Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho
Wildcats return to Big Sky road Thursday at Idaho
2/10/2026 4:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Weber State has six Big Sky games remaining.
• Weber State returns to the road in the Big Sky for two games this week, starting Thursday night at the University of Idaho.
The Wildcats and Vandals will tipoff at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time (7:00 MT) from the ICCU Arena in Moscow. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. WSU radio broadcast with Carl Arky will be on 103.1 FM "The Coast".
Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
• Weber State is 6-6 in Big Sky play and has six conference games remaining. The Wildcats are coming off a 72-53 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday night. The 53 points is the fewest the 'Cats have allowed to a Division I opponent this season and WSU held the Lumberjacks to just 36 percent shooting from the field. WSU also won the rebounding battle 39-27.
Idaho is 13-11 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky play and coming off losses at Montana State and Montana last week. The Vandals have played their last four games on the road.
• Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. led the Wildcats in scoring for the eighth straight game as he finished with 20 points in Saturday's win. He also added five assists, four rebounds, and two steals and was 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Saine has scored at least 20 points in nine of WSU's 12 Big Sky games. He leads the conference in scoring in conference games at 21.3 points per game.
Overall this season, Saine is second in the Big Sky in free throw percentage at 88.7 percent, which is currently tied for the third-best in WSU single-season history. He is shooting 91.1 percent from the line in conference games. Saine is also third in the Big Sky in assist to turnover ratio, and ranks fifth in assists.
• Senior Nigel Burris has scored in double figures in each of the last four games and has started the last three games. Burris is averaging 10.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season and is shooting 54.9 percent from the field.
Burris is the only senior on this year's Wildcat team. He has played in 110 career games. Thursday he returns to the place he began his college career. He played the 2022-23 season as a freshman at Idaho where he played in 32 games and started 25 games. He was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year in 2023 with the Vandals.
• Viljami Vartiainen 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 2.8 and is third in 3-point percentage at 40.5 percent.
Vartiainen has 53 3-pointers in 19 games played this season. He ranks ninth in WSU history with 155 3-pointers in 85 career games at Weber State.
• Weber State once again had two players out of the lineup on Saturday as Jace Whiting missed his sixth game with a foot injury and is still expected to be out a few more weeks. Trevor Hennig missed his fourth straight game due to illness.
• Weber State is second in the Big Sky in scoring offense, rebounding, and steals, and ranks third in 3-point defense, rebounding margin, and turnover margin.
• Idaho has lost four of its last five games but is returning home after playing the last four games on the road. The Vandals are 7-2 at home this season.
Idaho leads the Big Sky and rank 32nd in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 10.3, and are averaging 28.9 3-point attempts per game. Idaho is also third in the league in field goal defense.
• The Vandals beat the Wildcats 75-67 on January 17 in Ogden. Idaho held Weber State to a season-low 30 percent shooting from the field and just five 3-pointers. Weber State also had 17 turnovers.
Tijan Saine had 35 points, six assists, and five steals to lead the Wildcats.
• WSU is 65-28 all-time against Idaho, and 13-7 since the Vandals rejoined the Big Sky in 2015. Idaho won two games last year and the win earlier this year for a three-game winning streak against the Wildcats.
In games in Moscow, WSU is 27-19 and the 'Cats have won six of the last eight.
• WSU will play at Eastern Washington on Saturday afternoon in Cheney.
