Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Sacramento State
'Cats start second half of Big Sky play at Sacramento State on Monday
2/1/2026 3:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
This will be Weber State's final visit to Sacramento State.
• Weber State returns to the road to start the second half of Big Sky play when the 'Cats make their final Big Sky visit to Sacramento State on Monday night.
The Wildcats and Hornets will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time (8 p.m. MT) on Monday in the all new Hornet Pavilion in Sacramento. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Carl Arky will have the radio broadcast on 103.1 FM.
• Monday marks the start of the second half of Big Sky play. Weber State is 5-4 in Big Sky play and coming off a thrilling 81-79 win over Idaho State on Saturday afternoon at the Dee Events Center.
Sacramento State is 8-13 overall and 4-5 in Big Sky play. The Hornets are coming off back-to-back home wins over Montana State and Montana last week. SAC is 8-1 in their new home this season.
• The Wildcats are in the midst of a stretch of four games over eight days. After Monday's game, WSU will be back home to host Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona on Thursday and Saturday.
• With GM Damian Lillard looking on, Wildcat freshman ArDarius Grayson scored a career-high 14 points and made the game-winning 3-pointers in the final seconds in Saturday's win. Grayson is a native of Oakland and played AAU ball for Team Lillard. He made three 3-pointers in Saturday's win.
• Tijan Saine Jr. once again led the Wildcats in scoring as he tied his WSU career-high with 28 points. He also tied his career-highs with four 3-pointers and eight assists and was 8 of 8 from the free throw line. It was his sixth time reaching 20 points in the nine Big Sky games.
Saine now leads the Big Sky in scoring in conference games at 21.1 points per game. Overall he is averaging 15.9 points per game. He ranks second in the Big Sky in free throw percentage and is shooting 91 percent in conference games. He is also third in assist to turnover ratio and fifth in assists.
• Nigel Burris, the lone senior on this year's Wildcat team added 11 points in Saturday's win, the 10th time he has reached double figures this season. Burris is averaging 9.7 points per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field, second best on the team.
• Viljami Vartiainen scored nine points and knocked down two 3-pointers. He is second in the Big Sky in 3-pointers per game at 2.9 and is third in 3-point percentage.
Vartiainen is also approaching a spot in the WSU record books. He has 149 career 3-pointers and needs just two more to tie Kyle Bullinger for the 10th most career 3-pointers made in WSU history.
• Weber State was two key players on Saturday. Junior Jace Whiting missed his third game with a foot injury and is still expected to be out a few more weeks.
Sophomore Trevor Hennig missed the game due to illness.
• Weber State leads the Big Sky Conference in 3-point defense and rebounding. The 'Cats are also second in the conference in steals, scoring offense, and turnover margin. WSU is also third in rebounding margin.
• Sacramento State is 8-13 overall and finished the first half of the Big Sky at 4-5 with two home wins over Montana State and Montana last week. They moved into the all new Hornet Pavilion this year and are 8-1 overall at home, including 4-0 in Big Sky play.
Prophet Johnson leads the Big Sky in steals, ranks second in rebounding, and is fifth in scoring. Mikey Williams is sixth in scoring.
The Hornets are coached by former NBA standout Mike Bibby, who is in his first year as head coach at Sacramento State.
• This will be Weber State's final scheduled visit to Sacramento. The Hornets joined the Big Sky in 1996 and the two teams have played 65 times in their history. Sacramento State is leaving the Big Sky following this season.
• Weber State beat the Hornets 95-82 on January 3 in Ogden. Tijan Saine and Viljami Vartiainen each had 20 points for the Wildcats and WSU shot 51 percent from the field.
• WSU is 53-12 all-time against the Hornets, and the Wildcats have won four of the last five and 11 of the last 13 games, including earlier this year.
In games in Sacramento, Weber State is 23-8 and has won five of the last six.
• The game is a matchup of two legendary team General Managers. Wildcat legend Damian Lillard is the General Manager at Weber State and NBA legend and Hall of Famer Dr. Shaquille O'Neal is the General Manager for Sacramento State. His son Shaqir O'Neal is a member of the Hornets team this season.
