Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
#5 Montana State
Wildcats meet Bobcats in Big Sky Quarterfinals Monday
3/8/2024 9:23:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and Montana State will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise.
• It's March and it's basketball tournament time. The 2024 Big Sky Basketball Championships tipoff this week in Boise, Idaho with Weber State taking on Montana State in the quarterfinals.
The Wildcats and Bobcats will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 11 from the Idaho Central Arena in Boise. Monday's game will be televised on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Tony Parks and former Wildcat coach Joe Cravens on the call. Steve Klauke will have the call on the WSU radio broadcast on 103.1 FM "The Wave". Live stats at WeberStateSports.com.
• Weber State enters the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed after finishing the Big Sky regular season fourth in the conference standings. The Wildcats are 20-11 overall and finished 11-7 in Big Sky play. WSU enters the conference tournament having won eight of the last 10 games.
• Montana State is 14-17 overall and finished fifth in the Big Sky at 9-9. The two teams split the season series this year with Weber State winning 86-64 in Ogden on December 30 and Montana State winning 76-64 in Bozeman, last Monday in the final regular season game of the year.
WSU is 90-43 all-time against the Bobcats and the two teams are 5-5 all-time against each other in the conference tournament. Montana State has knocked Weber State out of the tournament in the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.
• This marks the ninth straight year the Big Sky Tournament is being held at a predetermined site with all conference schools participating. It's the sixth straight year the tournament will be in Boise at the Idaho Central Arena. All tournament games will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with the semifinals on ESPNU and ESPN2 and the championship game airing on ESPN2.
• This week marks the 49th Big Sky Conference postseason tournament and Weber State has participated in 47 of the 49 tournaments, the most of any team in conference history. The Wildcats have won the postseason tournament 10 times, the second-most in conference history and have advanced to the championship 17 times. WSU is 49-35 all-time in the tournament and is 35-10 in its first game of the tournament.
• After a historic performance during the regular season, Weber State's Dillon Jones has been named the 2024 Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player. Jones was voted the conference MVP in a vote by the league's head coach and was also a unanimous selection for the first-team All-Big Sky team. Jones is the 10th player in Weber State history to earn Big Sky MVP honors and the first since Joel Bolomboy in 2016.
Jones is also one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award, given to the top small forward in the country by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• The Columbia, South Carolina native is having one of the best seasons in Weber State and Big Sky Conference history and has led the Wildcats to 20 wins this season. He has been named Big Sky Player of the Week eight times this season and National Player of the Week once. After the regular season, Jones leads the Big Sky in points, rebounds, and assists, the only player in the country to lead a conference in all three categories. He is also one of two players in the nation averaging at least 20 points,10 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. He ranks 21st in the nation in scoring, is 16th in rebounding, and is sixth in double-doubles with 18. He is also seventh in the country in minutes played and third in defensive rebounds.
• Per Sports Reference, since the 1992-93 season, Jones is one of two players in the country to post at least 600 points, 300 rebounds, 150 assists, and 50 steals in a season. He is averaging 20.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game.
• He is also concluding one of the best careers in Weber State history. Following the end of the regular season, He has played in 118 career games at Weber State and started in 95 games. He currently ranks in the Weber State all-time top 10 in 10 statistical categories. He is Weber State's all-time leader in steals and ranks second in assists, second in free throws made, third in rebounding, and fifth in points. He also ranks fourth in Big Sky history in rebounds. He also has 56 career double-doubles, the second-most in WSU history.
• He is the only active player in the country and the only player in Big Sky history with at least 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists, and 200 steals. Since the 1992-93 season, he is one of only four players in the nation to post those numbers in a career.
• Two other Wildcats also earned All-Big Sky honors. Steven Verplancken earned All-Big Sky honors for the second time in his two seasons at Weber State as he was named to the honorable mention team. As a senior, Verplancken was second on the Wildcat team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. He led the Wildcats with 69 3-pointers in the regular season and ranks fifth in the Big Sky in 3-pointers per game at 2.2. Verplancken scored in double figures 21 times this season and reached 20 or more points twice, including a career-high 30 points against Sacramento State where he made six 3-pointers.
• In his two seasons with the Wildcats, Verplancken has played and started in all 64 games and ranks 10th in career 3-point percentage at 40 percent. He has made 134 3-pointers in his two seasons with the Wildcats. In his five-year career at Glenville State, Southern Illinois, and Weber State, Verplancken has played in 150 career games, scored nearly 1,700 points, and has 286 career 3-pointers.
• For the first time, the Big Sky announced an All-Defensive Team this season and Wildcat junior Alex Tew was one of five players named to the team. Tew started in 30 games this season and averages 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He leads Weber State in field goal percentage at 58.4 percent and is second on the team in rebounding. He also led the Wildcats with 26 blocks during the season, ninth most in the Big Sky. The Cheshire, England native, has played in 92 games in three seasons.
• Weber State leads the Big sky in scoring defense, scoring margin, and turnover margin. The Wildcats are also third in 3-point defense and free throw percentage.
• This season, Weber State is 14-1 when leading in field goal percentage and 12-2 when leading in 3-point percentage. The Wildcats are also 15-2 when leading at halftime and 18-1 when scoring 70 or more points in a game, including 13-0 when scoring 80 or more. WSU is 4113-2 when holding opponents under 70 points.
• The winner of Monday's game will take on the winner of No. 1 Eastern Washington and No. 9 Idaho or No. 10 Sacramento State in the semifinals which will be on Tuesday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. The championship game will be on Wednesday, March 13 at 9:30 p.m.
