southern Miss, Davidson, Michigan State, and Bellarmine.
Bowling Green is located in Bowling Green, Ohio, about 20 miles south of Toledo, and plays in the Mid-American Conference.
This season the Falcons lead the MAC and are 35th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage at 39 percent. They rank second in the conference and 40th in the country in free throw percentage at 77.3.
Senior Marcus Johnson leads the team in scoring at 18 points per game.
• The Falcons are coached by Todd Simon who is in his second season at Bowling Green. Simon was the head coach at Southern Utah for seven seasons from 2016-23 and faced Weber State 12 times in his career with the Thunderbirds.
• This will be the first ever meeting between Weber State and Bowling Green.
• Weber State is 5-2 all-time against Pepperdine. The two teams last played a home and home series in 2016 and 2017, each winning at home.
• Weber State is 4-2 all-time against New Mexico State but the two teams have not played in 40 years. The last meeting was in Las Cruces in December 1984. The Wildcats and Aggies played three teams in the NCAA Tournament in 1968, 1969, and 1979, with Weber State winning two of the three games.
• 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 Dillon Jones who was drafted this year.
• After the tournament, Weber State will play two games in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge next week. The 'Cats will host North Dakota State on Wednesday, December 4, then play at North Dakota on Saturday, December 7.
