Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Utah Valley
11/6/2026 10:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Weber State and Utah Valley meet Saturday at 7 p.m. in the home opener.
• Weber State will play its first home game of the new Kaleb Canales era this Saturday night when the Wildcats host in-state rival Utah Valley.
• Saturday's game will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. It will be televised on ESPN+ with Tony Parks and former WSU head coach Joe Cravens on the call.
The Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM with Carl Arky and former WSU standout and Big Sky MVP David Patten calling the action.
Live stats will be available at WeberStateSports.com and the new Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is coming off a 102-61 loss at Oregon State on Monday night in the season opener. The Wildcats trailed by eight points at halftime before the Beavers exploded for 59 points in the second half. OSU shot 49 percent from the field and held the Wildcats to 30 percent shooting.
• Kaleb Canales was named the 11th head coach in Weber State's Division I history in April. He spent last season as the associate head coach at Troy, where he helped the team to the NCAA Tournament. A native of Laredo, Texas, Canales had an 18-year career in the NBA. He was a longtime assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers and in 2012, he served as the interim head coach for 23 games. He also spent time as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Indiana Pacers.
• Weber State begins the season with 12 new players and only two returners from last season. ArDarius Grayson and Declan Cutler are the only two returners from last year. The 'Cats have nine players who transferred from Division I schools. WSU has one of the youngest teams in the nation with only six players that played in a Division I game entering the season.
Weber State does not have any fifth-year seniors and has just one fourth-year senior in Brock Felder, a transfer from Southern Utah and Seattle. The 'Cats have four juniors, including Dylan Warlick a transfer from St. Louis, and Dyllan Thompson, a transfer from Georgia Tech. Junior Alvin Jackson III suffered an ACL injury and will miss the season.
The 'Cats have five sophomores, but only Grayson, and Augustine Ekwe, a transfer from New Mexico State, had played in a game before this seaon. WSU also has three freshmen on the roster in Gavin Lowe, Hunter Hansen, and Maximillian Russell.
• Gavin Lowe started as a true freshman in Monday's season opener and led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points, along with four steals and two assists. He became the first Wildcat true freshman to start a season opener in eight years. Lowe, a native of Holladay, Utah, was a two-time Mr. Basketball selection in Utah out of Olympus High School.
• ArDarius Grayson added 12 points off the bench for the 'Cats in Monday's opener. He knocked down two 3-pointers and tied his career-high with seven rebounds.
• Canales added Patrick Zipfel as the associate head coach. He has over 24 years in the NBA as an assistant coach and advance scout. Dondrale Campbell is an assistant coach with the Wildcats and joins WSU after three seasons at Northern Colorado. Bobby Jones was promoted to an assistant coach and Luke Spring returns as an assistant coach over Operations.
• Weber State played three exhibition games before the season opener, with home wins over Colorado Christian, Westminster, and Colorado Mesa. In the three games, Dylan Warlick averaged 13.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Mason Abittan averaged 13.5 points per game, and Aaron Powell added 12 points. Dyllan Thompson and Augustine Ekwe each averaged 11.3 points a game.
• Utah Valley opened the season with an 84-63 win over Western Colorado on Monday night in Orem. Isaac Davis led the Wolverines with 22 points.
UVU returns six letterwinners from last season's championship team. The Wolverines are in their first season competing in the Big West Conference after winning back-to-back WAC titles. They were picked fifth in the Big West preseason poll.
• The Wolverines were 25-9 overall and won the WAC regular-season title with a 14-4 overall record. They have won two straight conference regular-season titles and advanced to the NIT each of the last two seasons.
UVU is coached by Todd Phillips who is 67-34 overall and in his fourth season with the Wolverines. He was previously the head coach at SLCC for eight years and won over 200 games.
• This will be the 18th all-time game between the two instate rivals with UVU holding a 9-8 series lead and the Wolverines have won the last three games.
Weber State is 7-2 all-time against Utah Valley at the Dee Events Center, but the Wolverines won the last game two seasons ago.
• NBA superstar Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers is the General Manager of the Weber State program. Lillard was an All-American and a two-time Big Sky MVP from 2008-12 before being drafted sixth in the 2012 NBA Draft.
• Weber State is the only school in Utah that is playing every other school in the state this season. The Wildcats will play at Utah, Utah State, and BYU in non-conference play and will play new Big Sky members Southern Utah and Utah Tech twice.
WSU's next game will be on Tuesday night at Utah.
• This is the first of 15 home games for the Wildcats this season. WSU will also play Lincoln, Tarleton State, CSUN, and Washington State in non-conference games, before nine Big Sky home games.
