Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Colorado
Weber State begins Big Sky play at UNC Thursday
12/31/2024 11:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats open 2025 and conference play at Northern Colorado.
• Weber State begins 2025 and the Big Sky Conference season this week with two road games, starting Thursday night at Northern Colorado.
• The Wildcats and Bears will tipoff at 6 p.m. on Thursday night from the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN 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 finished the non-conference season on Sunday with an 89--49 loss at ninth-ranked Oregon. The Wildcats are 6-8 overall heading into conference play.
• Northern Colorado is 8-5 entering Big Sky play. The Bears posted the second-best non-conference record in the Big Sky. This will be UNC's first game in nearly two weeks. The Wildcats open conference play with the top two teams in the standings, both on the road.
• Weber State is in the midst of a four-game road trip with Sunday's game at Oregon and starting Big Sky play with the first three games on the road. WSU is the only team in the conference to begin Big Sky play with three-straight road games. The 'Cats are 1-5 on the road so far this season.
• In the non-conference, WSU has been led by senior guard Blaise Threatt who has scored in double figures in all 14 games. Threatt ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring at 17.3 points per game and leads the conference and is 13th in the nation in steals at 2.5 a game. He is also fifth in the league in assists, assist to turnover ratio, and minutes, and is seventh in field goal percentage.
• Senior Miguel Tomley is second on the Wildcat team in scoring at 12.0 points per game. He is also third in the Big Sky in 3-pointers per game at 2.3. Tomley has scored in double figures seven times this season and has reached 20 or more twice, with a season-high of 28 points in a win over Pepperdine.
He has made at least three 3-pointers six times this season and the Wildcats are 5-1 in those games. The 'Cats are just 1-7 when Tomley makes less than three 3-pointers in a game.
• Northern Colorado enters Big Sky play with an 8-5 overall record. UNC lost in double overtime earlier in the season at Colorado and is coming off back-to-back wins over Air Force and Denver.
UNC has a NET ranking of 134, which is the highest in the Big Sky.
• Thursday's game will feature two of the top three scorers in the Big Sky with Weber State's Blaise Threatt ranking third and Northern Colorado's Langston Reynolds who is second in the league in scoring at 17.7 points per game. He is also second in the league in field goal percentage at 60.3 percent.
The Bears lead the Big Sky and rank 44th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 83.1 points per game. They have scored at least 80 points six times and have reached 100 twice.
UNC is also first in the conference in field goal percentage at 49.5 percent, which also ranks 28th in the nation. The Bears are second in the league in free throw percentage and assists, and third in scoring margin, rebounding margin, and steals.
• Northern Colorado was 19-14 overall last season and finished in a tie for second in the Big Sky at 12-6. The Bears advanced to the CBI Tournament.
• UNC is coached by former Weber State assistant coach Steve Smiley who is in his fifth year as head coach at Northern Colorado. Smiley has a career record of 72-66 in his five years at UNC and is 36-33 in Big Sky play. He has guided the Bears two top-three finishes in conference play. Smiley was an assistant coach alongside Eric Duft at Weber State from 2014-16 under head coach Randy Rahe.
• This will be the 37th all-time meeting between the two schools, since Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky in 2006. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 25-11. Weber State won both games last season, winning 82-63 in Greeley and an 85-81 overtime thriller in Ogden. In that game, Dillon Jones had 30 points, 23 rebounds, and nine assists to lead the Wildcats.
In games in Greeley, Weber State is 9-8 all-time and have won two of the last three games played.
• Northern Colorado and Weber State will meet in the first and last Big Sky games this season. The two teams will open conference play this Thursday and then won't play again until the final conference game on Monday, March 3 in Ogden.
• 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.
• All five of Weber State's seniors will have played in at least 100 career games. Blaise Threatt (127 games), Dyson Koehler (125), Alex Tew (107), Miguel Tomley (106), and Vasilije Vucinic (102) have all played in at least 100 games in their college careers.
• 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 Wildcats will continue their road trip at Northern Arizona on Saturday, January 4 in a 2 p.m. tipoff in Flagstaff. The 'Cats will have just one game next week, playing at Idaho State on Saturday, January 11.
