Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah Tech
Weber State takes on Utah Tech Friday in St. George
12/12/2024 9:25:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wildcats and Trailblazers will meet for just the third time ever. Tipoff at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN+.
• Weber State heads back out on the road for an instate battle as the Wildcats take on Utah Tech Friday night in St. George.
• The Wildcats and Trailblazers will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night from Burns Arena in St. George. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
The Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Carl Arky on the call.
Live stats are available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State 4-6 on the season. The Wildcats won two games at the Arizona Tip-Off on November 28 and 29 and had a three-game winning streak, but lost two games in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge last week. Weber State lost 77-73 at home to North Dakota State last Wednesday night in Ogden, then lost 80-75 at North Dakota last Saturday night in Grand Forks.
• The Wildcats have been led by senior Blaise Threatt who leads the team and is second in the Big Sky in scoring at 17.9 points per game. He has led WSU in scoring seven times this season and reached double figures in all 10 games and scored 20 or more four times, including 23 points in WSU's game at North Dakota on Saturday. He was 9 of 12 from the field and also had five rebounds, three assists, and two steals against North Dakota. The 23 points are the second most by Threatt in a game this season.
Threatt ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring and is first in assist to turnover ratio at 3.4. He is also second in the league in steals, second in minutes played, fourth in assists, and sixth in field goal percentage.
• Senior transfer Miguel Tomley added 18 points and knocked down three 3-pointers in the game at North Dakota. It was his fifth game in double figures this season. Tomley is second on the Wildcat team and ranks 16th in the Big Sky in scoring at 11.9 points per game. He is fourth in the conference in 3-pointers per game at 2.4 and is shooting 39 percent from 3-point range.
• Another senior transfer, Vasilije Vucinic, had a season-high 14 points off the bench at North Dakota and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field. Vucinic has scored in double figures three times this season and is shooting 57.8 percent from the field, the best on the Wildcat squad.
• WSU played without senior Dyson Koehler in the game at North Dakota as he missed the game with an ankle sprain. Viljami Vartiainen started the game and it marked the first different starting lineup for the 'Cats in 10 games. Vartiainen is seventh in the conference in 3-pointers per game at 2.2. 22 of his 28 made field goals this season have been 3-pointers.
• Through the first 10 games of the season, Weber State is 3-1 when leading at halftime and 1-5 when trailing. The Wildcats are also 4-2 when leading their opponents in field goal percentage and 0-3 when trailing. WSU is also 3-0 when holding opponents under 70 points and 1-6 when allowing 70 or more points in a 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.
• 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.
• Utah Tech enters Friday's game at 2-9 on the season and is returning home for the first time since in exactly one month. Utah Tech last played at home on November 13 and has since played eight straight games away from home, including six true road games.
The Trailblazers beat Bethesda on November 13 at home. Since then they played at Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Portland State, Boise State, and Utah State. They did beat Denver on a neutral site in Missoula.
• The Trailblazers were 11-20 last season and finished 7-13 in the Western Athletic Conference. They were picked to finish eighth in this year's preseason poll.
Jon Judkins is in his 20th season as head coach at Utah Tech. He has won 331 career games in his career at Utah Tech. He also won 284 games as head coach at Snow College from 1992-2005.
• This will be just the third all-time meeting between the instate teams. The series is tied 1-1 with both teams winning on the road. Weber State won the first meeting in November 2021 in St. George, then Utah Tech won 77-65 in December 2022 in Ogden.
• 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. Jones finished his career as Weber State's all-time leader in steals, and ranks second in assists, third in rebounding and fifth in scoring.
• After Friday, the Wildcats will have two home games next week, before the Christmas break. Weber State will host Lincoln University on Wednesday, December 18, then host Utah Valley on Saturday, December 21. WSU will then play at Oregon on December 29, before beginning Big Sky play on January 2.
