Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
#9 Oregon
Wildcats play at #9 Oregon Sunday afternoon
12/27/2024 10:48:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and Oregon tipoff at 2 p.m. PT (3 MT) in Eugene. Game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus (subscription required).
• Weber State will close out 2024 and play its final non-conference game of the season as the 'Cats begin a four-game road trip this Sunday afternoon against ninth-ranked Oregon.
• The Wildcats and Ducks will tipoff at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time (3 p.m. MT) on Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. The game will be streamed on BIG+ (Big Ten Plus). A subscription is required to watch the stream. The game is available for purchase at bigtenplus.com or by downloading the Big Ten Plus app.
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.
• Weber State is 6-7 on the season and coming off a 64-62 loss at home to Utah Valley last Saturday night. Sunday's game begins a four-game road trip for the Wildcats and the game at Oregon is the final non-conference game of the season.
After Sunday's game, the Wildcats will start Big Sky play with the first three games on the road, beginning January 2 at Northern Colorado.
• Oregon is 11-1 on the season and ranked ninth in the country in this week's national polls. This will be the first game for Weber State against a team ranked in the top 10 in the country since playing ninth-ranked Xavier in the NCAA Tournament in 2016. Oregon is the highest ranked opponent for the Wildcats in the regular season in 28 years when the 'Cats played at ninth-ranked Utah in December 1996.
WSU's last win over a nationally-ranked opponent was last year when the Wildcats won at No. 23 Saint Mary's.
• In Saturday's game against Utah Valley, Weber State junior transfer Nigel Burris had his best game as a Wildcat as he posted season-highs in points and rebounds for the second double-double of his career. He posted 17 points and was 6 of 9 from the field with three 3-pointers, and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
Over the last five games, Burris is averaging 11 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field.
Burris, a native of San Francisco, transferred to weber State this summer after playing one season at Idaho and one season at Utah State. He was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year at Idaho during the 2022-23 season.
• WSU senior guard Blaise Threatt added 16 points and had a career-high six steals in the game against Utah Valley. The six steals are the most by a Wildcat in a game since Lindsey Hughey had six in 2011. He is 12th in the country in steals per game and is seventh in total steals with 34.
This season Threatt has scored in double figures in all 13 games ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He is also first in the conference in assist to turnover ratio, second in steals, fifth in assists, sixth in minutes played, and seventh in field goal percentage.
• Weber State is 6-2 this season when leading in field goal percentage and 0-4 when trailing. The 'Cats are also 5-1 when leading in rebounding and 1-6 when trailing and 4-1 when leading at halftime and 2-6 when trailing at the break.
• All five of Weber State's seniors will have played in at least 100 career games. Blaise Threatt (126 games), Dyson Koehler (124), Alex Tew (106), Miguel Tomley (105), and Vasilije Vucinic (101) have all played in at least 100 games in their college careers.
• Ninth-ranked Oregon is 11-1 on the season and coming off a 76-61 win over Stanford last Saturday. The Ducks are in their first season in the Big Ten Conference and beat USC and lost to UCLA earlier this month in the first Big Ten games. The Ducks were 24-12 overall and finished fourth in the Pac-12 at 12-8 last season.
• Oregon is coached by longtime head coach Dana Altman who is in his 15th season with the Ducks. He is the winningest coach in Oregon history and has a record of 356-153 at Oregon and has led the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament nine times. He has won 766 games in his career that also includes serving as the head coach at Marshall, Kansas State, and Creighton. He is one of three active coaches in the country with 27 consecutive winning seasons.
• This will be the fourth ever meeting between Weber State and Oregon and the first since 2011. The Ducks are 3-0 against the Wildcats all-time, with all games played in Eugene. The two teams met in 1971 and 1986.
The last meeting was in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational in March 2011. Oregon won the game 68-59. Scott Bamforth led the Wildcats with 17 points. Kyle Bullinger added 16 and Lindsey Hughey had 12.
• 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 won 20 games last season that included Big Sky MVP Dillon Jones who led the conference in points, rebounds, and assists. Jones was the 26th pick 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.
• 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.
• 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 Sunday, WSU will begin 2025 and with the Big Sky Conference schedule, starting January 2 at Northern Colorado. The first three games will be on the road.
