12/19/11 2011-12 Wildcats Break 3-Point Record Twice! The single game three-point record was broken in tonight's game. Weber State hit 18 three's from 33 attempts. The old record only lasted 38 days. Against Northern New Mexico the 'Cats hit 17-of-29 from beyond the three-point arc. Over the years there have been many games where WSU teams got close to breaking the single game three's record but the old record of 14 was safe from 1993-94 until Rahe's 2009 team made 15 in a game. Last season WSU hit 19-of-26 but it was in an exhibition game so it didn't count as a new record. In 1994 Weber beat Utah State with a half court shot at the buzzer on a night of 14-of-41 three-point shooting. Both attempts and three's made were WSU records. The conference record is 20 three's by NAU in 2000 and 2003.
Tonight's hot shooting was led by Jordan Richardson's 7-of-8 three's which is tied #3 in WSU history with Scott Bamforth (2011, 2012), Nick Hansen (2010) and Ryan Cuff (1997). #2 is 8 three's made by Alex Fisher (1996) and the school record is 9 in a game by Greg Boyd (1988). Lillard hit 4-of-6 from downtown in tonight's game and Bamforth and Mike Brown each hit three and Gelaun Wheelwright hit one. Only Darin Mahoney, Kyle Tresnak and James Hajek did not attempt a three in the game.
Lillard has made 35 three's this year and Bamforth has made 28. Lillard is on track to break the school single season record of 84 which he already owns from the 2009-10 season. Bamforth is on track to tie the 84 record with 30 games played.
Lillard also moved up as the 7th all-time WSU career scorer after his 5th point tonight to pass up Todd Harper's 1,383 points. Lillard needs just 46 points to get to 1,453 which would be #6 all-time passing up Al Hamilton. Another 172 points beyond that will move Lillard past #5 Jimmy Watts (1,553), #4 Willie Sojourner (1,563), #3 Jermaine Boyette (1,613) and #2 Jimmy DeGraffenried (1,624). Lillard could become the #2 scorer in school history as a junior. The school record for career points is Bruce Collins with 2,019 points, both Collins and DeGraffenried played four seasons. Lillard has scored 257 points this season in 10 games. There are at least 18 games left this year excluding any post season play and the conference tournament.
Big Sky Records The Big Sky record for single game points is 53 by Willie Humes (1971, ISU) and the WSU record is Stan Mayhew's 45 points (1977). Lillard's career best is 42 points. The Big Sky record for career points is Orlando Lightfoot's 2,102 points (1990-94, Idaho). Lightfoot, Weber's Collins and Utah's current head coach Larry Krystkowiak (1982-85, UM) are the only players in BSC history to score more than 2,000 points. The Big Sky record for single season points is 845 by Dave Wagnon (1966, ISU). Lillard is on track for 771 points if he plays 30 games. The BSC record for career three's is 308 by Ross Land (1996-00, NAU). Lillard's 187 ranks 18th. The single season three-point BSC record is owned by Stephen Sir with 124 (NAU, 2007). Lillard's 84 ranks 11th.
12/19/11 Weber Now 5-0 At Home Weber St. 106, Mayville State 57 OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored 28 points and continued to move up Weber State's all-time scoring list in the Wildcats' 106-57 win over Mayville State on Monday night.
Jordan Richardson scored 23 points on 7 of 8 shooting from 3-point range for Weber State (7-3). Scott Bamforth added 19 and James Hajek had 13 points.
Gus Kueber scored 24 points, Eric Shulstad 14 and Matt Bauduin 11 for Mayville (N.D.) State, a NAIA school that classified the game as an exhibition. The Comets' record remained 7-7.
Lillard entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 25.4 points a game. He rebounded from a 14-point performance at California on Friday, his lowest scoring output of the year.
The junior point guard had 18 points at halftime and passed Todd Harper for seventh place on WSU's career scoring list. Lillard also finished with 12 rebounds in his second career double-double.
12/19/11 Mayville State at Weber State, Tonight at 7 Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Live Stats | Twitter Weber State is back at home for its fifth home game where the 'Cats are 4-0 on the season. Weber has never played a game against NAIA Mayville State (North Dakota).
12/17/11 The Weber Glory Days of the 60's, 70's and 1980 From 1962 the year Weber State went DI through the 1975-76 season Weber played its home games in the Swenson Gym. The old "Wildcat Gym" had a capacity of 5,500 and it was never easy to find a seat and some had to stand especially the students who were able to attend. In the 15 year's that basketball games were played in the old gym, Weber's record was 180-18 (91%).
From 1968 to 1973 the 'Cats won 6 consecutive Big Sky titles which is still the conference record. Four of those teams finished ranked in the AP Top 20 (now Top 25). The first two coaches at Weber State went on directly to the NBA as head coaches. Both, Dick Motta and Phil Johnson went on to be NBA Coaches of the Year during their careers. Twelve Weber players from 1966 to 1980 went on to the NBA (and 18 through 2008). Three players on the 1979-80 team were drafted, 1980 was a special year.
By the time Weber got into the 70's it was clear there was a need for a much larger venue as the 'Cats were too large for the old gym. In November of 1976 the Dee Events Center opened. A new 12,000 seat facility was needed and would be sufficient for years to come. The Dee Events Center was and still is one of the larger Division I basketball arenas. The Dee was even larger by a couple thousand seats than the Salt Palace the Utah Jazz started playing in in 1979 having moved from New Orleans. The Dee was and is also a few thousand seats larger than the Spectrum in Logan. Today the Dee is almost twice the size of the next biggest Big Sky basketball arena excluding the couple teams that play in the football domes.
Weber was so good at basketball in the early days of the program that BYU, Utah and USU were afraid to play the 'Cats and they wanted no part of coming into the old gym where Weber rarely lost. They couldn't deal with the fact that they might lose to this new DI school that is encroaching on their domain. It took almost 10 years before the in-state schools would take on Weber State. In 1971 and 1972 Utah State hosted the Wildcats. Unfortunately for the Aggies and the Utes and Cougars eye-balling the game, Weber won both games in the Spectrum. The first in-state game held on the campus of Weber State was Utah State in 1972. For many years the 'Cats and Aggies would play twice a year but that died off by the early 90's. The series with the Aggies went back and for with neither team leading by more than one game between 1973 to 1983. The largest lead was Weber up 2-0 in 1972 and Weber again leading the series 14-12 by 1984 and even a 3 game lead by '86. The tables started to turn in the early 90's for USU.
Utah and BYU must have given in to peer pressure or decided it was time to accept this little Weber school as an in-state rival. In 1973 the first Weber/Utah game was played. Weber won the game in Salt Lake and then no game was played again until 1976. Guess who won the '76 game? Yes, Weber won that one too, it was the first ever played in Ogden. It is a shame that the Utah game in Ogden on December 22, 2011, is supposed to be the last ever Ute trip to the Dee...or at least for a long time. Thanks Utah. In those early years between Utah and WSU, the 'Cats won three of the first four and four of the first six and even six of the first nine by 1980. The 1980 season was a special year. It wasn't until the hiring of Rick Majerus in 1989-90 before the Utes could keep up with Weber.
BYU was the last in-state DI school that dared play Weber. In 1974 BYU hosted Weber and won the game 77-76. From '74 to '78 the home team would win the single annual meeting. Then in 1979 and 1980 there was no game. Those were a couple of good years for BYU to not play Weber as the 'Cats had three players on those rosters that were drafted to the NBA. Has it been mentioned that 1980 was a special year? To this day Weber has never won in Provo, 0-19, but Weber also has a winning record at home against every in-state school including newer additions to DI in recent years in Southern Utah and Utah Valley.
It was a special year in 1980. Weber State won the Big Sky title. Weber State made the NCAA tournament as a 7-seed and finished with a 26-3 record. Weber finished 17th ranked in the country in the AP poll. Weber beat Utah, Utah State, UNLV, New Mexico (in The Pitt) and Michigan State. The 'Cats even had an 18-game win streak (still the Big Sky record). The 1980 team averaged 10,500 fans per home game for 16 games. That was and still is the Weber State and Big Sky Conference record for attendance. Four of the top ten largest crowds in WSU history were in 1980 including the top three biggest crowds.
Finally, the reason for this article which may seem out of left field after the Cal game last night. Some WSU fans on the WSU Fans Forum have been discussing the old days of the Swenson Gym and what it was like going to games back then. Feel free to join in and discuss or ask questions. Weber State basketball has great history and tradition that lives on today which can be confirmed with the 19 banners that line the interior perimeter of the Purple Palace. This year's team has a great shot at a 20th banner. Twenty banners by one school in just 49 seasons of Big Sky basketball and 50 years of Weber State basketball at the Division I level would be a historic season to remember.
12/16/11 California 77, Weber St. 57 BERKELEY, Calif. -- Jorge Gutierrez scored 24 points and held Damian Lillard, the nation's leading scorer, to his worst offensive performance of the season as California beat Weber State 77-57 on Friday night.
Allen Crabbe added 16 points and six rebounds while Richard Solomon and Harper Kamp had 11 apiece for the Golden Bears (9-2), who have won three straight and five of six. Cal also remained unbeaten at home and has outscored its last three opponents at Haas Pavilion by an average of 30.6 points.
Lillard, who grew up and went to high school in nearby Oakland, entered the game averaging 26.9 points a game but couldn't get loose against Gutierrez and finished just 4 of 17 from the floor while scoring a season-low 14 points.
Scott Bamforth had 19 points for Weber State (6-3).
12/15/11 Weber State @ California, Friday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Cal Stream ($7.95) | Live Stats | Radio | Twitter The California Golden Bears (8-2) will host the Weber State Wildcats (6-2) Friday night at 8:30 p.m. This will be the first meeting since 1970-71 and Weber's first trip to Berkeley. The lone game played 41 years ago was a 75-65 Cal win in the Cable Car Classic in San Francisco. The other tournament game played was a 79-65 Weber win over San Francisco. Overall against the Pac 12, WSU is 15-45 which includes a 13-26 record against Utah. Minus the Utes, the 'Cats are 2-19 against the former Pac 10. The two wins were against Arizona State and Oregon State.
In 1969-70 Weber beat Arizona State 59-57 in Tempe, AZ. The Oregeon State win was a 61-49 final in the Far West Classic in Portland, OR, in 1976-77. The other two tournament games played that year included a 64-57 win over St. Louis and a 75-54 loss to North Carolina. The last Pac opponent WSU has faced was last season in Anchorage when the 'Cats lost 59-58 to Arizona State. WSU vs Pac 12: Washington 0-1, Arizona State 1-2, Washington State 0-1, California 0-1, Colorado 0-2, Oregon 0-3, Stanford 0-0, Arizona 0-3, Oregon State 1-3, UCLA 0-2, USC 0-0, Utah 13-26.
Weber State has quickly got back on track and in a hurry to forget that ugly BYU game by beating SUU 84-66 which included a Big Sky Player of the Week performance by Damian Lillard who leads the nation in scoring (26.9 ppg). Lillard's stat line vs SUU: 32 minutes, 31 points, 9 assists, 0 turnovers and 5 three-pointers. The 'Cats had 20 assists in the game, nearly doubling its season average, and only committing eight turnovers. Hopefully Weber State has built a little momentum heading to Cal which is likely the best team the 'Cats will face in 2011-12.
The Cal Bears, 8-2 overall are 7-0 at home this season. They are 1-1 in neutral games and have only played one road game which they lost 64-63 at San Diego State. The Bears' seven wins at home were against UC Irvine (77-56), George Washington (81-54), Austin Peay (72-55), Denver (80-59), McNeese State (73-57), San Jose State (81-36) and Jackson State (73-46). The neutral games played were against Georgia (W 70-46) and #21 Missouri (L 92-53).
The Bears feature two all-conference caliber guards in Jorge Gutierrez (6-3 195) and Allen Crabbe (6-6 205). Gutierrez is averaging 12.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 49.5% from the field, 50% from three and over 90% from the free-throw line. Crabbe is averaging 15.8 ppg and shoots 47% from three-point range. Both Gutierrez and Crabbe were selected as preseason picks to make All-Pac 12 1st Team guards and Harper Kamp, a 6-8 245 pound senior was picked to be an All-Pac 12 2nd team player.
Cal was ranked in the top 25 the first four weeks of the season until its 64-63 loss at SDSU. Currently the Bears have three top 25 votes. Cal is ranked 17th in the nation in assists (16.6), 44th in FG% (.476), 95th in rebounding (37.6) and 108th in scoring (72.3). Weber State ranks 22nd in scoring (80.3) and 47th in rebounding (39.0). Rebounding looks to be the key stat for WSU. In the eight games Weber has played, three times the 'Cats have been outrebounded and two of those three games were losses.
Cal is led by head coach Mike Montgomery who is a former Griz coach. He spent eight seasons in Missoula from from 1979-86 compiling a record of 154-76. Only five coaches in Big Sky history have won more games than Montgomery. One of his assistants named Stew Morrill took over the Griz in 1987. Montgomery then went to Stanford for 18 seasons and won 393 games and led them to four conference titles and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including once to the Final Four. He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times and National Coach of the Year twice. Montgomery then spent two seasons as head coach of the Golden State Warriors prior to Cal. At Cal he is 72-39 in his 4th year and has led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament twice and one trip to the NIT.
12/10/11 Weber St. 84, S. Utah 66 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored 31 points to lead Weber State to a 84-66 win over Southern Utah on Saturday night in the final non-conference contest between future Big Sky Conference foes.
Lillard, who entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 26.3 points per game, bounced back from a 15-point outing at BYU on Wednesday. Lillard had 18 at halftime and missed his second straight double-double for Weber State (6-2) by one assist to finish with nine.
Southern Utah (4-5), which will join the Big Sky next season, was led by Ray Jones Jr. with 14 points.
Kyle Tresnak had 15 and Byron Fulton and Jordan Richardson, in his first career start, each added 10 points for the Wildcats, who won their fifth straight over the Thunderbirds.
Jackson Stevenett had 12 points and Damon Heuir added 11 for Southern Utah, which is coached by Weber State alum Roger Reid.
12/10/11 Southern Utah at Weber State, Tonight at 7 Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Live Stats | Twitter Tonight's game against SUU will be the 29th game ever played between the Thunderbirds and Wildcats. WSU leads the series 22-6 (15-2 in Ogden). Weber has won the last four and Coach Rahe is 4-1 against SUU. The 'Birds' two wins in Ogden came in 1987 and 2005. This is the last game between the two schools as a non-conference game since SUU will join the Big Sky on July 1, 2012.
SUU is led by 5th year head coach, Roger Reid. Reid is 44-84 with SUU and 196-160 as a DI coach. He played basketball and graduated from Weber State in 1968. Reid is 0-3 against WSU with SUU. SUU is 4-4 this season with DI wins against UC Davis and Bryant. The 'Birds lost in Logan 65-63. The Thunderbirds are led by junior guard Damon Heuir who is averaging 11.9 ppg. Senior forward Ramell Taylor is averaging 11.5 ppg and 4.9 rpg, while shooting 53% from the field. Two other T-birds, Matt Massey and Jackons Stevenett, are averaging 11 ppg. SUU is shooting 48 percent from the field which ranks 36th in the country but just 26 percent from three-point land which ranks 324th. SUU has been an efficient passing team with an average of 16.6 assists per game which is 20th best in the nation compared to Weber at 255th with just over 11 apg.
Weber has lost two of its last three games and has now lost two starters to injury. WSU is still ranked 30th nationally in ppg with 79.7 and 23rd in rebounds with a 40.7 average. Damian Lillard's 26.3 ppg ranks #1 in the nation. With Bullinger out 4-6 weeks from the date of his injury and Otis' time frame of getting back on the court from his knee injury still unknown, the 'Cats will need other players to step up. Redshirt guard, Gelaun Wheelwright is now an active player as of the BYU game. He played 27 minutes and scored eight points and pulled down six rebounds which was second best on the team in Provo.
Standard-Examiner's Roy Burton's update on Otis:Frank "Mook" Otis limped off the court with loose cartilage in his knee in the first half of the BYU contest, just days after Weber State lost 6-foot-6 senior forward Kyle Bullinger for up to six weeks with a dislocated elbow. Otis, a 6-6 junior forward from Oakland, Calif., is out indefinitely as doctors try to rehab his knee without having to scope it out as they did last spring.
Weber State will travel to the San Francisco Bay Area for its second time this season. Weber will play the 7-2 Cal Bears in Berkeley next Friday.
12/7/11 BYU 94, Weber St. 66 Associated Press PROVO, Utah -- Noah Hartsock had 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as BYU dominated inside en route to a 94-66 victory Wednesday night over instate opponent Weber State.
The Wildcats (5-2) are now 0-19 in Provo.
Weber State's Damian Lillard entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 28.2 points a game but had just 15 on 5 of 12 shooting Wednesday against constant pressure.
Guard Brock Zylstra scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes for BYU (7-2) and finished with 15 as did Charles Abouo. Stephen Rogers and Nate Austin added 15 off the bench for the Cougars and Brandon Davies had 11, all in the first half.
12/6/11 Weber State at BYU Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Watch Online | Live Stats | Twitter | WSU Stats Game Notes: WSU | BYU Wednesday night on December 7th, Weber State will travel down to Provo to attempt its first ever win in the Marriott Center. The game will air on BYU TV with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. BYU TV is located on Comcast channel 21, 374 on DirecTV and 9403 on Dish Network.
12/5/11 Weber State vs BYU The annual Weber State vs BYU game is this Wednesday night in Provo. Since 1973, the Wildcats and Cougars have played each other 36 times. Weber State is 10-26 overall against BYU, 10-8 in Ogden and 0-18 in Provo. Weber's last win against BYU was 2003 winning the game 75-69 after a 15 point halftime lead. WSU went on to win 16 more in-a-row that year to have the nation's 2nd longest win streak. The following stats are since 1963 which was the first year WSU competed as a 4-year institution as well as WSU's first year in Division I basketball.
Weber State vs Brigham Young
Since 1963
WSU
BYU
Overall Wins
896
874
Last Tournament Appearance
2007
2011
Last Tournament Win
1999
2011
Tournament Appearances
14
23
Tournament Wins
6
10
Best Tournament Seed
7
3
Conference Titles
19
18
20 Win Seasons
23
25
Winning Seasons
40
38
Losing Seasons
8
10
Best Record
27-3
32-5
Worst Record
7-22
1-25
Undefeated in Conference
2
0
12/4/11 Milestones & Records With Weber's double-overtime thriller over San Jose State, the Big Sky is now 7-3 against the Western Athletic Conference. The win was number 100 for Randy Rahe as the head coach of Weber State. Coach Rahe is the fifth WSU coach to achieve 100 wins at Weber State. Four of the five coaches got number 100 in their sixth season at WSU. Only Neil McCarthy reached 100 in five years. McCarthy also has the WSU record for the most Big Sky regular season titles with four. Rahe long with Dick Motta, Phil Johnson and Ron Abegglen coached teams to three titles. Rah'es 100 wins are the fifth most wins in school history; he needs 17 more wins to move up to fourth. Joe Cravens has 116 wins, third best is Motta with 120 wins, Abegglen's 157 is second most. The school record is McCarthy with 200 wins in his 11 year tenure at WSU.
Damian Lillard is the nation's leading scorer averaging 28.2 ppg. His career-best 41 points scored against San Jose State was the second most points scored in a single game in Weber State history. His prior high was 36 points which he did against Saint Mary's (2011-12) and Eastern Washington (2009-10). After the EWU game Lillard was quoted as saying the following after leaving the game with a few minutes remaining, "I knew I had 36 and I mean, why not go for 40? But I'm not going to argue with the coach." He finally got the 40 points but it was a long wait because of last year's medical redshirt.
Single Game Points 1. Stan Mayhew 45 1977 (Utah State) 2. DAMIAN LILLARD 41 2012 (San Jose St) 3. Jerry Trice 40 1966 (NAU) Harold Arceneax 40 2000 (@ EWU) Harold Arceneax 40 2000 (MSU) 4. Jim Lyon 39 1964 (CS Los Angeles) Jim Lyon 39 1964 (Whitworth) Willie Sojourner 39 1970 (MSU) Bruce Collins 39 1977 (CS Stanislaus) Harold Arceneaux 39 1999 (EWU) Harold Arceneaux 39 2000 (ISU) 5. Stan Rose 38 1993 (@ EWU) Harold Arceneaux 38 1999 (@ EWU) 6. Al Hamilton 37 1992 (The Citadel) Jermaine Boyette 37 2003 (BYU) 7. Ryan Cuff 36 1997 (@ ISU) Harold Arceneaux 36 1999 (vs North Carolina, NCAA 1st Rd) Harold Arceneaux 36 2000 (CS Northridge) Jermaine Boyette 36 2001 (BYU) DAMIAN LILLARD 36 2010 (EWU) DAMIAN LILLARD 36 2012 (St Mary's)
Lillard still is 10th in WSU history for career points with 1,321. Another 37 points will move him ahead of Harold Arceneaux's 1,357. Lillard scored 617 points as a sophomore which is the 8th most in school history for a single season. On WSU's 28 game schedule, he would need to average 25.5 ppg to surpass Arceneaux's school record in 713 points. Qualifying for the conference tournament would add one to three more games and a post season berth could add at least a one more game. "The Show" played in 33 games in 1999.
Lillard's six 3-pointers against SJSU moved him up to #3 in the WSU record books for career 3-pointers with 177. Alex Fisher (1995-98) made 176. Ahead of Lillard are Jimmy DeGraffenried (196, 1991-96) and Johnny Hamilton (241, 2000-04).
The single season scoring average record at WSU is 23.2 ppg by Stan Rose in 1992-93. Two other players have also averaged 23 ppg: Bob Davis (23.1, 1971-72) and Arceneaux (23.0, 1999-00). Lillard has a great shot to get the school record with his 28.2 ppg after six games played.
As a team, Weber State is currently 17th ranked nationally in points per game with 82.0 and 31st in rebounds per game with 40.5. The Wildcats' 9.2 three-pointers per game is 15th best in the nation. Weber's three-point average is 39.9% which ranks 44th.
Weber's leading rebounder, Kyle Bullinger who averages more than nine boards per game played just 12 minutes against SJSU after suffering a dislocated elbow. His status has not been announced yet as to when Wildcat fans can expect him back on the court. Bull had already been dealing with a slipped disc issue with his back prior to the Saint Mary's tournament and he also had a minor ankle sprain against Jacksonville State.
12/3/11 Memorable Win For Rahe's 100th Weber St. 91, San Jose St. 89 2OT Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored a career-high 41 points as he made a driving layup with 10.7 seconds left in double overtime and converted the old-fashioned 3-point play as Weber State outlasted San Jose State in a 91-89 double-overtime victory Saturday night.
Lillard, who entered the game leading the nation in scoring at 25.6 points per game, hit a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime for Weber State (5-1).
James Kinney scored 28 points, including a couple of 3-pointers to bring San Jose State (3-5) back in the second overtime. Keith Shamburger hit a pair of free throws to put San Jose State up by one with 21 seconds left, before Lillard's game-winner and a Weber State defensive stop.
Weber State coach Randy Rahe won his 100th career game.
12/1/11 San Jose State at Weber State, Saturday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Live Stats | Twitter This Saturday night at the Dee Events Center the Wildcats are back in action after three game 18 day road trip where the 'Cats went 2-1 including the first 4-0 start since 1985. The Wildcats take on the Spartans of San Jose State at 7:30 p.m. The WSU women's team also plays San Jose State, that game has a 5:00 p.m. tipoff.
San Jose State makes just its second appearance in Ogden with the last being in 1976 when Weber beat San Jose 98-82. Overall in the series the Spartans lead 2-1, winning 64-56 in 1973-74 and last year in San Jose at the ESPNU Bracketbusters WSU lost 62-46.
As part of the Bracketbusters, the home team is required to play at the road team's place the following season if possible or the season after that. So if Weber can get say Nevada, Hawaii, Butler or Wichita State this season, the 'Cats would have to go play on the road at their place next year.
The Spartans have a 3-4 record with wins coming at home against UC Irvine (51-50), UT San Antonio (72-66) and a non-DI (109-71). The four losses are to Cal Poly (79-52), San Francisco (83-81 OT), Santa Clara (84-58) and Montana State (77-70). The loss to the Bobcats was the only one on their home floor.
The Spartans average 70.4 ppg and allow 72.9. They average 34.0 rpg and their opponents average 39.4. Graduated from SJSU last season is Adrian Oliver who was one of the top scorers in the nation where he averaged 24 ppg. This year junior guard James Kinney leads the team with 16.7 ppg and he dropped 30 against UTSA. Sophomore Keith Shamburger averages 14.4 ppg and Wil Carter, of Pocatello, is averaging 9.7 ppg and a team-best 8.6 rpg.
San Jose State finished with a 17-16 record last year and had their first winning season in nearly two decades. They only went 5-11 in WAC play but advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament where they lost to the eventual champion Utah State. The Spartans advanced to the CBI where they lost 85-74 to Creighton in the tournament's first round.
Weber State vs the WAC Overall 110-87 Fresno State 4-1 Hawaii 4-2 Idaho 52-20 Louisiana Tech 0-2 Nevada 19-20 New Mexico State 4-2 San Jose State 1-2 Utah State 26-38
A win over SJSU would be win number 100 for Coach Rahe and it would also be win number 896 for WSU all-time. Also, the Big Sky is 6-3 against the WAC this season. A SJSU win would bring the Big Sky's record to 7-3 vs the WAC. Weber has not lost a home OOC game excluding in-state opponents since 2005.
Damian Lillard is averaging 25.6 ppg, which leads the nation in scoring. He has scored 20 or more points in four of five games this season. This week he moved into tenth place on the WSU career scoring list with 1,280 points surpassing Johnny Hamilton's 1,240 points.
After Saturday's matchup the 'Cats head back on the road for an in-state battle at BYU next Wednesday, December 7. The Provo showdown will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on BYUTV.
11/28/11 Saint Mary's 87, Weber St. 70 Associated Press MORAGA, Calif. -- Matthew Dellavedova had 25 points and a career-high 11 assists and Rob Jones added 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Saint Mary's to an 87-70 victory over Weber State in the championship game of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic on Monday night.
Kenneth Walker II added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels (4-1), who beat the Wildcats for the second straight season.
Damian Lillard matched his career high with 36 points for Weber State (4-1), including a dominant stretch in the second half in which he scored 21 straight points for the Wildcats. Kyle Tresnak added 17 points.
Lillard's second-chance basket got Weber State within 64-58 with 7:26 left, but Saint Mary's went on a 14-2 run to lead 78-60 with 4:28 remaining. Dellavedova culminated the surge with a 3-pointer.
The Gaels were 8 for 13 from beyond the arc.
11/28/11 WSU @ St. Mary's For Championship Big Sky Scoreboard | SMC Stream ($7.95) | Live Stats | Radio | Twitter Sunday Saint Mary's 86, San Francisco State 52 Weber State 69, Jacksonville State 61 Monday Jacksonville State vs San Francisco State, 6:00 p.m. Weber State @ Saint Mary's, 8:30 p.m.
11/27/11 Coach Rahe Gets 99th Win! Weber St. 69, Jacksonville St. 61 Associated Press MORAGA, Calif. -- Damian Lillard scored 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Weber State to a 69-61 victory over Jacksonville State in the opening round of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic on Sunday night.
The Wildcats advanced to Monday's championship game against Saint Mary's, which beat San Francisco State earlier Sunday.
Kyle Bullinger added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Weber State, which improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 1985-86 season.
Brian Williams scored 16 points and made five assists for the Gamecocks (2-4), who fell behind by 21 late in the first half but gradually sliced into the deficit and trailed just 64-59 with a minute left. But a 3-point try by Williams went in and out, and the Wildcats held on.
Rinaldo Mafra added 14 points for Jacksonville State, but leading scorer Tarvin Gaines was held to nine points, six under his average.
11/27/11 Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Big Sky Scoreboard | SMC Stream ($7.95) | Live Stats | Radio | Twitter Sunday San Francisco State vs Saint Mary's, 5:00 p.m. Jacksonville State vs Weber State, 7:30 p.m. Monday Consolation game, 6:00 p.m. Championship game, 8:30 p.m.
11/26/11 Stats and Milestones National Stats Currently Weber State is ranked 8th nationally in points per game with 87.3 and 3rd in rebounds per game with 44.0. WSU is #1 in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage shooting 50%, hitting 37-of-74. WSU is also #1 in 3-pointers made per game with a 12.3 average.
Damian Lillard ranks 6th nationally in points per game with 23.0 and Scott Bamforth is ranked 24th with a 21.0 average. Bam also is ranked #2 in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage shooting 82.4% from 14-of-17 shooting. Kyle Bullinger is ranked 10th in rebounds per game with 11.3.
Records and Milestones Lillard has the 11th most career points in WSU history with 1,219 and needs 21 points to be 10th. Knocking in another 13 3-pointers will tie Lillard with Alex Fisher (176) for the 3rd most career 3-pointers at WSU. Lillard already has the school record, 84, the most 3's made in a single season. Lillard is tied 6th with 3 other players for the most points scored in a single game with 36. The record is 45 points by Stan Mayhew in 1977. If Lillard can end the season at his current average points per game of 23.0 that would tie him for the 3rd best single season points average with Harold Arceneaux.
Bullinger is just 71 points away from being the 26th player in WSU history to score 1,000 career points. He also just became the 23rd player in WSU history to get 500 rebounds. He currently has 504. He needs just 5 boards to get to 22nd to pass up Johnnie Moore and 7 more than that would tie him with Lance Allred (511). Bull can also become just the 14th player in WSU history to get 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Bull's junior year he hit 54 3's; if he can do that again he would graduate with 184 3's, the 3rd most in school history. Bull could become one of two players in WSU history to achieve 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 177+ 3-pointers.
Bamforth's 7 3-pointers against Utah State is the second time he has hit 7 in a game. Seven 3's in a game is the 3rd most in a single game by a WSU player which is shared with Nick Hansen (2010) and Ryan Cuff (1997). The school record is held by Greg Boyd (1988) with 9 and 2nd most is a two way tie between Alex Fisher (1996) and Johnny Hamilton (2004). Bam also has the 3rd most 3's made in a single season with 78. He was 5 short of Eddie Gill's (1999) 83. Lillard's (2010) 84 is the school record.
If Bam can get 78 3's per season like he did his sophomore year he would graduate with 234 3's. The school record is Johnny Hamilton's 241 (2000-2004). Second most is Jimmy DeGraffenried with 196 (1991-96).
Coach Randy Rahe needs 2 more wins to get to 100 overall at Weber State and as a DI head coach. Of the 9 coaches in WSU's previous 49 year history as a DI member, 4 coaches have crossed the 100 mark. In Neil McCarthy's 10 seasons he won 200 games. The second longest tenured coach was Ron Abegglen who won 157 games in 8 seasons. Number three is Dick Motta with 120 wins in 6 seasons and Joe Cravens won 116 games in the 7 seasons prior to the hiring of Coach Rahe. Rahe is in his 6th season at Weber and all of the WSU coaches to crack 100 wins did it in their 6th season except for McCarthy who did it in 5 seasons. Rahe is also in a 4 way tie for the 2nd most Big Sky regular season titles with 3. McCarthy won 4 conference titles.
The Weber State men's basketball program needs just 6 wins to get to 900 all-time.
11/25/11 Sun/Mon: Shamrock Office Solutions Classic Big Sky Scoreboard | SMC Stream ($7.95) | Live Stats | Radio | Twitter This coming Sunday and Monday, the 3-0 Wildcats will compete in the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic in Moraga, CA, which is the home court of the St. Mary's Gaels. WSU hasn't started a season 4-0 since 1985-86 when the 'Cats started out 10-0. Oddly that team only won 8 of its final 19 games and lost in the semifinal of the 1986 Coors Light Big Sky Tournament in Reno.
Weber's first opponent at the Shamrock will be the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State, Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. which will be the second act after St. Mary's plays San Francisco State, a local DII team. The two winners will play in Monday's championship game at 8:30 p.m. and the two losers will play in a 6:00 p.m. consolation game. All four games of the tournament will feature a live video stream via subscription services Gaels Live on SMCGaels.com.
The JSU 'Cocks have a 2-2 record with wins over non-DI Miles College (87-64) and Alabama State (78-65) and losses to Marshall (58-44) and #20 Cincinnati (73-59). JSU, located in Jacksonville, AL, will start a 6 game road trip tonight traveling to Natchitoches, LA, to take on Northwestern State at 6:45 p.m. JSU's next home game isn't until December 17th. The 'Cocks average 67 ppg, 4.5 bpg, 8.3 spg and outrebound their opponents by eight boards per game.
St. Mary's lately has started each season pretty hot and has been a solid mid-major team with at-large aspirations. On Wednesday night, the Gaels (2-1) had a disappointing loss at the University of Denver, 70-58. Their two wins were against non-DI Fresno Pacific (98-58) and Northern Iowa (57-41). SMC's Rob Jones the West Coast Conference leader in boards and field goal percentage is averaging 18.7 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Matthew Dellavedova, a 6-4 guard considered one of the best in the country is averaging 13.7 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.7 rpg and shoots 40% from 3.
San Francisco State is 1-4 overall and have faced no DI opponents yet. James Albright, a junior transfer from CS Bakersfield is averaging 14.4 ppg and is shooting 58.5% from the field.
Athlon Sports Preseason Preview, Jacksonville State The Gamecocks want to put a 2010-11 season that included a 14-game losing streak behind them. But it could be more of the same if senior forward Stephen Hall (11.1 ppg) doesn't receive some help on offense.
Lindy's Preseason Preview, Jacksonville State Jacksonville State has picked up a reputation as being a football school with former Arkansas coach Jack Crowe running the program. Beating Ole Miss last season only helped the Gamecocks' football street cred. So James Green has an uphill struggle to get Jacksonville State on the college basketball map. It doesn't help Green's cause that Nick Murphy and Jeremy Bynum aren't returning after exhausting their eligibility. Murphy was Jacksonville State's all-time leading scorer, while Bynum was No. 3. Stephen Hall is a solid piece, but experience is thin and the Gamecocks had yet to announce their crop of newcomers at press time, although Louisiana guard Mason Leggett committed to the program.
Athlon & Lindy's both picked the Gamecocks 10th of 11 in the Ohio Valley Conference with no all-conference preseason selections.
Athlon Sports Preseason Preview, St. Mary's Even though they lost the WCC's Player of the Year, Mickey McConnell, to graduation, don't look for the Gaels, who are riding a streak of four-straight 25-win seasons, to go away. Randy Bennett, in his 11th season as head coach, has the Gaels positioned on a national stage. Bennett has seven of his top eight scorers - including four starters - returning from last year's team, which lost to Kent State in the opening round of the NIT. Two of those returnees, junior guard Matthew Dellavedova, who averaged 13.4 points and 5.3 assists last season, and senior forward Rob Jones, who averaged 13.8 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds as a junior, were first-team All-WCC selections. Mitchell Young, a 6'9" junior forward who averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds as the league's best sixth man, is also back, along with three others players with starting experience.
Lindy's Preseason Preview, St. Mary's The debate in Moraga is whether this group has the potential of the Patty Mills-Omar Samhan-Diamon Simpson team that had Gonzaga on the ropes in 2009. More to the point is whether the Gaels have upgraded the schedule enough to sway the NCAA selectors. The Gaels are always good enough to beat anybody, but need to beat a few more somebodies. Adding two games with BYU in league play won't hurt. This could be Bennett's deepest team, if not his very best. - John Blanchette.
Athlon picked SMC to finish 3rd in the WCC behind Gonzaga and BYU while Lindy's picked the 'Zags first and SMC second.
Weber State is 4-0 against the OVC and has never met the 'Cocks on the hardwood. WSU is 1-0 against: Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Illinois, Morehead State and Tennessee State. Against St. Mary's, Weber is 0-3 and 62-49 against the WCC (10-26 BYU, 29-14 Gonzaga, 4-0 Loyola Marymount, 4-1 Pepperdine, 8-0 Portland, 3-1 San Diego, 2-3 San Francisco, 2-1 Santa Clara). WSU's three losses to SMC were in 1990-91 (L 80-69), 1991-92 (L 74-71) and 2010-11 (L 77-54). WSU has never played a game against San Francisco State.
Gamecocks Bio Public school established in 1883 Students: 9,481 Location: Jacksonville, Alabama Conference: Ohio Valley Colors: Red and White Arena: Pete Mathews Coliseum, 5,800
Gaels Bio Private school established in 1863 Students: 3,917 Location: Moraga, CA Conference: West Coast Conference Colors: Red, White and Blue Arena: McKeon Pavilion, 3,500
11/23/11 Big Sky Games Thanksgiving Week Sunday Northern Iowa 78, UNC 69 | Montana 73, San Diego 60 Monday PSU 101, Linfield 64 Tuesday EWU 89, Hawaii 72 | Seattle 85, MSU 73 | NAU 80, N. New Mexico 49 Iowa State 90, UNC 82 | Sac 69, UC Davis 61 Wednesday Loyola Mary 79, ISU 76 OT | North Dakota 88, UM 81 OT Thursday No Games Friday UNC 74, Western Carolina 57 | Wyoming 65, PSU 51 Saturday Utah State 75, ISU 62 | Loyola Mary 81, NAU 61 | PSU 66, Louisiana Tech 48 UM 73, Long Beach State 71 | Idaho 76, MSU 67 | McNeese State 68, Sac 63
11/21/11 'Cats Move Up To #11 In Mid-Major Top 25 The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 week 3 poll is out with Weber moving up from 19th to 11th. The first two weeks Weber stayed at 19th.
The last year WSU cracked the top 10 or top 5 was in 2002-03. 2011-12 is the 13th season of the mid-major poll. Back in '03 there was only a top 10 until a few years later it expanded to a top 25 format.
Upon a win over Jacksonville State this Sunday at the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic, WSU would get to take on tournament host St. Mary's who is #9 in this week's poll. SMC also has 9 AP top 25 votes.
Also in the poll is BYU at #16 who fell from 15th. Utah Valley has 4 votes and remains unranked. Former Big Sky member Gonzaga sits firm at #1 with 26 of the possible 31 top place votes.
11/19/11 Weber St. 80, UC Irvine 72 Associated Press IRVINE, Calif. -- Damian Lillard scored 27 points, Scott Bamforth added 16, and Weber State beat UC Irvine 80-72 Saturday in a back-and-forth contest featuring 10 ties and five lead changes.
Lillard added eight rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats (3-0). Kyle Bullinger had 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Daman Starring scored a career-high 21 points for UCI (0-3). Michael Wilder and Derick Flowers added nine points apiece.
Chris McNealy hit two free throws with 5:44 left for a 59-57 Irvine lead before the Wildcats went on a 16-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Lillard, to go up 73-62 with 1:38 remaining.
Weber State hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 54 seconds to seal the victory. For the game, Weber State hit 26 of 31 free throws, including 20 of 23 in the second half. UCI was 22 of 34 from the foul line.
11/19/11 Weber State's First Road Challenge is at UC Irvine Big Sky Scoreboard | Big West TV (Free) | Radio | Twitter | Forum Tonight at 5:30 p.m. the Wildcats will attempt to go 3-0 for the first time in 5 years and get its first road win of the season at UC Irvine. The UC Irvine Anteaters are 0-2 with both losses against teams WSU will face within the next month. UCI lost to #24 Cal 77-56 and with 6 seconds left in the game against San Jose State, UCI lost the lead and the game on a pair of Spartan free-throws, 51-50. Weber State will be UCI's first home game. Tonight's game is the second ever meeting between the two schools. The only game played was in a 1983 Utah Classic in Salt Lake City, with the 'Cats winning 83-65 on the first night of the tournament on December 29th. Weber State is 29-20 against the Big West: 2-1 Pacific; 1-1 UC Riverside; 2-2 UC Santa Barbara; 4-1 CS Fullerton; 13-8 CS Northridge; 3-8 Long Beach State; 1-0 UC Irvine; 2-0 UC Davis; 0-0 Cal Poly. From 1996-2001, CS Northridge was a full member of the Big Sky and in its last season won the Big Sky regular season title and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Sky Tournament by beating EWU 73-58.
Probable Starters Chris McNealy, G, 6-1, 180, So, 9.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg Daman Starring, G, 6-3, 190, Jr, 3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.5 apg Michael Wilder, F, 6-2, 215, Jr, 5.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg Will Davis II, F, 6-8, 210, Fr, 10.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg Mike Best, C, 6-10, 200, Fr, 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Athlon Sports Outlook The Anteaters lost five seniors, including their starting backcourt, then got blindsided in late May when 6-6, 240-pound forward Eric Wise (16.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg), one of the Big West's premier players, announced he was transferring to USC for his senior season. Irvine has experience in the backcourt with juniors Mike Wilder (9.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Damon Starring (7.4 ppg) and sophomore Chris McNealy (5.0 ppg). Junior post Adam Folker, who missed last season with hand and hip injuries, returns. UCI led the Big West in scoring last season, but was last defensively.
Lindy's College Basketball Outlook Like Pacific (with the transfer of Allen Huddleston), the Anteaters also lost an underclass All-BWC choice when Eric Wise quit and later transferred to USC for a senior season in 2012-13. Without Wise's wide frame positioned in the high- or low-post areas, coach Russell Turner will have to rely even more heavily upon the offensive skills of Mike Wilder, Daman Starring and Chris McNealy. Each is capable of scoring in the 15 points-per-game range. Turner also anticipates giving extensive opportunities to freshmen guards Aaron Wright and Collin Woods, each of who is likely to be a starter far sooner than later. The Anteaters are in need of some dependable post players.
Athlon picked UCI to finish 7th of 9 schools and Lindy's had the 'Eaters 9th. Both publications had UC Santa Barbara's Orlando Johnson as a BWC 1st Team All-Conference selection. Johnson is the younger brother of former WSU basketball player Robbie Johnson (1990-94) who is #3 in WSU history for career steals with 156.
UCI's Collin Woods who was recruited by WSU was a high school teammate of Kyle Tresnak at Horizon High in Scottsdale, AZ. Both graduated in 2010.
Anteater Bio Public school established in 1965 Students: 27,676 Location: Irvine, CA Conference: Big West Colors: Navy Blue and Gold Arena: Bren Events Center: 5,000
11/15/11 Weber St. 73, Utah St. 63 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Scott Bamforth scored a career-high 28 points and made seven 3-pointers as Weber State defeated Utah State 73-63 on Tuesday night.
Bamforth hit his first five 3-point tries of the game to improve to 10 for 10 on the season. He finished 7 for 9 beyond the arc.
Damian Lillard added 17 points and Byron Fulton 10 for the Wildcats (2-0), who lost 10 of the previous 11 meetings between the schools. Kyle Bullinger tallied eight points and 13 rebounds.
Morgan Grim led Utah State (1-1) with 19 points. Brockeith Pane added 14 points, and Brady Jardine had nine points and 14 rebounds.
11/14/11 Utah State @ Weber State, Tuesday Night 7 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Live Stats | Twitter | Forum After pounding a non DI oppponent by more than 50 points, the Wildcats are ready to take on a real team and there is no better way to start the season than hosting the Utah State Aggies. Utah State fresh off of a 69-62 home win over BYU.
While the Aggies haven't lost an in-state home battle since the 1990's, WSU would just like to protect its home court against the in-state schools. At home, WSU is 15-14 against USU, 10-8 vs BYU, 10-8 vs Utah, 15-2 vs SUU and 2-0 vs UVU.
Utah State has won four straight and 10 of the last 11 games against Weber. WSU's last 2 wins in the series are both home games - 2001-02 and 2007-08. Since that '02 buzzer beater three-pointer by Brad Barton, the 'Cats are 2-3 at home against the Ags.
11/13/11 Athlon/Lindy's College Basketball Preview On WSU's Next Opponent: Utah State Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview 2011-12 There are plenty of questions at Utah State about the upcoming season. Can the Aggies win a fifth straight Western Athletic Conference regular-season title? How will they replace four veteran starters? Is this going to be a rebuilding year, or can USU reload and contend?
Those are just a few of the questiosn facing Aggies fans, most of whom do believe USU will reload and be right at the top of the WAC again.
Veteran head coach Stew Morrill promises he is excited and almost giddy about the challenges that lie ahead for this season's team. Entering his 26th year as a head coach and 14th at USU, Morrill is looking forward to teaching his system to a plethora of new faces.
"Any time you start over with a lot of new players, there is the challenge of trying to make a new group mesh with a few veterans to see what you have," Morrill says. "I hope I'm as excited in February as I am now about coaching this team."
Eight letterwinners from a team that went 30-4 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament are gone. Six seniors graduated and two others left the program. Two of those seniors were four-year starters, including league MVP Tai Wesley, while another started for three seaons. Many times the Aggies were able to count on experience down the stretch in close games. Over the past four seasons, USU boasts a 111-28 record.
While USU lost a ton of experience, the cupboard is not totally bare. WAC Tournament MVP Brockeith Pane is back at point guard. The senior headlines a gruop of four letterwinners from a year ago. There are also three players who redshirted last season, including Preston Medlin, who saw action as a true freshman.
Pane, who averaged 11.8 points and 3.4 assists per game last season, will be counted on to be a leader, especially in the early going. Fellow seniors Brady Jardine and Morgan Grim - both forwards - will need to do their part to help bring along all the newcomers. Junior guard E. J. Farris will also be asked to nurture the 10 newcomers, including six freshmen.
The USU coaching staff believes the recent additions bring plenty of talent to the program. This could be one of the most athletic Aggie teams in a while, but it certainly is lacking experience.
Redshirts Antonio Bumpus, a junior, and Ben Clifford, a freshman, will definitely challenge for playing time. Junior college transfers Danny Berger, Mitch Bruneel, Igor Premasunac and Kyisean Reed are expected to be in the mix, as well as freshmen Steven Thornton, Adam Thoseby, David Collette and Jordan Stone.
"I want this group to believe they can be successful," Morrill says. "I just want them to go about it the right way, which is day-by-day. You can't win a WAC championship by talking about it; you've got to go to work."
The goal is to mesh in time for conference play. Making a run at a fifth straight regular-season league title is the plan - despite all the new faces.
Athlon Sports picked USU to win the WAC with New Mexico State second and Nevada third and picked Brockeith Pane to finish with 1st Team honors.
Lindy's Sports College Basketball 2011-12 Preview After ruling the WAC with an iron fist the past several seasons, this Utah State team will be fortunate to get back to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive time. Losing four of five starters is bad enough. Having to bring in a dozen new players will test head coach Stew Morrill. Seniors Brockeith Pane and Brady Jardine are the only players with any significat minutes of experience. In the recent past, picking Utah State to win the WAC in hoops was like choosing former league member Boise State to take it all in football. But this year could be different for the Aggies as they try to find their way with little experience to draw upon.
Keep An Eye On: Jardine will likely be in the starting lineup after coming off the bench last season. He needs to adapt to keep the Aggies grounded with a dozen new players roaming the halls.
11/12/11 Historical Stats: Weber State vs Utah State Weber State will open its first of three in-state home games in 2011-12 by playing Utah State at the Dee Events Center on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. This year's game is the 64th all-time meeting; the overall series is, WSU with 25 wins and USU with 38. Utah State is Weber's fifth-oldest rivalry in school history.
Against the Aggies, the 'Cats are 15-14 at home, 2-1 on neutral courts and 8-23 in Logan. The first 2 games ever played between WSU & USU were 1971 & 1972, both in Logan and both won by Weber.
There have been 5 overtime games and WSU has taken 3 of them. The lowest scoring game was in 1971, WSU won 63-62. The highest scoring game was 1988, USU won 107-93. Over the years the series went back and forth and WSU had a lead in the wins column up until 1988 where the series came to a 17-17 tie. Since '89 USU has led the series and the 'Cats had kept within 4 games until USU's recent success winning 10 of the last 11 games dating back to 2003.
Stew Morrill is in his 14th season as USU's head coach, he is 11-4 against Weber with USU. His first year was 1999 and his Aggies lost by 20 points to the 'Cats at the Delta Center. Stew would lose 3 of his first 4 competitions to the Purple and White. Stew is the winningest coach in USU history with a record of 325-103 and 12 straight 23 win seasons. This season USU has 17 home games which should help in securing another 20 win season. Stew has a 194-13 record in Logan.
Coach Rahe spent 13 seasons as an assistant to Stew at Colorado State & Utah State. Rahe is 1-6 vs Stew.
Weber State vs Utah State
Since 1963*
WSU
Utah State
Overall Wins
892
910
Last Tournament Appearance
2007
2011
Last Tournament Win
1999
2001
Tournament Appearances
14
18
Tournament Wins
6
4
Best Tournament Seed
7
10
Last 3 Tournament Seeds
14, 12, 15
11, 12, 12
Conference Titles
19
11
20 Win Seasons
23
24
Winning Seasons
40
38
Losing Seasons
8
11
Best Record
27-3
30-4
Worst Record
7-22
4-23
Undefeated in Conference
2
1
*1963 was the first year Weber State competed as an NCAA Division I basketball team.
11/11/11 Wildcats Score Triple Digits In Win Over NNMC Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Weber State set school records for most 3-pointers (17) and largest margin of victory in a game, defeating Northern New Mexico College 109-50 in the Wildcats' season opener.
Weber State had twice reached 15 3-pointers in a game, in 1996 and 2009.
Damian Lillard scored 25 points in his first regular-season game back from a broken foot that cost him most of last season to lead Weber State.
Frank Otis, a transfer from SMU, had 13 points and 17 rebounds in his first official game as a Wildcat and Scott Bamforth added 17 points as six Wildcats finished in double figures. Kyle Bullinger added 11 points.Northern New Mexico College, an NAIA school, was led by Christian Camacho's 11 points. The Eagles are winless this season.
11/10/11 The Season Begins with Northern New Mexico @ Weber State Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Watch Live | Twitter | Forum The 2011-12 Weber State basketball season is officially underway with a home game against the Eagles of Northern New Mexico College. NNMC started the season off 0-6 with two of its last three games played in Salt Lake City. The Eagles lost to fellow NAIA member Westminster 100-52 and 96-68 to Montana Western.
NNMC will be the smallest team WSU faces all season with just one player on the roster taller than 6'5". The Eagles are led by 6'7" Christian Camacho who is averaging 11.4 ppg and Eric Bouma (6'3") is averaging 10.5 ppg.
Friday night's game will be the first ever meeting between the two schools. WSU is 40-9 in season opening games and 29-3 when opening at home. The three losses: 1991-92 against St. Mary's, 1997-98 to Utah and USU in 2009-10. Weber has lost its last two season openers, both to Utah State. During the Rahe era, WSU is 3-2 in season openers and the 'Cats have only lost the first home game once in his five seasons.
Eagle Bio Public School Students: 2,252 Location: Espanola, New Mexico NCAA Classification: NAIA Colors: Navy Blue, Orange and White
Weber State's first basketball game airing on its new radio partner, 1280 The Zone, will be Friday's game. Over the summer WSU announced 1280 KZNS "The Zone" will be the new home to WSU football and basketball. Long time play-by-play voice of the Wildcats, The Wildcat, Carl Arky will continue to broadcast all of WSU's games. A pre/post-game show will continue as well The Zone will feature a weekly coaches show. The Zone can also be found on the FM frequency 104.7.
There are seven other Big Sky teams also playing Friday night. EWU @ #23 Gonzaga, ISU @ Oklahoma, PSU @ Denver, Menlo College @ Sac, MSU @ Arizona State, Montana @ Colorado State and NAU @ LA-Lafayette.
The 'Cats will host in-state rival Utah State on Tuesday, Nov 15.
11/9/11 Rahe Signs Two High School Forwards From Texas Coach Randy Rahe has inked two players today on the first day of the early singing period for NCAA DI men's basketball. Two Texans in Joel Bolomboy and Kyndahl Hill have signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Wildcat basketball program and will come to WSU in 2012-13.
"We are very excited about Joel and Kyndahl joining our program," Rahe said. "Both kids were our top priorities for over a year, Joel at the power forward position and Kyndahl at small forward. Both kids fit our program perfectly, they have great character, are very good students and love to be in the gym. Joel and Kyndahl both come from excellent high school programs and great coaches with very similar philosophies that we have here at Weber State."
Joel Bolomboy. Bolomboy is a 6'8.5", 210 lb forward from Central High in Keller, Texas. Last season as a junior he averaged 9.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.1 bpg and 1.3 apg. AAU: Texas Select.
Schools of Interest: Clemson, Colorado, Fresno State, Hartford, IUPUI, Long Island, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, New Mexico, St. Francis, Texas A&M, Tulsa, UTEP, Washington, Washington State and Weber State. Offers: Fresno State, Hartford, IUPUI, Long Island, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, New Mexico, St. Francis, Texas A&M and Weber State.
"Joel is very athletic, runs the court extremely well and is a high level rebounder and shot blocker," Rahe said. "He is a good face up shooter and has really improved his low post game. Joel plays with a lot of energy and with some added strength and weight has the ability to make a strong impact on our program."
Kyndahl Hill, 6'7" 200 lb forward, Humble, Texas. Senior year, 2012 at Humble High. 32 inch vertical leap, 4.7 40-yard dash. Averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds as a junior. Hill was expected to be a standout defensive end and high-major football recruit but has chosen to pursue basketball.
Schools of Interest: Arizona, Arizona State, Evansville, Houston, Lehigh, Long Island, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Pepperdine, Southeastern Louisiana, UT-Arlington, Utah State, UTEP and Weber State.
Offers: Holy Cross, North Texas, Sam Houston State, UT-Arlington and Weber State. He also had football offers from Kansas State, North Texas and UNLV and interest from Arizona, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Illinois and Texas.
"At the small forward position we were looking for some size and athleticism, Kyndahl really fits our needs well," Rahe added. "He is a tough competitor, can really shoot it with good range, and is an excellent rebounder. Kyndahl was also a high level football player, now that he is able to concentrate more on improving his basketball skills we are very excited about his potential and what he can become in our program."
11/7/11 WSU Beats UCCS 101-55 WeberStateSports.com OGDEN, Utah -- The Weber State men's basketball team got its first chance to play against another team and the 'Cats made the most of it, dominating the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs 101-55 in an exhibition game Monday night. It was Weber State's only exhibition game of the season.
The Wildcats dominated the game from the start, jumping out to a 42-17 lead at halftime and cruised to the victory. The 'Cats led by as many as 51 points during the game.
The 'Cats shot 59 percent from the field, including 10-23 from three-point land. Weber State also pulled down 37 rebounds and dished out 21 assists. They also forced the Mountain Lions to 22 turnovers.
Senior Kyle Bullinger led five Wildcats in double figures scoring posting a game-high 17 points on 7-10 shooting. Damian Lillard, in his first action since breaking his foot last December added 16 points, along with four assists and four steals.
Scott Bamforth had 13 points and a game-high five assists. Off the bench Byron Fulton added 13 points and freshman Geluan Wheelwright had 10.
The Wildcats will begin the 2011-12 regular season this Friday when they host Northern New Mexico at 8:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The 'Cats host Utah State on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
11/5/11 UC Colorado Springs @ Weber State In Exhibition Game The Weber State men's basketball team will play its lone exhibition game at 8:00 p.m. on Monday night to start the 2011-12 season. The 'Cats will host the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions. This will be the fifth meeting between the two teams in the exhibitions. During the Coach Rahe era, WSU is 3-0 gainst UCCS. In 2006-07 WSU won 86-67, 96-81 in 2008-09 and 110-58 2009-10.
The Mountain Lion basketball squad finished last season with an overall record of 9-17. UCCS returns just four players from last year's roster but two are returning starters. Junior guard Alan Paul (6-3 185 lbs) averaged 7.4 ppg and 3.2 rpg last season and junior Damar Hill (5-9 150 lbs) averaged 5.8 ppg and 4.3 apg.
Weber State also has a lot of new faces on this year's roster. WSU has eight Wildcats including red-shirts from last season who haven't logged their first minute of play. Frank Otis, a junior forward sat out last season after transferring from Southern Methodist University. James Hajek, a freshman big sat out last season as a red-shirt. New players to the program are five true freshmen in Mike Brown (6-2, 180, G, Heber City, Utah), Shai Fields (6-4, 180, G, Houston, Tex.), Logan Foster (6-3, 180, Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.), Ryan Van Pelt (6-10, 210, F/C, Orem, Utah) and Gelaun Wheelwright (6-1, 180, G., Corona, Calif.). Davion Berry, a junior 6-4 wing transferred from CS Monterrey Bay and red-shirt this year.
Mountain Lion Bio Public School Undergraduates: 7,150 Postgraduates: 1,500 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Conference: Rocky Mtn Athletic Conference NCAA Classification: Division II Colors: Black & Gold
The 2011-12 season will begin on Friday, Nov 11 with a home game against Northern New Mexico at 8:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The 'Cats will host in-state rival Utah State on Tuesday, Nov 15.
11/4/11 Kyle Bullinger Nominated For Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Weber State senior Kyle Bullinger has been nominated as a candidate for the 2011-12 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. He is one of just 30 seniors in the country selected out of the 340+ DI schools.
Last season, as a junior he earned First Team Big Sky All-Conference honors and averaged 11.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg. His red-shirt freshman year he was an All-Conference honorable mention. He has started every game he has ever played for WSU and needs just 101 more points to become the 25th player in WSU history with 1,000 career points and could finish as a top 10 scorer upon reaching 1,240 points. He will need 341 points. Bull also needs just 30 more rebounds become the 22nd player in school history with 500 career rebounds.
Not only is Bull a two time All-Conference standout but he also twice has earned Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors and has been part of two Big Sky title teams.
From the list of 30 candidates the field will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the season. The final 10 will be placed on the official ballot and ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, Division I men's coaches and fans who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the men's Senior CLASS Award winner during the 2012 NCAA Men's Final Four, which will be held March 31 and April 2 in New Orleans.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. The award is sponsored by Lowe's, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, and is managed by Premier Sports Management.
The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award's first winner was Duke's Shane Battier in 2001. In 2008 Utah State's Jaycee Carroll finished on the CLASS' 2nd team and last year in 2011 BYU's Jimmer Fredette won the award and Northern Colorado's Devon Beitzel made the 1st team and Northern Arizona's Cameron Jones was on the 2nd team.
11/1/11 Sports Illustrated's Top 16 Shooters #10 Scott Bamforth, Jr, Weber State "Bamforth came out of nowhere to finish fourth nationally in three-point percentage (48.7, 78-of-160). He played his freshman season at Western Nebraska Community College, broke his arm and missed his whole sophomore year, after which he transferred to Weber State ... and became the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year."
10/31/11 Weber Debuts at #19 In Mid-Major Top 25 CollegeInsider.com's top 25 poll now in its 13th season of existence is a poll for the 25 best teams from the mid-major conferences. This year's first poll was released today, October 31st with Weber State ranked 19th and Montana has 18 votes.
The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
This is the first year BYU has been part of the poll since they are now in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars are #9 as well Utah Valley has 5 votes. All Utah division I schools play in eligible conferences for the mid-major top 25 except for USU and Utah. With all the changes in conference realignment the WAC could be added to the mid-major poll soon but there is no official update from CollegeInsider.
In 2010-11 Weber started the season ranked 19th with 3 other Big Sky teams with votes: Montana 33, Montana State 2, Northern Colorado 2. UNC won the Big Sky and finished the season 21-11 overall and ranked 23rd. WSU had 3 losses in its first five games of the year and slowly fell out of the poll and then a few weeks later Lillard broke his foot and the 'Cats didn't receive any more votes the rest of the season.
The 2009-10 season had the Wildcats in the poll or with votes most of the season and finishing the year at #17. WSU's 2008-09 team finished ranked 20th. The last week of the regular season the Wildcats had 5 votes to be in the AP Top 25 before falling to Montana State in the Big Sky Semifinals. The 2006-07 team led by David Patten finished ranked 25th. In 2003, WSU finished the season in the top 10 (No. 30 in the AP Poll). The last WSU team to finish in the AP Top 25 was the 1980 team which finished 17th.
VOTING PANEL: Jesse Agel (Brown), Casey Alexander (Stetson), Murry Bartow (East Tennessee State), Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), Horace Broadnax (Savannah State), Milan Brown (Holy Cross), Will Brown (Albany), Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee), Billy Donlon (Wright State), Bruiser Flint (Drexel), James Fox (Davidson), Tyler Geving (Portland State), Mike Gillian (Longwood), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Willie Hayes (Alabama A&M), B.J. Hill (Northern Colorado), Dick Hunsaker (Utah Valley), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Danny Kaspar (Stephen F. Austin), Kerry Keating (Santa Clara), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Jeff Neubauer (Eastern Kentucky), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola MD), Buzz Peterson (UNC Wilmington), Barclay Radebaugh (Charleston Southern), John Shulman (Chattanooga), Brad Stevens (Butler), Jim Woolridge (UC Riverside), Ernie Zeigler (Central Michigan)
10/19/11 Coaches/Media Preseason Favorite Is Weber State Last season WSU finished 11-5 two games out of first place without Damian Lillard who missed most of the season with a season ending injury. Prior to 2010-11, WSU won back-to-back regular season titles with Big Sky MVPs in Kellen McCoy (2009) and Lillard (2010).
For the third straight season and fourth time in five years Weber as been picked #1 in at least one poll. In the coaches, of the 8 possible first place votes WSU received all 8 (6 last year); a coach can't vote for his own team. In the media poll WSU received 19 (21-of-27 last year) of the possible 24 first place votes. The media voters must know something the coaches to not or they might not know their Big Sky basketball teams. Weber returns Lillard a former MVP, Kyle Bullinger and Scott Bamforth, all 1st team players. WSU fans should also expect to see a deep bench making an impact. The 'Cats also had last year's freshman of the year in Byron Fulton. Three 6-10 bigs on the WSU roster is something the Purple and White rarely have so expect rebounding to improve from last year.
Coming in at second in both polls is Montana who has been picked second just about every year Rahe has been at Weber. Griz are led by all-conference selection Will Cherry, an Oakland native that should likely be the front runner for the defensive player of the year award. Cherry will be racking up assists with the help of senior center 7-foot Derek Selvig who was a Big Sky honorable mention last year. The Griz have had solid recruiting classes lately which will help Wayne Tinkle's crew to continue to be a force in the Sky to contend for its first regular season championship since 2000.
In both polls the preseason picks for third through seventh might be a complete crapshoot then again most years in the Big Sky both polls are far from accurate indicators of what to expect. Both polls seem to be certain though that the bottom two will be Idaho State and Sacramento State. Sac unfortunately has finished in the bottom two spots for five straight years while ISU has been a bottom two dweller four times in seven years.
Coaches' Poll Team - First-place votes 1. Weber State 8 2. Montana 1 3. Eastern Washington 4. Northern Colorado 5. Portland State 6. Northern Arizona 7. Montana State 8. Sacramento State 9. Idaho State
Media Poll Team - First-place votes 1. Weber State 19 2. Montana 4 3. Northern Colorado 1 4. Northern Arizona 5. Portland State 6. Eastern Washington 7. Montana State 8. Sacramento State 9. Idaho State
In 2010-11 WSU was picked 1st in both polls and finished 3rd. In 2009-10 the 'Cats were also picked 1st in both polls and finished 1st. The 2008-09 team was picked 4th/5th and finished 1st. In 2007-08 Weber was picked 1st and 2nd but finished 3rd. In Rahe's first season, 2006-07 the 'Cats were picked to finish 6th/7th and won the title after finishing dead last just one season removed.
10/17/11 Athlon & Lindy's Annual College Basketball Preview: Both Picked WSU #1 Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview 2011-12 Since arriving in Ogden, Utah, five years ago, coach Randy Rahe has led Weber State to three Big Sky Conference titles. So the Wildcats, after finishing third in the regular-season BSC standings and bowing out in the semifinals of the league tournament, might have some extra - though hardly needed - motivation heading into the 2011-12 season. For starters, the Wildcats return the league's best player in 6'2" junior guard Damian Lillard, who played in only nine games last winter before suffering a season-ending foot injury. Lillard, who was granted a medical redshirt season, was coming off a sensational sophomore year in which he averageed 19.9 points and earned the league's Most Valuable Player Award. Lillard returns this year to a loaded WSU roster that includes a pair of returning first-team all-conference performers in senior forward Kyle Bullinger, last year's leading rebounder with an average of 6.3 per game, and junior guard Scott Bamforth, whose scoring average was 12.2 points per game was second-best on the team last winter.
All Big Sky 1st Team Damian Lillard, G, Jr, Weber State Scott Bamforth, G, Jr, Weber State Kyle Bullinger, F, Sr, Weber State Will Cherry, G, Jr, Montana Charles Odum, G, Sr, Portland State
Lindy's Sports College Basketball 2011-12 Preview There's loaded, and then there's loaded. Even with 2010 Big Sky MVP Damian Lillard out with a broken foot, the Wildcats made a run at the league title. Now he's back - with his year restored - along with a pair of all-league players in long-range bomber Scott Bamforth and Kyle Bullinger, plus the Sky's Freshman of the Year, Byron Fulton. There's solid role support, enhanced by the addition of SMU transfer Frank Otis up front. But the showstopper is Lillard, a smooth scorer and playmaker who may not be around to enjoy that extra year of eligibility.
Keep An Eye On: Byron Fulton was the Big Sky's Freshman of the Year and shot nearly 47 percent from 3-point range.
All Big Sky 1st Team Damian Lillard, G, Jr, Weber State Scott Bamforth, G, Jr, Weber State Kyle Bullinger, F, Sr, Weber State Will Cherry, G, Jr, Montana Derek Selvig, C, Sr, Montana
All Big Sky 2nd Team Gabe Rogers, G, Jr, Northern Arizona Mike Proctor, F, Sr, Northern Colorado Chehales Tapscott, F, Sr, Portland State Charles Odum, G, Sr, Portland State John Dickson, F, Jr, Sac State
MVP: Damian Lillard, G, Sr, Weber State; Newcomer of the Year: Antonio Biglow, G, Jr, Montana State
10/13/11 Rivals.com: Big Sky Preview Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo! Sports provides a Big Sky preview for the Big Sky Conference on Rivals.com.
PROJECTED ORDER OF FINISH 1. Weber State 2. Montana 3. Northern Arizona 4. Eastern Washington 5. Portland State 6. Montana State 7. Northern Colorado 8. Sacramento State 9. Idaho State
PRICE -- Former Weber State basketball player Brad Barton was found dead in Price on Tuesday. The cause of death is still undetermined.
Barton, 31, who became the head basketball coach at USU Eastern (formerly the College of Eastern Utah) in June.
Price police Sgt. Bill Barnes told the Sun Advocate newspaper there was no sign of foul play at Barton's apartment close to the university and that Barton was found there by an assistant coach who came to check after not hearing from Barton on Monday. The state medical office will investigate the cause of death, Barnes said.
Barton played high school basketball at Davis High and played two seasons at Weber State (2001-02 and 2002-03) after transfering from BYU-Hawaii.
"Brad was kind of a one-in-a-million person and player," former Weber State coach Joe Cravens said Tuesday night. "He played for me on a team that went undefeated in (the Big Sky Conference in 2002-03). He was kind of the heart and soul of that team. He wasn't the star but he was the guy that kind of made that team go. He was the most compettitve, compassionate player I think I've ever coached."
Barton had suffered from diabetes for years, Cravens said.
"I think almost everyone assumes (Barton's death) is diabetes related. Several times throughout his career at Weber State, he collapsed and had diabetic seizures and someone was there to call 911. This is purely speculation on my part, but I suspect this time it happened and there was no one there. I talked to his mother tonight and she said he was in great physical condition and was really taking care of himself. I think it's safe to say it was diabetes related."
Cravens said Barton was the hardest-nosed, most competitive player he ever coached. Barton became the head coach at USU Eastern this June after leading the team to a 23-7 record as the interim coach last year. He had previously been an assistant there and also at Snow College in 2006-07.
Dozens of friends left their goodbyes on Barton's Facebook page Tuesday night after news of his passing spread.
9/21/11 Big Sky Releases 2011-12 Media Guide
Basketball season is almost here. The Purple and White game is only 35 days away. The Big Sky Conference has released the 2011-12 media guide.
2011-12 Composite Schedule .................................... 3-6
2010-11 Season In Review ......................................... 7-12
2010-11 Coach of the Year/Expansion ........................ 13
Eastern Washington .................................................... 14-15
Idaho State .................................................................. 16-17
Montana ....................................................................... 18-19
Montana State ............................................................. 20-21
Northern Arizona .......................................................... 22-23
Northern Colorado ....................................................... 24-25
Portland State .............................................................. 26-27
Sacramento State ........................................................ 28-29
Weber State ................................................................. 30-31
Wildcat Quick Facts
Location: Ogden, Utah | Enrollment: 25,000
Nickname: Wildcats | Colors: Royal Purple and White
Arena (Capacity): Dee Events Center (12,000)
Wildcat Team Facts
Head Coach: Randy Rahe | Years at Weber State: Sixth season
Record at Weber State: 95-61 | Overall Record: 95-61
Assistant Coaches: Eric Duft, Tim Gardner, Phil Beckner
9/6/11 WSU Receives Verbal From High School Power Forward Salt Lake Tribune reports that Coach Rahe received a verbal commitment from Texas high school forward Joel Bolomboy. Bolomboy is a 6'8.5", 210 lb forward that is a long, athletic post with a 7-foot wingspan who runs the floor well and is a shotblocker. Bolomboy plays for Central High in Keller, Texas. Last season as a junior he averaged 9.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.1 bpg and 1.3 apg. AAU: Texas Select.
Schools of Interest: Clemson, Colorado, Fresno State, Hartford, IUPUI, Long Island, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, New Mexico, St. Francis, Texas A&M, Tulsa, UTEP, Washington, Washington State and Weber State.
Offers: Fresno State, Hartford, IUPUI, Long Island, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, New Mexico, St. Francis, Texas A&M and Weber State.
8/28/11 EWU Hires New Basketball Coach, Jim Hayford
Kirk Earlywine is out after compiling a 42-78 record in 4 seasons at Eastern Washington with just one Big Sky Tournament appearance. He was 2-7 against Weber State.
EWU has hired Jim Hayford who has spent the past 10 seasons as the head coach of Whitworth University a DIII school located in Spokane, WA. Hayford comes to EWU with a 217-57 record which includes eight 20-win seasons and six appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament. His Whitworth Pirate teams won five Northwest Conference titles, three Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight appearance.
Hayford, a 1990 graduate of Azusa Pacific, will be the 17th head coach at EWU and 9th since moving up to Division I. The five time Northwest Conference Coach of the Year will have his work cut out for him in Cheney where the program hasn't seen any consistent winning since Ray Giocoletti left for Utah in 2004.
EWU's only all-conference selection from last season, Glen Dean, has transferred to Utah. Hayford has brought in 6 new players and kept 8 players from last season. Earlywine's 2010-11 squad had 6 freshman, 3 sophomores, 6 juniors and 0 seniors.
Hayford has hired Craig Fortier, Craig Ehlo and Shantay Legans as his assistant coaches. Fortier graduated from Cal State Monterey Bay in 2003 and was an assistant at Whitworth the past 4 seasons. Ehlo the 14 year NBA veteran and Washington State graduate (1999) will make his collegiate debut this season at EWU. He had a 3 year stint as a high school coach in Spokane at Rogers High from 1998-2001. Legans, a 2004 graduate of Fresno State, has been retained from the Earlywine staff which he was apart of for the past three seasons.
Dewey Crayton was a four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats, playing cornerback from 2002-2005.
Crayton recently lost his home and all of his possessions to a fire. Many people have stepped up to help Dewey out with clothing, furniture, etc., but he still has a great financial need to get back on his feet.
Those who would like to donate to Dewey's cause, can stop by a local Chase Bank and donate money to an account set up there under his name.
WSU had a charity benefit event earlier today where they had a dunk tank, in which WSU administration, students and student-athletes were dunked. Dontations were taken and each individual that was dunked set an amount had to be reached before they are able to be dunked.
3/13/11 Weber State @ Oregon in CBI Tournament CBI Bracket | CBI Schedule | CBI Historical Results
Wednesday night, WSU will play at Oregon in its first ever CBI appearance. Tipoff is set for 8 pm at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. The game will be televised by HDnet and will be available through Comcast, DIRECTV and Dish Network.
The CBI first-round is scheduled for March 15-16. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place March 21-23. The championship series, best of three format will be on March 28-April 1
CBI 1st Round
March 15 - James Madison at Davidson; San Jose State at Creighton
March 15 - Austin Peay at Boise State; Hofstra at Evansville
March 16 - Duquesne at Montana; Weber State at Oregon
March 16 - Miami (Ohio) at Rhode Island; St. Bonaventure at UCF
Weber State vs PAC 10
Overall 2-15
Arizona 0-3
Arizona State 1-2
California 0-1
Oregon 0-2
Oregon State 1-3
Stanford 0-0
UCLA 0-2
USC 0-0
Washington 0-1
Washington State 0-1
3/11/11 Weber State Accepts Bid to CBI Tournament
Weber State Athletics reports that the Wildcats will compete in the 2010-11 College Basketball Invitational. The Wildcats will host a first round game on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sunday night the 16-team bracket of the CBI will be announced at 7 pm.
The quarterfinal games will be played on March 21 with the semifinals taking place Wednesday, March 23. The championship round is the best of three games taking place March 28-April 1.
The CBI started in 2007-08 and its teams compete on the home court of the higher seeded teams. The tourney is single elimination until the championship round which is the best of three format.
This is Weber's first ever appearance in the CBI and its 18th overall post season appearance. Weber State has competed in 14 NCAA Tournaments and 3 NIT's. This year's post season appearance is WSU's 4th in five seasons and is the most in school history in such a span since its six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 1968-73. This also is WSU's 3rd straight post season appearance for the first time since 1978-80.
Weber State is the first Big Sky school to compete in the CBI, former members Boise State and Nevada have both made appearances as well Utah has.
3/11/11 Could the 'Cats Play in a Post Season Tourney?
Today's Standard-Examiner article by Roy Burton, 'Cats play for Lillard, in a very literal sense, discusses why this St. Mary's game was added to the schedule so late in the season to help Damian Lillard get his medical hardship.
Burton also mentions that the SMC game might not be the end for the 'Cats in 2010-11. WSU was contacted by officials of both the College Basketball Invitational and CollegeInsider.com Tournament expressing their interest in WSU hosting a postseason home game.
CIT Tournament Announcements
So far Air Force, Furman, Hawai'i, Northern Iowa, Portland and Santa Clara have announced they will participate in the 2011 CIT.
The CIT 24-team bracket will be announced Sunday evening. The tournament will begin with 12 first round games beginning Tuesday night. Air Force, Hawai'i, Northern Iowa and Santa Clara will host first round games. Portland will play at Hawai'i and Furman will also play on the road.
3/11/11 Saint Mary's 77, Weber St. 54
Associated Press
MORAGA, Calif. -- Rob Jones had 20 points and 13 rebounds Friday night, lifting Saint Mary's to a 77-54 victory over Weber State as the Gaels improved their resume for the NCAA tournament selection committee with their 25th win of the season.
Mickey McConnell added 15 points and eight assists for Saint Mary's (25-8), while Clint Steindl had 13 points, all in the first half.
Trevor Morris, playing in his school-record 121st career game, led Weber State (18-13) with 13 points.
The Gaels used a 20-2 run to build a 36-20 lead with just over 4 minutes left in the first half. Steindl, who came off the bench for the third straight game after losing his starting job to Stephen Holt, made nine points during the run, hitting a trio of 3-pointers.
The game, a late addition to the regular-season schedule, came after both teams had been eliminated from their conference tournaments.
3/11/11 Weber State at St. Mary's Tonight at 8 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Watch Live | Twitter | Forum Weber State after getting knocked out of the Big Sky Tournament in the semifinals doesn't have to go home yet. The 'Cats play at St. Mary's College of the West Coast Conference tonight in Moraga, CA, just 15 minutes outside of Oakland in its final out of conference game of the season. WSU also might have a chance to play in one of the other tournaments such as the CIT and will find out on Sunday.
Weber State is 52-22 all-time against the WCC and the SMC Gaels are the only team in the league WSU has never beat. WSU is 0-2 vs SMC.
1990-91: L 80-69
1991-1992: L 74-71
The Gaels currently are 24-8 and have lost 4 of its final 6 games including a 75-63 loss in the WCC Tournament Championship to Gonzaga in Las Vegas. During the season, SMC beat St. John's, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, lost to BYU by 1 and lost to Utah State at home by 10. SMC has lost 2 of its last 3 at home.
SMC will pay tribute to its two seniors in Phil Benson and Mickey McConnell tonight for seniors night.
The Gaels finished the West Coast Conference regular-season with an 11-3 record and the school's first WCC title since 1988-89. SMC will be sitting on the couch hoping for an at-large bid on Sunday to the Big Dance. Losing to Weber State two nights before the selection wouldn't be helping this bubble team out.
WSU vs West Coast
Overall 52-22
Saint Mary's 0-2
Gonzaga 29-14
Portland 8-0
San Diego 3-1
Santa Clara 2-1
Pepperdine 4-1
Loyola Marymount 4-0
San Francisco 2-3
3/8/11 Montana 57, Weber St. 40
Associated Press
GREELEY, Colo. -- Will Cherry scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Kareem Jamar provided a spark off the bench with 10, helping Montana rally for a 57-40 win over Weber State on Tuesday night in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals.
The Grizzlies (21-9) will face the winner of the other semifinal between Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona in Wednesday's championship game. Montana is seeking its second straight tournament crown.
Scott Bamforth led the way for Weber State (18-12) with 10 points.
This was a matchup of last season's championship game, when Montana stormed back from a 22-point deficit to beat Weber State, 66-65.
Once again, the Grizzlies needed a big rally to move on.
3/7/10 Big Sky Semifinal: 3-WSU vs 2-Montana Bracket | Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter
| Forum
Tuesday: 3-WSU vs 2-UM, 5:30 pm on the Altitude
Tuesday: 4-NAU vs 1-UNC, 8:00 pm on the Altitude
Wednesday: Championship, 7:00 pm on ESPN2
The 2010-11 Big Sky tournament will be the first ever in Greeley, Colorado, as this year is the first ever Big Sky regular season championship for the Northern Colorado Bears. This is the 36th Big Sky tournament and Weber State has played in 29 of the previous 35 semifinals and is 14-15 in those games. WSU is 9-1 in seminfinal games in Ogden.
Against Montana in the conference touranment, Weber is 5-4. In semifinal games only, WSU is 2-1 against the Griz. The last time WSU and UM met in a semifinal game was in 1997 when the Griz beat the 'Cats in Flagstaff 81-56. WSU is 1-1 against UM in neutral semifinal games.
Weber State and Montana combined have played in the most conference tournaments, have played the most conference tournament games and have won the most conference tournament championships. Surprisingly the two teams have never met in the first round/quarterfinals. The Big Sky tournament started in 1975-76. WSU and UM have met in five tournament championship games and the 'Cats are 3-2 in those meetings.
WSU/UM Semifinals
1978-79: Weber State 98, Montana 71, Ogden, UT
1982-83: Weber State 54, Montana 53, Reno, NV
1996-97: Montana 81, Weber State 56, Flagstaff, AZ
3/5/11 'Cats Move on to Seminfinals Weber St. 79, E. Washington 70
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Kyle Bullinger scored a career-high 26 points and Weber State overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Eastern Washington 79-70 in a Big Sky Conference quarterfinal on Saturday night.
Scott Bamforth scored 13 points and hit a critical 3-pointer to give Weber State some separation at 75-68 with 2:31 remaining.
Trevor Morris added another 13 and Lindsey Hughey had 10 as the No. 3 seed Wildcats (18-11, 11-5) avenged a home loss to the No. 6 seed Eagles (10-20, 7-9) on Wednesday.
The Eagles' Cliff Colimon had a game-high 27 points but only five after the break as Weber State went on a 22-10 run to erase Eastern Washington's advantage.
Tremayne Johnson added 17 points and Cliff Ederaine 10 in Eastern's first appearance in the Big Sky tournament since 2005-06.
Weber State advances to face No. 2 seed Montana in a semifinal Tuesday.
3/5/10 Big Sky Tournament Begins Tonight Bracket | Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum
Tonight WSU will host Eastern Washington at 7:30 pm which is the exact same game that was just played on Wednesday night. After the 16 point home loss from three nights ago the Wildcats go a do-over. It also might benefit the 'Cats if EWU went home Thursday then to have had to come back to Utah on Friday to prepare for tonight's matchup. The more a team travels the better the odds are of losing. Big Sky road games were never easy to win as it was especially with EWU being 3-25 in Ogden. EWU did get the rare Ogden win and are now back to the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 2006. WSU has a winning record in the tournament against every league school except for its 1-3 record vs EWU. The only win was the 2003 Big Sky title in Ogden, 60-57. The losses were an 83-67 Boise semifinal in 1990; a 62-57 loss in the Bozeman, MT, semifinals in 2002; and a 72-53 loss in the 2004 semifinals in Cheney, WA.
The Big Sky Tournament begins tonight with 5-seed Montana State at 4-seed Northern Arizona at 6:30 pm. 6-seed EWU at 3-seed WSU an hour later at 7:30. The semifinal games will be held Tuesday and the championship on Wednesday, at the Butler-Hancock Pavilion in Greeley, Colorado. Northern Colorado won its first ever Big Sky title, it took just 5 years from moving up from Division II. UNC is 0-2 all-time in the conference tournament losing in the seminfinals in Ogden last year as a 2-seed to 4-seed Montana 68-63. In 2008-09 in the Bears' first ever tournament appearance, UNC lost at 4-seed Idaho State in the quarterfinals as a 5-seed, 67-60.
In the semifinals on Tuesday night, 2-seed Montana will play the highest remaining seed in the first game at 5:30 pm on the Altitude followed by 1-seed UNC taking on the lowest remaining seed in the second game at 7 pm. The winners of the semifinals will play in the title game on Wednesday night at 7 pm on ESPN2; the winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament. All games will also be streaming online free at BigSkyTV.org.
Below are the all-time wins and losses in the Big Sky Tournament which started in 1976. Weber is 15-12 between this year's bracket participants. The 'Cats have never played UNC.
Big Sky Tournament Win/Loss Records
Boise State 11-10
Cal State Northridge 7-4
Eastern Washington 7-9
Gonzaga 0-1
Idaho 15-13
Idaho State 16-20
Montana 28-24
Montana State 15-23
Nevada 11-9
Northern Arizona 13-17
Northern Colorado 0-2
Portland State 7-7
Sacramento State 2-4
Weber State 35-25
Weber State's Tournament Record vs Current Members (27-14) Eastern Washington 1-3
Idaho State 5-3
Montana 5-4
Montana State 5-3
Northern Arizona 4-1
Northern Colorado 0-0
Portland State 4-0
Sacramento State 3-0
Weber State's Tournament Record vs Former Members (8-11)
Boise State 2-4
Cal State Northridge 0-2
Gonzaga 1-0
Idaho 1-2
Nevada 4-3
Big Sky Tournament Championships
Weber State 8
Montana 7
Boise State 4
Idaho 4
Idaho State 2
Montana State 2
Nevada 2
Northern Arizona 2
Portland State 2
Cal State Northridge 1
Eastern Washington 1
Gonzaga 0
Northern Colorado 0
Sacramento State 0
3/4/11 EWU at WSU, Again
Standard-Examiner's Roy Burton No time to rest: Wildcats prepare for rematch Standard.net
3/4/10 The Big Sky Awards - 5 WSU Players Honored
The Big Sky Conference announced the selections for the all-conference awards. From 1963 (the inaugural year of the Big Sky) until 1990, the conference named a 1st & 2nd team. From 1991 to 2006 they only named a 1st team. In 2007 the 2nd team award was re-instated as well as adding the honorable mention list. The panel of voters are the 9 league head coaches.
2010-11 Big Sky All-Conference Selections
First Team Scott Bamforth, WSU Kyle Bullinger, WSU
Devon Beitzel, UNC
Will Cherry, UM
Brian Qvale, UM
Cameron Jones, NAU
Second Team
Glen Dean, EWU
Bobby Howard, MSU
Neal Kingman, UNC
Charles Odum, PSU
Gabe Rogers, NAU
Honorable Mention Lindsey Hughey, WSU
Trevor Morris, WSU
Broderick Gilchrest, ISU
Deividas Busma, ISU
Derek Selvig, UM
Erik Rush, MSU
Shane Johannsen, NAU
Chris Kaba, UNC
John Dickson, Sac
Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player - Devon Beitzel, UNC Newcomer of the Year - Scott Bamforth, WSU Freshman of the Year - Byron Fulton, WSU
Defensive Player of the Year - Brian Qvale, UM
All-Time Big Sky 1st Team Players
Weber State 73
Montana 45
Idaho State 44
Montana State 38
Northern Arizona 29
Eastern Washington 24
Portland State 18
Sacramento State 5
Northern Colorado 3
All-Time Big Sky 2nd Team Players
Montana 26
Weber State 25
Montana State 24
Idaho State 21
Northern Arizona 15
Portland State 5
Eastern Washington 3
Northern Colorado 2
Sacramento State 0
3/2/11 Damian Lillard's Video Diary
The Big Sky Conference posted the below video on their YouTube Channel today. This is the first episode of "Damian's Diary," a video blog which will chronicle the recovery from his December Jones Fracture foot injury that limited him to just nine games this season.
3/2/11 WSU Loses to EWU 75-59 WSU Hosts EWU in 3 vs 6 on Saturday
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah - Jeffrey Forbes and Cliff Colimon each scored 17 points and Eastern Washington beat Weber State 75-59 on Wednesday to earn a rematch in the Big Sky Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Cliff Ederaine added 16 points, while Colimon drained three big second-half 3-pointers to keep Weber State at bay shortly after the Wildcats' Lindsey Hughey scored 11 points in 2-1/2 minutes to cut an 18-point halftime deficit down to four.
Hughey finished with 21 points and Kyle Bullinger added 13.
Weber State (17-11, 11-5) fell to the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky tournament and will host No. 6 Eastern Washington (10-19, 7-9) in Ogden on Saturday.
Eastern Washington converted 23 Weber State turnovers into 29 points and held a 40-22 advantage at halftime.
3/1/11 Honor Your Departing Seniors, EWU at WSU, Wednesday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Live Stats | Twitter | Forum
Weber State will play its final home game of the season Wednesday night at 8 pm. The Wildcats will honor the two seniors in Lindsey Hughey and Trevor Morris. WSU is 7-0 at home in league play and have won eight straight conference games and 21 consecutive regular season Big Sky home games. EWU is 19-38 against WSU and just 3-25 at the Dee.
Discount coupons for half price tickets are available at any America First Credit Union branch in Weber County. Stop by any America First and grab a coupon, AFCU membership not required.
2/28/11 The 6 Team Field Is Set For The Big Sky Tournament
Northern Colorado beat Idaho State in Pocatello to improve to 12-3 with one game to go. ISU's loss eliminates them from post season contention and the field is now set for the conference tournament though the seeds are still a mystery with four games to go and all on Wednesday night.
While only one seed is set in stone, NAU with the 4-seed, the top three will be UNC, UM and WSU and the final two seeds will be EWU and MSU.
Sac and ISU are both out with 11 losses. Portland State has been banned from the post season because of APR issues. For the bottom half of the conference standings this was probably the easiest year to get into the tournament since either 2004 or 2006. In '04 the 7th place team was only one game back from 2nd place. In '06 there was a one game difference between 5th place and last place.
N. Colorado 77, Idaho St. 74
Associated Press
POCATELLO, Idaho -- Chris Kaba blocked Broderick Gilchrest's 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left and Northern Colorado edged Idaho State 77-74 Monday night, eliminating the Bengals from postseason contention.
Devon Beitzel scored 28 points for the Bears (18-10, 12-3 Big Sky) and was 16 of 16 from the free-throw line. Neal Kingman added 14 points.
Idaho State (9-19, 4-11) battled back from a 39-34 halftime deficit to build a 64-60 lead with 9:14 left, but Northern Colorado ended the game on a 17-10 run to stay in contention for the No. 1 seed for the Big Sky tournament. The Bears will win the regular season title outright with a victory over Sacramento State on Wednesday.
Gilchrest scored 26 points to lead the Bengals, who were hoping to stay in contention for the No. 6 seed in the Big Sky tournament. Idaho State's loss clinched a spot for Montana State.
2/27/11 It's Potato's Eve...Again!
For the third time this season and second time in 6 days Potato's Eve is upon us. No it is not Potato Night for Weber State tomorrow but Wildcat fans are just as excited for tomorrow's matchup of Northern Colorado at Idaho State. If the Bengals can pull off the upset at home, Weber would get a share of the conference championship and host the conference tournament by beating Eastern Washington on Wednesday.
UNC has two games left on the league docket, @ Idaho State and Sacramento State. Weber still has a shot at hosting the tournament if UNC can lose. UNC is 1-3 in its past four Big Sky road games. This year's ISU team with its 4-10 (9-18) record isn't the type of team anyone would like to rely on with a conference title out of its hands but it is WSU's best chance. If ISU can't win then it is up to Sac State at UNC. Those odds are even more slim. UNC is 11-0 at home and 7-0 in Big Sky.
Some encouraging news about an upset taking place is as previously mentioned the Bears have lost three of its last four on the road in league play to Montana, NAU and Weber. Though the Bengals are just 4-10, ISU has won three of its last five games. ISU beat Cal State Fullerton in a BracketBusters matchup and also beat NAU at home and Portland State on the road. If ISU were to beat UNC they would have a great shot at getting the final seed for the conference tournament. ISU finishes the season at Montana State, the Bobcats have lost 10 of its last 11 games including a home loss to Sac State. UNC is about to play its second game of three in a five day span.
If Weber State beats EWU to finish the season 12-4 tied with UM the 'Cats will get the 2-seed winning the tie-breaker with the Griz, assuming UNC finishes 13-3 and doesn't choke. If UNC does what is not expected and ends up 12-4 along side WSU and UM, Weber would host the conference tournament winning the tie-breaker with both UM and UNC. In both scenarios the tie-breaker is the same. WSU swept 4th place NAU who split with both UM and UNC. Only one time in Big Sky history has there been a three-way tie for a conference championship when WSU, ISU and Boise State all tied at 9-5 in 1975-76. That was also the first ever Big Sky Tournament which is the second oldest Division I conference tournament. Boise hosted and also won the tournament and got the bid to the Big Dance.
If UNC and WSU win out, the seeding should be the following.
The 5 and 6 seed could be flipflopped depending on if MSU beats ISU.
Can the Bengals beat the Bears and help out the rival Wildcats? Tipoff is at 7:05 pm Monday night in Pocatello and will be streaming online at BigSkyTV.org.
2/27/11 Big Sky Win Streak Now 8 Weber St. 73, Sacramento St. 70
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Scott Bamforth scored 17 points and Weber State defeated Sacramento State 73-70 on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (17-10, 11-4), who led 36-31 at the half, stretched it to as many as 15 points in the second half and held on. Jackson Carbajal's layup with 1:07 left pulled the Hornets (7-20, 4-11) within three points, but neither team scored the rest of the way.
Duro Bjegovic had a game-high 21 points and Sultan Toles-Bey added 17 points and 10 assists for the Hornets.
Both teams were hot from beyond the 3-point arc. Sacramento State made 11 of 22 attempts, and Weber State connected on 10 of 20.
2/25/10 Weber State at Sacramento State on Saturday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum
Weber State's win on Tuesday at Idaho State clinched a no worse than 3rd place finish in the Big Sky. If WSU beats Sacramento State the Wildcats can still have a chance for a share of the Big Sky title but need the Griz to lose at EWU the same night. NAU also plays at UNC and if the Bears can't get the win at home WSU could end up in at least second place. Sac can keep its hopes alive of getting into the conference tournament's final slot with a win against WSU.
WSU is 30-4 all-time against Sac State with a 17-1 home record and 13-3 record in Sacramento. Only Portland State's 1-18 record at the Dee is worse.
Randy Rahe is 8-1 against the Hornets and 63-22 in Big Sky games including a 23-17 record in away games. Sac State's Brian Katz is in his third season as the head coach of the Hornets. He is 8-38 in Big Sky games and 18-66 overall. His first season, 2008-09, the Hornets won just 1 conference game and improved to 3 wins last year and 4 so far this year. Sac State is one of the worst programs in all of Division I basketball. Sac has finished last in the Big Sky for the past three seasons and have only qualified for the Big Sky Tournament four times in the past 14 seasons the Hornets have been a Big Sky member. Sac has never won a basketball title and its best finish was fourth place in back-to-back seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Weber has beat Sac seven games straight dating back to the 2006-07 season finale in Sacramento where the 'Cats lost 105-83. Weber's lone home loss to Sac was in 2005-06 the year before Coach Rahe was hired.
Hornet Bio
Established: 1947
Students: 29,241
Location: Sacramento, CA
Colors: Green & Gold
Home Court: Hornets Nest, capacity 1,200
2/24/11 Thursday Scores
Montana 85, Portland State 84
Montana State 60, Eastern Washington 56
Northern Arizona 63, Sacramento State 42
2/23/11 Wildcat Wall: Damian Lillard Interview
His freshman year, he made first team all conference honors and was part of a Big Sky championship. His sophomore year, he led the Wildcats to a regular season Big Sky title and earned the Big Sky MVP award and made AP all-american honorable mention. This, his junior year, promised to be something special for Damian Lillard. Lillard's non-conference play indicated as much. He was one of the nation's top scorers, and several sports websites had him projected to be a potential NBA first-round draft pick. On December 16th, on the road at Tulsa, all that changed for Lillard. In the game Lillard broke his foot so badly that he would need surgery and would have to sit out the remainder of the season...Read More
2/22/11 7 Straight Big Sky Wins For WSU! Weber St. 63, Idaho St. 39
Associated Press
POCATELLO, Idaho -- Lindsey Hughey recorded a double-double and Weber State limited Idaho State to 21.7 percent shooting in a 63-39 victory Tuesday night.
Hughey finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Kyle Bullinger added 17 points for the Wildcats (16-10, 10-4 Big Sky).
The Bengals (9-18, 4-10), who were held under 40 points for the second time this season, failed to register a field goal for the final 7:22 of the first half and went scoreless during a span of 8:21 in the second half.
Weber State took a 25-15 lead into halftime and extended its advantage to 29 in the second half.
Scott Bamforth added 11 points for the Wildcats.
Broderick Gilchrest and Kenny McGowen each scored 11 points for Idaho State, which finished 10 of 46 from the field with three assists and 16 turnovers.
Weber State shot 40.7 percent and had just eight turnovers.
2/21/11 Wildcat Wall: Whoopie Cushion Guy Stadiumjourney.com is a website that rates and reviews the many different professional and college stadiums and arenas throughout the U.S. One of their most recent reviews was of Weber State's Dee Events Center. David Mortimer, the author of the review, gave the Purple Palace a pleasant four out of five
stars, mentioning things like the student section's "Turn over, Turn over, You Suck!" chant to easy access to the arena to the Whoopie Cushion Guy in the student section for his high praise...Read More
2/20/11 Weber State at St. Mary's College, March 11th
The Standard-Examiner's Roy Burton reports that Weber State has added an extra game after the Big Sky tournament to secure Damian Lillard's medical waiver to get his junior season back after playing just nine games this season.
The Wildcats have agreed to a contract to play at Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif., on Friday, March 11, two days after the end of the Big Sky Conference tournament.
Weber State sought an extra game in an effort to ensure that Weber State star Damian Lillard will receive a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA to restore his eligibility for his junior season after suffering a broken foot on Dec. 16 at Tulsa.
Collegiate rules allow for a medical waiver if an athlete has not played more than 30 percent of his team's games. Lillard, the returning Big Sky MVP, was lost for the year in WSU's ninth game, so an extra contest brings his percentage down to 30 percent (9 of 30). Advancing to a second or third conference tourney game would drop him even further below the 30 percent threshold.
For Saint Mary's, the game will provide a chance to tune up for a possible NCAA tournament appearance and to avoid getting rusty after the West Coast Conference tourney. The game time has not been finalized.
2/20/11 BracketBusters Scores
San Jose State 62, Weber State 46
Idaho State 84, CS Fullerton 69
Northern Colorado 82, New Mexico State 80
Idaho 65, Montana State 50
CS Northridge 68, Eastern Washington 59
Portland State 84, Loyola Mary 75
SE Missouri State 67, Sacramento State 52
Northern Arizona 59, Cal Poly 56
Long Beach State 74, Montana 56
2/18/11 San Jose St. 62, Weber St. 46
Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Keith Shamburger scored 21 points, Will Carter added 16 and San Jose State beat Weber State 62-46 on Friday night in a BracketBusters game.
Justin Graham added 14 points for the Spartans (13-12), who won their second straight and fourth of six.
Kyle Bullinger and Trevor Morris each scored 10 points for the Wildcats (15-10), whose six-game winning streak ended.
San Jose State's Adrian Oliver, the nation's second-leading scorer at 24.5, was held to a season-low nine points. Weber State's Scott Bamforth, the nation's most accurate 3-point shooter, missed both of his long-range attempts.
The Spartans never trailed and led by as many as 19 points.
San Jose State led at halftime 30-22.
2/18/10 Purple Pak Alumni Center Watch Party For San Jose Game
Weber State is playing at San Jose State tonight at 8 pm. All students are invited attend the watch party at the Alumni Center to watch the game. Refreshments will be served.
The game will also be available online with the feed being offered by San Jose State for $5.00. The game will not be available on Big Sky TV as the game is not taking place at a Big Sky school.
2/17/11 Weber State at San Jose State, Friday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Watch Online | Live Stats | Twitter | Forum
Friday night at 8 pm mountain time the Wildcats will take on the Spartans of San Jose State in San Jose, CA. This is the first game between the two schools since 1975-76. Weber State is 1-1 all-time against San Jose State. In '76 WSU beat SJSU 98-82 in Ogden and lost at San Jose 64-56 in 1973-74.
Since this is an ESPU BracketBusters game the Spartans are obligated to play a return game at the Dee in 2011-12 or 2012-13. SJSU has agreed to come to Ogden next season.
The Spartans are 3-9 in the WAC and 12-12 overall. Currently they have won three of their last five games. While they are stuggling this season in the win column they do have the #2 scorer in the nation in senior shooting guard Adrian Oliver who averages 24.5 ppg.
San Jose and Weber have played four common opponents this season - Eastern Washington, Seattle, Utah State and Montana State. SJSU beat EWU 67-60 in Cheney and beat them again 70-69 in San Jose. WSU beat EWU 80-68 last week in Cheney and play the Eags in Ogden in a couple of weeks. SJSU beat Seattle 86-70 in Seattle and WSU beat Seattle 65-61 in Ogden. The Spartans lost in Logan to USU 80-71 and WSU lost 77-65; San Jose also lost at home to USU 84-65. This past Tuesday, San Jose beat Montana State at home 77-73 after having lost back-to-back games to Nevada. Weber lost in Bozeman 75-72 but beat MSU 78-58 in Ogden.
Weber is on a 6-game win streak which is the longest streak for WSU since its 12 straight in 2008-09. SJSU hasn't strung more than 3 wins together since 2003-04. San Jose's last winning season (15-12) was in 1993-94. Last year at this same time the Spartans were 12-12 and ended up 14-17.
Weber has been red hot as of late having won 9-of-11 and are nationally the 42nd best shooting team (.469) and 2nd best 3-point shooting team (.429). San Jose is the 312th best shooting team (.403) but are 53rd in ppg (74.4) while WSU is 60th (73.8).
Weber State vs the WAC
Overall 150-113
Boise State 41-28
Fresno State 4-1
Hawaii 4-2
Idaho 52-20
Louisiana Tech 0-2
Nevada 19-20
New Mexico State 4-2
San Jose State 1-1
Utah State 25-38
Big Sky BracketBusters games on Saturday
CS Northridge (Big West) @ Eastern Washington
Cal State Fullerton (Big West) @ Idaho State
Montana at Long Beach State (Big West) on ESPN2
Idaho (WAC) @ Montana State
Northern Arizona @ Cal Poly (Big West)
Northern Colorado @ New Mexico State (WAC)
Loyola Marymount (WCC) @ Portland State
Sacramento State @ Southeast Missouri St. (OVC)
2/17/11 Weber State vs Portland State Highlights
On Wednesday night Weber State smoked Portland State at the Dee Events Center 80-58. This was Weber's 18th home win against Portland out of 19 attempts dating back to the 1990's.
2/16/11 'Cats Get 6th Straight Big Sky Win Weber St. 80, Portland St. 58
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Kyle Bullinger tied his career high with 22 points as Weber State defeated Portland State on Wednesday night.
Scott Bamforth added 19 points, making 3 of 5 from 3-point range, as Weber State (15-9, 9-4 Big Sky) won its sixth straight conference game.
Lindsey Hughey and Trevor Morris helped out the Wildcats with 12 points each.
Melvin Jones scored 13 points and Dane Johnson 11 for the Vikings (11-14, 4-9) in their fourth straight loss.
After seven ties and five lead changes in the first half, Weber State broke it open with an 18-3 run to take a 43-28 halftime advantage.
Bullinger and Hughey combined for 15 points in the run and Morris scored Weber State's first eight points of the second half to pull away.
The Wildcats shot 53.4 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Vikings 42-28.
2/15/11 Portland State at Weber State, Wednesday Night Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum
Tomorrow night at the Dee Events Center, Weber State will attempt to win its 22nd consecutive regular season home conference game with a win against the Portland State Vikings. The Wildcats are 6-0 at home in league play and the Vikings are 1-5 in road games with its only win coming from Pocatello.
WSU is 26-11 all-time against PSU, 17-1 in Ogden, 9-10 in Portland. The 'Cats lost at Portland State last month 71-69. In a nail-biter and down by one point WSU had the final possession of the game. Hughey was called for traveling with 5.4 seconds to play and then a Mahoney foul led to a Melvin Jones free throw to end the game.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe is 8-3 against PSU and 61-22 overall in Big Sky games. He is 39-5 at home in league games with his 5th season almost complete. Second year PSU head coach Tyler Geving is 24-32 overall and 12-18 in Big Sky games and his team has lost five of their last six games.
Preseason Polls
The Big Sky preseason polls had PSU tabbed as 7th place as well Athlon Sports magazine predicted the Vikings to a 7th place finish. With APR issues causing PSU to lose the opportunity to compete in any post season games, it didn't appear too many pollsters had confidence in PSU.
Athlon: The Vikings lost their top two scorers to graduation and will be hardpressed to replace Dominic Waters, their floor general on the perimeter, and Jamie Jones, their shot-blocking sheriff of the low blocks. Senior guard Melvin Jones (11.8 ppg) is back along with senior wing Paul Guede, and coach Tyler Geving has put together one of the league's top recruiting classes. But the key to PSU's chances could hinge on senior forward Phil Nelson, a former transfer from the University of Washington, and how fully he recovers from the broken foot that sidelined him 20 games into the 2009-10 season.
PSU Bio
Established: 1946
Undergraduates: 27,972
Location: Portland, OR
Colors: Forest Green & White
Home Court: Stott Center, capacity 1,500
NBC's Today show did a segment about Melvin Jones on February 4th. An adoption story more dramatic than 'The Blind Side' says NBC. Jennifer Annable took in the sullen 16-year-old who trusted no one; today he's a top student at Portland State University.
2/14/11 Kyle Bullinger, Big Sky Player Of The Week The Big Sky Conference has announced that Kyle Bullinger is the Big Sky Players of the Week.
K-Bull was named player of the week after helping the 'Cats to wins last week over NAU and EWU. Bull averaged 17.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 5 apg. He shot 54.5% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. Bullinger had a career high 14 rebounds against NAU.
2/13/11 Feb 10-13 Thursday
Weber State 82, Northern Arizona 55
Northern Colorado 86, Montana State 77
Montana 64, Sacramento State 44
Idaho State 84, Portland State 79
Saturday
Weber State 80, Eastern Washington 68
Montana 55, Northern Colorado 42
Idaho State 90, Northern Arizona 88 - OT
Sunday
Sacramento State 74, Montana State 71
2/12/11 Weber St. 80, E. Washington 68
Associated Press
CHENEY, Wash. -- Kyle Bullinger and Scott Bamforth scored 17 points each as Weber State beat Eastern Washington 80-68 on Saturday night.
Lindsey Hughey added 16 points, Byron Fulton 13 and Trevor Morris 10 for the Wildcats (14-9, 8-4 Big Sky), winners of seven of their last nine games.
Glen Dean hit six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points for the Eagles (8-16, 5-7).
Leading 60-56 midway through the second half, Weber State took control with an 11-3 run capped by Hughey's 3-pointer with 5:58 left, the Wildcats' final field goal of the game. Weber State closed it out at the free-throw line, hitting 9 of 10 from that point as Eastern Washington got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Tremayne Johnson had 14 points and Laron Griffin 11 rebounds for Eastern Washington, which hit 13 of 27 3-point attempts.
2/12/11 WSU @ EWU, Tonight Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Live Stats | Forum
At 8 pm in Cheney, WA, WSU will take on the Eagles of Eastern Washington who currently are playing much better basketball as of late. Though they are #293 in the Sagarin Ratings they have won 4 of their last 6 games and could be a big trap game for the hot 'Cats who have won 4 in-a-row and looked unstoppable against NAU. EWU is 4-1 in Big Sky home games and 5-6 overall. WSU is 1-4 in league road games. The Eags have faced everyone this season at home except for WSU and the Montanas.
Last year when the 'Cats went to EWU it was a clincher for the Big Sky crown with an 85-57 victory which was WSU's second straight at Reese Court. Even if EWU loses tonight they are still in a good position to get into the conference tournament which they haven't done since 2005-06. Portland State's post season ban may be a big part in helping another team such as EWU get in.
Oddly this is the first game between the two schools this year. With the schedule fans have seen this year no one is at all surprised that WSU has finished playing three other schools yet haven't even played EWU yet. After having seen WSU play five of its first seven conference games on the road, Wildcat fans have little to complain about since then. The matchup in Cheney will be the 57th all-time meeting between the two conference foes. Weber is 37-19 against EWU, 25-3 in Ogden, 12-16 in Cheney. The last time the 'Cats lost to EWU was on Feb 14, 2008, in Cheney.
Coach Randy Rahe who claims 3 Big Sky titles in his 4 previous seasons and a shot at this year's title is 6-2 against EWU. Rahe is 90-56 overall as a head coach, his Big Sky record is 60-22, 39-5 at home and 21-17 on the road. Fourth year EWU head coach, Kirk Earlywine, led his teams to 6-10 records the first two seaons and a 5-11 mark last season. Earlywine spent 7 years at Weber State as an assistant during the Cravens era (2000-2006; record 116-88).
EWU Bio
Established: 1882
Students: 10,750
Location: Cheney, WA
Colors: Red & White
Home Court: Reese Court, capacity 6,000
Other Big Sky games tonight include Northern Colorado at Montana and Northern Arizona at Idaho State.
2/10/11 Just Keep Winnin'
After a big win at home against NAU, WSU is now alone in 3rd place just 2.5 games out of first place. UNC and UM sit atop the standings but will face each other in Missoula on Saturday night.
Tonight's win was Weber State's 20th straight regular season conference win at home dating back to an MSU loss on Jan 15, 2009. Tonight was also Coach Rahe's 90th overall win as a head coach and his 60th all-time win in the Big Sky. He needs just 10 wins to be the 4th ever WSU coach to reach 100 victories.
Scott Bamforth's hot night of shooting hitting 7-of-10 three-pointers is the 4th most three's in a game for a WSU player. Bamforth's 53% 3-point percentage ranks 4th in the nation. As a team WSU is ranked #5 in the nation for 3-point percentage and NAU is #1.
Single Game 3-pointers
1. Greg Boyd 9 1988
2. Alex Fisher 8 1996
2. Johnny Hamilton 8 2004
3. Nick Hansen 7 2010
3. Scott Bamforth 7 2011
2/10/11 Seven 3's For Bam! Weber St. 82, N. Arizona 55
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Scott Bamforth scored a career-high 27 points and Kyle Bullinger added 18 points and 14 rebounds as Weber State defeated Northern Arizona 82-55 on Thursday night.
Lindsey Hughey added 13 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (13-9, 7-4 Big Sky), who won their fourth straight while snapping the Lumberjacks' four-game win streak.
Gabe Rogers had a team-high 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the 3-point arc, and Cameron Jones added 13 points for Northern Arizona (14-9, 6-5 Big Sky) in a contest for third place in the Big Sky.
Both teams were strong from 3-point range as Weber State finished 12 of 21 (57.1 percent), and Northern Arizona went 9 for 19 (47.4 percent).
The Lumberjacks entered the game leading the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage, while Weber State was fifth.
Weber State outrebounded Northern Arizona 39-18.
2/9/11 Jacks vs Cats, Thursday Night At The Dee Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum
Tomorrow night at 7 pm Weber State will take on the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
Weber State started the conference schedule out 0-2 and only won 2 games out of the first 6. The first win was on the road at NAU. The 'Cats are now on a 3 game win streak with its toughest remaining game of the season at home tomorrow night. Playing five of the first seven games on the road as WSU did would be brutal to any team in the Big Sky this year but now the 'Cats finish with six of the final nine at home. The NAU game is the last game of a four game home stand.
On Jan 29 WSU beat UNC who had won 7 straight which was the longest streak in the league. On Feb 3 WSU beat UM who had 6 straight wins, the longest streak at the time. NAU comes to Ogden with a 4 game wins streak which currently is the Big Sky's best. WSU has the chance again to end the conference's longest win streak for the third time in four games.
WSU's final five games after NAU are against the bottom four teams of the Big Sky. Montana and Northern Colorado better keep a close eye on their rear view mirrors if Weber can get past the 'Jacks with a win.
Coach Rahe is 8-3 against the Lumberjacks and Weber State is 66-26 all-time against NAU and 41-6 in Ogden. WSU has won the last 5 games in the series, 3 in-a-row in Flagstaff. WSU's last loss to NAU was March 11, 2008, in the Big Sky semifinal in Portland. WSU's last Ogden loss to NAU was 69-56 beating on January 25, 2008.
A WSU win will take a solid defensive effort to slow down NBA prospect Cameron Jones. Jones a 6-4 guard and Big Sky MVP candidate is averaging 19.4 ppg (34th nationally) and shoots 54% from 3-point land (2nd nationally). Last summer Jones considered leaving NAU for the draft but later elected to stay for his senior season.
NAU bio
Established: 1899
Undergraduates: 15,569
Postgraduates: 5,783
Location Flagstaff, AZ
Colors: Blue, Sage, & Gold
Nickname: Lumberjacks
Mascot: Louie the Lumberjack
1/17/11 Morris, Johannsen Share Player Of The Week The Big Sky Conference has announced that Trevor Morris and NAU's Shane Johannsen are the co-players of the week.
Morris was named player of the week after helping the Wildcats to wins over the Griz and Bobcats last week. Morris averaged 17 points and five rebounds and shot 60% from the field and 77% from the free-throw line.
2/7/11 Scotty B For 3!
Scott Bamforth, yes, he is only a sophomore, yes, he has needed shoulder surgery since November and yes, he is still playing at just 50% and not getting better. His shoulder can't improve; there is no way around the needed surgery. So how is he shooting over 50% from the 3-point line after 21 games? Only he knows.
Bamforth is actually shooting 51.1% on the season. He has played in all but one game this season. He has even had 4 games this year where he didn't even make a 3. He has made 48-of-94 from beyond the arc, that is #6 in the nation for 3-point percentage.
1. Gary Clark, Wake Forest, (42-68) 61.8%
2. Cameron Jones, Northern Arizona, (24-44) 54.5%
3. Khalid Mutakabbir, Presbyterian, (43-81) 53.1%
4. Jack Eggleston, Pennsylvania, (25-48) 52.1%
5. John Shurna, Northwestern, (49-95) 51.6%
6. Scott Bamforth, Weber State, (48-94) 51.1%
7. Nikola Malesevic, Rhode Island, (42-84) 50%
7. Keaton Nankivil, Wisconsin, (33-66) 50%
7. Jordan Dykstra, San Diego State, (24-48) 50%
10. Solomon Bozeman, Arkansas-Little Rock, (54-109) 49.5%
Bamforth has 7 games left this season and 2 more full seasons. He will have plenty of time to try and chase the WSU record books for long distance shooting.
Single Game 3-pointers
1. Greg Boyd 9 1988
2. Alex Fisher 8 1996
2. Johnny Hamilton 8 2004
3. Nick Hansen 7 2010
Bamforth has made 6 three's in a game 2 times this season.
Single Season 3-pointers
1. Damian Lillard 84 2010
2. Eddie Gill 83 1999
3. Johnny Hamilton 76 2002
Career 3-pointers
1. Johnny Hamilton 241 2000-2004
2. Jimmy DeGraffenried 196 1991-96
3. Alex Fisher 176 1995-98
As a team, Weber State is ranked #6 in the nation for 3-point percentage at 41%. The 'Cats are also 16th nationally for free-throw percentage shooting 75.6%. Bamforth is shooting 86.1% off of 31-of-36 attempts at the charity stripe.
2/5/11 Weber St. 78, Montana St. 58
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Scott Bamforth scored 15 of his game-high 18 points before halftime and Weber State hit a dozen 3-pointers on the way to beating Montana State 78-58 on Saturday.
Trevor Morris matched his career high with 17 points for the second game in a row for the Wildcats (12-9, 6-4 Big Sky), who have won three in a row.
Lindsey Hughey added 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Weber State.
The Wildcats saw their streak of 42 games with at least five 3-pointers snapped Thursday night against Montana. On Saturday, they made 8 of 10 in the first half and finished 12 of 19 (63 percent). That was better than their overall field-goal percentage of 56 percent.
Erik Rush scored 15 points and Bobby Howard added 13 for Montana State (11-12, 5-6). The Bobcats shot 36 percent on Saturday and have lost their last five games.
2/4/11 Wildcat Wall: Q&A With Trevor Morris Since we've done a Q&A with several of the under-classman on this year's team and we are
now already 2/3rds the way through the season, I figured it was time to get to know the
Wildcat veterans a little better. This year's Wildcat team has only 2 seniors, and Trevor Morris is
the only one who has been on the team for four years...Read More
2/4/11 'Cats Beat Griz At Home In Football And Basketball This Year Weber St. 68, Montana 52
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Trevor Morris scored a career-high 17 points as Weber State knocked off Montana 68-52 on Thursday night.
It was the second straight game in which the Wildcats (11-9, 5-4) beat a first place team in the Big Sky Conference. They defeated Northern Colorado with a last-second 3-pointer on Saturday.
Byron Fulton added 14 points, Kyle Bullinger 13 and Lindsey Hughey nine for the Wildcats to avenge an earlier 19-point loss to the Grizzlies (16-6, 8-2).
Brian Qvale and Vaughn Autry each scored 10 points as Montana ended its six-game winning streak.
The Wildcats shot 54.2 percent from the field and used a 13-0 first half run to pull away and hold off a brief charge by the Grizzlies early in the second half.
Montana turned over the ball 18 times and shot 39.0 percent from the floor.
2/3/11 'Cats vs Griz, Tonight at 7 Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum On New Year's Eve in Missoula, MT, Weber State lost to the Griz 75-56. It was the 3rd consecutive loss to UM since beating
the Griz 64-56 in Ogden Jan 2, 2010. Wildcat fans want payback. The squad finally gets the chance to avenge these 3 losses in-a-row to the Griz as well last year's shocking loss at home in the Big Sky Championship game also to UM. With only one game played in the past 12 days the 'Cats will be ready for a fight.
Tonight's game is Weber's 111th all-time meeting with Montana. The 'Cats are 64-46 overall in the series, 39-14 at home and 25-32 in Missoula. There is no other team that has played Weber State more in basketball than the University of Montana. UM has the best record against WSU in the Big Sky. Randy Rahe is 13-8 against the Montanas, 7-4 vs MSU and 6-4 vs UM.
WSU lost 75-56 in Missoula on Jan 1st. Derek Selvig scored 23 points and Brian Qvale chipped in with 13. Will Cherry, the Oakland native who played high school basketball against Damian Lillard had 11 points. Kyle Bullinger and Trevor Morris both scored 10 points. WSU had a poor shooting and and got beat inside by UM's big bigs. UM outrebounded WSU 35-30 and outscored the 'Cats in the paint 28-18.
Another look at the preseason polls In the Big Sky preseason polls Montana was picked third by the coaches and media. Montana also had 2 out of 8 possible 1st place votes by the coaches. In the media, UM had 4 votes out of the posssible 28. Athlon Sports College Basketball magazine picked Montana to finish third with NAU second and WSU first. Athlon's All-Big Sky First Team includes Brian Qvale of UM, Damian Lillard, WSU; Glen Dean, EWU; Broderick Gilchrest, ISU; and Cameron Jones of NAU.
Athlon on UM:The graduation loss of last year's top scorer, Anthony Johnson, is big. But so are 6'11" senior Brian Qvale and 7'0" junior Derek Selvig, a pair of veteran front-liners who should keep the defending Big Sky Tournament champion Grizzlies among the league's elite teams again this winter. Qvale, the league's best big man, averaged 10.2 points and 7.1 rebounds as a junior and punctuated his solid season with a montser game - 26 points and 13 rebounds - in a 62-57 loss to New Mexico in the opening round of the NCAAs. If a couple of coach Wayne Tinkle's young guards - including sophomore Will Cherry - continue to develop as expected, the Grizzlies should be in the Big Sky title chase from start to finish.
2/1/11 UNC Postgame Press Conference Scott Bamforth and Jordan Richardson discuss crazy ending to UNC game this past Saturday night.
Coach Randy Rahe talks about the UNC win.
1/31/11 Weber State Will Play At San Jose State In ESPNU BracketBusters Game Today on ESPNU the BracketBusters field was announced. Weber will play at San Jose State. Weber State is 1-1 all-time with the San Jose State Spartans and 150-113 against the Western Athletic Conference.
In 1973-74 WSU lost at San Jose 64-56 under then head coach Gene Visscher and finished the season 3rd in the Big Sky. In 1975-76 under first year head coach Neil McCarthy WSU went 21-11 and had a Big Sky 2nd place finish and beat San Jose State 98-82 in Ogden.
Since Weber will travel to play at San Jose, the Spartans are obligated to play a return game at the Dee Events Center next season.
The ESPNU BracketBusters field features 114 teams from 15 conferences as well as one independent: 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic Conference, 10 from the Ohio Valley, nine from the Big Sky, Big South, Big West and WAC; eight from the Horizon League, five from America East and Southern; two from the MEAC and West Coast; and one from the Summit League, as well as independent Seattle.
Big Sky Games, Sat, Feb 19
CS Northridge (Big West) @ Eastern Washington
Cal State Fullerton (Big West) @ Idaho State
Montana at Long Beach State (Big West) on ESPN2
Idaho (WAC) @ Montana State
Northern Arizona @ Cal Poly (Big West)
Northern Colorado @ New Mexico State (WAC)
Loyola Marymount (WCC) @ Portland State
Sacramento State @ Southeast Missouri St. (OVC)
Weber State @ San Jose State (WAC)
Weber State vs the WAC
Overall 150-113
Boise State 41-28
Fresno State 4-1
Hawaii 4-2
Idaho 52-20
Louisiana Tech 0-2
Nevada 19-20
New Mexico State 4-2
San Jose State 1-1
Utah State 25-38
1/30/11 The Shot
Weber State's Scott Bamforth sinks a contested half-court shot as time expired to give the Wildcats a 72-71 victory over Northern Colorado.
1/29/11 Bam Hits Half-Court Buzzer Beater Weber St. 72, N. Colorado 71
Associated Press
OGDEN, Utah -- Scott Bamforth buried a contested shot from just inside the half-court line as time expired to give Weber State a 72-71 victory over Northern Colorado on Saturday night.
Devon Beitzel finished with a game-high 29 points for Northern Colorado (11-8, 7-1 Big Sky), including a pair of go-ahead free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining, but Bamforth's answered 3-point prayer snapped the Bears' seven-game winning streak.
Bamforth, a sophomore, has been playing with a shoulder injury that has limited his minutes. He played just nine minutes in the first half on Saturday en route to finishing with 12 points.
Jordan Richardson led the Wildcats (10-9, 4-4) with 17 points. Kyle Bullinger added 13 points and Trevor Morris 10.
Elliott Lloyd and Emmanuel Addo scored 10 points each for Northern Colorado, which beat Weber State 65-46 in Greeley, Colo., on Jan. 22.
1/24/11 N. Colorado 65, Weber St. 46
Associated Press
GREELEY, Colo. -- Elliott Lloyd scored 16 points as Northern Colorado ran its winning streak to seven with a 65-46 victory over Weber State on Saturday night.
Chris Kaba and Neal Kingman added 12 points apiece for the Bears (11-7, 7-0 Big Sky), who made 9 of 23 from 3-point range. Lloyd sank 3 of 4, and Kaba went 2 of 4. Lloyd also had six assists.
Scott Bamforth led the Wildcats (9-9, 3-4) with 19 points, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. But no teammate scored more than seven points. Kyle Bullinger had team-leading totals of seven rebounds and four assists.
Mike Proctor grabbed eight rebounds to lead Northern Colorado to a 38-27 advantage on the boards.
Northern Colorado built a 43-20 halftime lead and was never in serious trouble.
1/21/11 Saturday Night, Weber At Northern Colorado Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum
Tomorrow night's matchup in Greeley, Colorado, will be the 9th all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Bears of Northern Colorado. The 'Cats are 6-2 against the Bears with both losses being in Greeley in 2007-08 and 2009-10. WSU is 4-0 at home vs UNC.
Randy Rahe is 6-2 against the Bears and 21-16 in Big Sky road games. UNC head coach BJ Hill is in his first season with the Bears and is 10-7 overall and 6-0 in league games. He has never lost a conference game nor has he faced Weber State at this point. Hill's predecessor Tad Boyle coached UNC for four years then left for the Colorado Buffs. Hill was Boyle's top assistant for two years.
Preseason Polls
In the Big Sky preseason polls UNC was picked 4th by the coaches and 2nd by the media with two first place votes. Athlon Sports magazine had UNC finishing 4th.
Athlon Sports on UNC:
The surprise team in the league last season, UNC returns five of its top six scorers, including Devon Beitzel, a senior wing who averaged 14.3 points per game and shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range as a junior. Taylor Montgomery, a 6'7" senior forward (8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg), also returns along with Mike Proctor, a 6'8" junior who averaged 8.2 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore. What the Bears don't bring back, however, is their head coach. Tad Boyle bolted for the top job at Colorado and was replaced by B.J. Hill, UNC's associate head coach the past two seasons. It's unlikely the Bears will sneak up on anyone this winter, but it's also unlikely they willl take a step back.
Bears Bio
Established: 1889
Undergraduates: 10,097
Postgraduates: 2,261
Location: Greeley, Colorado
Colors: Navy Blue & Gold
Home Court: Butler-Hancock, capacity 2,941
Moved up to DI and the Big Sky: 2006-07
1/21/11 Portland St. 71, Weber St. 69 Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. -- Charles Odum scored 16 points to lead Portland State to a 71-69 victory over Weber State on Thursday night.
Melvin Jones added 15 points for the Vikings (10-8, 3-3 Big Sky), and Phillip Thomas had 13.
Scott Bamforth led the Wildcats (9-8, 3-3) with a game-high 20 points. Lindsey Hughey and Trevor Morris each had 15 points, and Kyle Bullinger chipped in with 13.
Portland State battled back from a 37-33 halftime deficit and used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to take a 58-50 lead after Jones hit a 3-pointer with 8:02 left.
The Wildcats tied it at 60 on a 3-pointer by Bullinger and had a chance to win, but Hughey was called for traveling with 5.4 seconds to play and Weber State down 70-69. Jones' free throw iced it for the Vikings.
Weber State shot 50 percent to Portland State's 44 percent.
1/19/11 Thursday, Weber At Portland State Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum Tomorrow night at 8 pm at the Stott Center in Portland, Oregon, WSU will take on the Portland State Vikings. The matchup will be the 37th all-time meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. Weber is 26-10 overall, 17-1 in Ogden and 9-9 in Portland. WSU had a winning record in Portland until last season's 84-79 loss on Feb 28th which was the final game of the regular season. PSU's lone win in Ogden was Weber's final home game of the 2005-06 season. The 'Cats lost 73-59.
The last couple of seasons Wildcat fans have looked forward to the PSU games more than ISU or even Montana. Former PSU Viking guard Dominic Waters was a big reason why; he was a very entertaining and highly skilled player. WSU fans enjoyed seeing him on the court for his nonsensical approach and drama he created everytime he came to Ogden. He would taunt and talk back to the WSU student section regulary which just fueled their chants directed toward him. WSU fans saw him play in the Dee four times in just two seasons. This past September, Waters was named to the Utah Jazz summer league team. Currently he is playing professionally in Belgium.
With Waters gone and names like Jeremiah Dominguez, Jamie Jones and Julius Thomas no longer being heard over the PA, times have changed. There is now a new Viking vanguard with many new names and faces. As well there is a new captain mastering the PSU vessel in Tyler Geving.
Ken Bone left for Washington State prior to last season after leading the Viks to consecutive 23 win seasons and two trips to the NCAA tournament. Geving was a Bone assistant for four seasons and is now in his second year as the head coach. Geving has a 22-27 record overall and 10-13 against Big Sky opponents. He is 1-2 against WSU but 1-0 in Portland. Geving graduated of Central Washington in 1996 and has been in collegiate coaching for 16 years. The 37 year old is the youngest coach in the Big Sky.
The new faces of PSU that have promising futures are Charles Odum, Chris Harriel and Chehales Tapscott. Odum moved into the starting lineup six games back and has scored 107 points (18 ppg) hitting 39-of-60 from the field, 11-16 3-point shooting, 24 rebounds, 18 assists and seven steals. Odum scored a career-high 24 at Montana last Saturday.
Chehales Tapscott, a junior forward and Oregon native is averaging 11.9 ppg and an impressive 8.1 rpg. While he is only 6'5" he has recorded five double-doubles and six games with 10 or more rebounds.
Chris Harriel, a 6'4" sophomore guard is having a huge season averaging 15.9 ppg and 5.6 rpg in 32 mpg. Last season Harriel played 14 minutes per game and averaged 3.9 points.
Two noteworthy seniors PSU was counting on this year are Melvin Jones and Phil Nelson. Since Odum entered the starting lineup, Jones has moved to the point from the two and in six games has committed just five turnovers. On the season Jones is averaging 11.1 ppg, 2.8 apg and shoots 85% from the line and 32% from the arc. Phil Nelson has had a rough couple of seasons due to a twice-broken foot. Last season was cut short and he only played in 20 games. So after 26 straight games missed he is been back on the court the past three games but is not in game condition after being out so long. Nelson is averaging 4.7 ppg in 21 minutes per contest.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe is 8-2 vs the Vikings and 2-2 in Portland. Rahe is 86-54 overall as a head coach, his Big Sky record is 56-20, 35-5 at home and 21-15 on the road.
Preseason Polls The Big Sky preseason polls had PSU picked to finish 7th in both polls. Athlon Sports also tabbed the Viks 7th. PSU lost a lot of talent from last season and it isn't helping much that they are on probation from the NCAA for APR issues. PSU has been banned from any post season play this season which means if they finish in the top six in the 'Sky they can not compete in the Big Sky postseason tournament.
Athlon Sports: The Vikings lost their top two scorers to graduation and will be hard pressed to replace Dominic Waters, their floor general on the perimeter, and Jamie Jones, their shot-blocking sheriff of the low blocks. Senior guard Melvin Jones is back along with senior wing Paul Guede, and coach Tyler Geving has put together one of the league's top recruiting classes. But the key to PSU's chances could hinge on senior forward Phil Nelson, a former transfer from the University of Washington, and how fully he recovers from the broken foot that sidelined him 20 games into the 2009-10 season.
PSU Bio Established: 1946 Students: 27,972 Location: Portland, OR Colors: Forest Green & White Home Court: Stott Center, capacity 1,500
PSU Schedule Nov 12 Pepperdine W 83-81 Nov 19 vs Southern Methodist L 69-53 Nov 20 vs Lamar W 102-98 Nov 21 vs UC-Riverside W 69-58 Dec 1 Seattle W 83-76 Dec 5 @ Oregon L 68-49 Dec 9 George Fox W 92-58 Dec 12 CS-Fullerton W 93-89 Dec 15 @ CS-Bakersfield L 92-77 Dec 18 Portland L 78-67 Dec 20 @ Nevada L 79-73 Dec 23 Utah Valley W 73-53 Dec 29 Northern Colorado L 79-66 Jan 2 Idaho State W 79-72 Jan 8 Eastern Washington W 74-58 Jan 13 @ Montana State L 74-65 Jan 15 @ Montana L 77-70
1/19/11 Not A Joke, Home Crowd Helped Thieve One From ISU Wolfmother's hit song "Joker and the Thief" has been a crowd favorite as long as Rahe has been the coach of the Wildcats. Last Saturday night Weber was in a cat fight with ISU to get the win at home by 4 after trailing at the half and most of the game. Late in the game during a timeout the Wolfmother song was blasting from the DEC sound system and it really got the crowd going. WSU senior guard Lindsey Hughey told WeberHoops.com that "Joker and the Thief" and the crowd excitement really pumped up the team for the final moments of the game.
Rahe was quoted in the Standard-Examiner mentioning the home crowd helping the team out. "Our crowd was absolutely terrific in the second half and we needed the boost," he said. "It really helped our kids out."
The Australian band's "Joker and the Thief" as well being a hit with Weber State has appeared in a number of movies and video games. Weber fans may remember the song in films such as Shrek the Third, The Hangover and Shoot 'Em Up.
1/17/11 Lindsey Hughey, Big Sky Player of the Week The Big Sky Conference has announced that Lindsey Hughey and Montana's Brian Qvale are the co-players of the week.
Hughey was named player of the week after helping his team to two wins this week at home. Hughey had a career-high 27 points against Sac State shooting 9-of-15 from the field and hit three three-pointers. He also had four rebounds and three blocks against the Hornets. In the ISU rivalry game, Hughey had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.
1/15/10 WSU Gets 5th Straight Win Against ISU Weber St. 71, Idaho St. 67 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Lindsey Hughey scored a game-high 18 points and Weber State held on to defeat Idaho State 71-67 on Saturday night.
The victory was the fifth straight over the Bengals (5-12, 1-4 Big Sky) for the Wildcats (9-7, 3-2).
Freshman forward Byron Fulton, getting his first career start in place of injured Darin Mahoney, contributed 16 points and nine rebounds, including the final insurance basket, for Weber State.
Kyle Bullinger added 14 points and eight rebounds as Weber State extended its league winning streak to three.
Broderick Gilchrest scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime for Idaho State, which lost its fourth straight game in Big Sky play. Kenny McGowen had 14 points and Chase Grabau scored 13, making 4 of 5 3-pointers.
1/13/10 Weber St. 84, Sacramento St. 71 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Lindsey Hughey scored a career-high 27 points as Weber State defeated Sacramento State 84-71 Thursday night.
Byron Fulton added a career-high 17 points off the bench for the Wildcats (8-7, 2-2 Big Sky). He entered the game tied for the scoring lead among Big Sky freshmen with 7.5 points per game.
Trevor Morris and Kyle Bullinger had 15 points apiece for Weber State, which shot 54 percent from the field and never trailed in the game. The Wildcats led 42-32 at halftime, then used a 14-5 run to start the second half to put the game out of reach.
Sacramento State (3-13, 0-5) lost for the seventh straight time, including three overtime defeats. John Dickson led the Hornets with 15 points, while Sultan Toles-Bey and Walter Jackson added 10 each.
1/11/10 Weber Back At Home, Host Sac And Idaho State Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter | Forum Weber State is back to the Dee after 23 days away. The 'Cats will play its first two conference home games this week with the Hornets of Sacramento State on Thursday and the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday.
WSU is a 29-4 all-time against Sac State with a 16-1 record in games played in Ogden. Only Portland State's 1-17 record at the Dee is worse for Big Sky teams. The 'Cats are 68-40 all-time against ISU and 41-9 at home. The Bengal rivalry of 108 games is the 2nd longest series in WSU history just two short of the number of times the 'Cats have faced the Griz.
Randy Rahe is 7-1 against Sac and 6-2 against ISU. Rahe's Big Sky record is 54-20, 33-5 at home and 51-10 in all home games.
Preseason Polls The Big Sky preseason polls had ISU 8th and Sac 9th which is exaclty how they finished last season. Athlon Sports also picked ISU and Sac 8th & 9th .
Athlon Sports on Sac: Coach Brian Katz has a boatload of newcomers on his roster, and he hopes they're all quick learners. The Hornets return a pair of starters in senior guard Sultan Toles-Bey (10.3 ppg, 3.3 apg) and sophomore wing John Dickson (9.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg), along with a couple of minor role players. But Justin Eller, last year's top scorer and rebounder, is gone, and unless Katz's eight-man recruiting class produces an undisovered gem or two, it could be another long winter in Sacramento.
Athlon Sports on ISU: Like many of the teams in the Big Sky, ISU remains a bit of a mystery because of its hefty class of incoming recruits. Fifth-year coach Joe O'Brien signed eight players and will need to work them into his system in a hurry if he hopes to make any major progress in his ongoing rebuilding efforts. Having senior guard and last year's second-leading scorer Broderick Gilchrest (15.5 ppg, 3.2 apg) back will help, but the graduation losses of Amorrow Morgan and three other starters will be difficult for the Bengals to overcome.
Hornet Bio Established: 1947 Students: 29,241 Location: Sacramento, CA Colors: Green & Gold Home Court: Hornets Nest, capacity 1,200 Mascot: Herky the Hornet
Bengal Bio Established: 1901 Students: 15,553 Location: Pocatello, ID Colors: Black & Orange Home Court: Holt Arena, capacity 8,000 Mascot: Benny the Bengal
Famous Hornets Tom Hanks, Creed Bratton from The Office, Lester Holt anchor of the weekend edition of Today, Joan Lunden & Bobby McFerrin.
Famous Potatoes Jerry Graybeal, former WSU Athletic Director; Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings; Ron Boone, broadcaster for the Utah Jazz; Merril Hoge, ESPN commentator; Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals head coach
1/8/11 Saturday, Jan 8 Big Sky Scoreboard Weber State 68, Northern Arizona 67 Northern Colorado 72, Montana State 58 Montana 68, Sacramento State 52 Portland State 74, Eastern Washington 58
1/8/11 Weber St. 68, N. Arizona 67 Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Lindsey Hughey hit a go-ahead layup with 1:12 left, then drilled a crucial 3-pointer in the final seconds as Weber State held off Northern Arizona 68-67 on Saturday night.
Hughey scored 12 points, all in the second half, to help the Wildcats (7-7, 1-2 Big Sky) avoid their worst conference start in five years.
Kyle Bullinger had 18 points to lead Weber State, which has beaten the Lumberjacks (9-7, 1-3) five straight times.
Cameron Jones scored 26 points for Northern Arizona, which took a 64-63 lead on Shane Johannsen's layup with 1:56 left.
Hughey then drove the lane and scooped in the game-winning shot. He hit an off-balance 3 as the shot clock expired to put the Wildcats up 68-64 with 9 seconds to go.
Jones pulled Northern Arizona to within a point with a long 3, but time ran out on the Lumberjacks.
1/8/11 WSU At NAU, 'Cats Look For 1st Win Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter With Weber State starting the conference schedule 0-2, the Wildcat faithful are hoping the 'Cats can come home with the 'W' to salvage a difficult 3 game road trip. WSU fans will have had to wait a span of 23 days until the next home game which is January 13th vs Sac State.
Coach Rahe is 7-3 against the Lumberjacks and Weber State is 65-26 all-time against NAU and 41-6 at home. WSU has won the last 4 games in the series, 2 in-a-row in Flagstaff. WSU's last loss to NAU was March 11, 2008, in the Big Sky semifinal in Portland. WSU's last Flagstaff loss was 74-71 on February 28, 2008. Over WSU is 24-20 at NAU.
The 1-2 Lumberjacks beat Idaho State in overtime on Thursday night at home. Prior to that, they went 0-2 at the Montanas as did WSU.
A struggling yet persistent young Wildcat team still feeling the effects of injuries in the loss column are still playing to win and are not going to give up. Weber hasn't started off 0-3 since 2005-06. Back in '06 the 'Cats started off 0-6.
Lillard had his foot surgery about 2 weeks ago and Bamforth's shoulder isn't getting better and may likely require surgery. Jordan Richardson will likely see significant minutes like he did in Missoula playing 28 minutes which was a career-high for the redshirt to be. With Josh Noble leaving the team, Richardson was not able to redshirt. With Lillard going out for the season WSU really needs Richardson to contribute in any way that he can. BJ Porter becoming eligible by the Tulsa game is a huge help to the 'Cats. Many fans don't even remember the last time the team had this many unfortunate injuries, if ever.
NAU has a couple of potential all-conference 1st team selections on its roster in Cameron Jones and Gabe Rogers. Jones a 6-4 guard is averaging 19.3 ppg and shoots 50% from 3-point land. Jones likely will be the front-runner for Big Sky MVP and could end up in the NBA after having considered leaving NAU last summer for the draft but elected to stay. Jones dropped 37 on ISU and had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Gabe Rogers is a 6-2 guard who averages 12.7 ppg and shoots 52% from beyond the arc. Rogers scored 20 against ISU and hit 5 three's.
NAU bio Established: 1899 Undergraduates: 15,569 Postgraduates: 5,783 Location Flagstaff, AZ Colors: Blue, Sage, & Gold Nickname: Lumberjacks Mascot: Louie the Lumberjack
NAU has been a member of the Big Sky since 1970. The 'Jacks have 5 conference championships - '87, '97, '98, '06, & '07. NAU and Weber were co-champions in 2007 by both finishing 11-5, however, Weber beat NAU in the conference tournament championship and later went on to the NCAA tournament. Even though the 2 finished as co-champs, WSU swept NAU 3-0. NAU has won the conference tournament 2 times of the 5 times they have hosted. When WSU is hosting the conference tournament, the 'Cats are 7-for-10 in getting to the Big Dance.
1/7/11 Thursday's Scores Big Sky Scoreboard NAU 82, ISU 80 OT UNC 63, UM 45 MSU 61, Sac 59 Seattle 60, EWU 51
12/31/10 'Cats Lose to Griz and Go 0-2 to Start Big Sky Season Box Score | Photos On a New Year's Eve day game in Missoula, MT, Weber State lost to the Griz 75-56. This is WSU's second straight loss in Missoula and third loss to the Griz in-a-row. Weber getting swept on the Montanas trip hasn't happened since 2006-07 and starting the season off 0-2 hasn't happened since 2005-06 during the final year of the Cravens Era.
Today's game was Weber's 110th all-time meeting between with Montana. The 'Cats are 64-46 overall in the series, 39-14 at home and 25-32 in Missoula. There is no other team that has played Weber State more in basketball than the University of Montana. UM has the best record against WSU in the Big Sky. Randy Rahe is 13-8 against the Montanas, 7-4 vs MSU and 6-4 vs UM.
Montana 75, Weber St. 56 Associated Press MISSOULA, Mont. -- Derek Selvig scored 23 points and Brian Qvale added 13 as Montana routed Weber State 75-56 on Friday.
Will Cherry had 11 points for the Grizzlies (10-4, 2-0 Big Sky), who have won five straight and seven of eight.
The game's final lead change occurred midway through the first half when Montana put together a 10-0 run to take a 25-17 lead.
Kyle Bullinger and Trevor Morris each scored 10 points for the Wildcats (6-7, 0-2).
The Grizzlies held Weber State to 36.7 percent shooting and took advantage of the void left by last season's Big Sky MVP Damian Lillard, who was lost for the season after breaking a bone in his right foot in Weber State's loss to Tulsa on Dec. 16.
The Grizzlies shot 45.6 percent from the field and outscored the Wildcats 28-18 in the paint.
Preseason Polls In the Big Sky preseason polls Montana was picked third by the coaches and media. Montana also had 2 out of 8 possible 1st place votes by the coaches. In the media, UM had 4 votes out of the posssible 28. Athlon Sports College Basketball magazine picked Montana to finish third with NAU second and WSU first. Athlon's All-Big Sky First Team includes Brian Qvale of UM, Damian Lillard, WSU; Glen Dean, EWU; Broderick Gilchrest, ISU; and Cameron Jones of NAU. Both Lillard and Dean are out for the season with injuries.
Athlon on UM:The graduation loss of last year's top scorer, Anthony Johnson, is big. But so are 6'11" senior Brian Qvale and 7'0" junior Derek Selvig, a pair of veteran front-liners who should keep the defending Big Sky Tournament champion Grizzlies among the league's elite teams again this winter. Qvale, the league's best big man, averaged 10.2 points and 7.1 rebounds as a junior and punctuated his solid season with a montser game - 26 points and 13 rebounds - in a 62-57 loss to New Mexico in the opening round of the NCAAs. If a couple of coach Wayne Tinkle's young guards - including sophomore Will Cherry - continue to develop as expected, the Grizzlies should be in the Big Sky title chase from start to finish.
12/29/10 Montana St. 75, Weber St. 72 Box Score | Photos Associated Press BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Cody Anderson scored a career-high 15 points and Bobby Howard had 14 points and 13 rebounds as Montana State edged Weber State 75-72 in the Big Sky opener for both Wednesday night.
Rod Singleton added 10 points for the Bobcats (7-6), who snapped a three-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
Lindsey Hughey had a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds to lead Weber State (6-6) while Scott Bamforth had 14 points and Kyle Bullinger finished with 13.
Weber State trailed 72-64 with 1 minute to play before rallying to within 74-72 with 10 seconds left. Hughey scored six points during the 8-2 run. After Montana State added a free throw, the Wildcats had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Bamforth's 3 was off line.
The Bobcats trailed 34-33 at halftime but opened the second half with a 13-8 run and led the rest of the way.
12/28/10 Weber at Montana State, Wed, 7 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter Tomorrow night at 7 PM Weber State will open up conference play with a game at Montana State in Bozeman, MT. The game will be the 106th all-time meeting between the 2 schools. Only Idaho State and Montana have played Weber more times than the Bobcats or any other school in the nation.
Last season, the 'Cats swept the Bobcats with a 75-71 victory in Bozeman and a 75-62 New Year's Eve win in Ogden.
Weber's all-time record against Montana State is 71-34 overall, 44-11 in Ogden, and 27-23 at MSU. Randy Rahe is 13-6 against the Montanas, 7-3 vs MSU and 6-3 vs UM. The last time WSU didn't get the W in Bozeman was a 63-48 loss on Jan 18, 2007.
Preseason Polls In the Big Sky preseason polls Montana State was picked to finish 5th by the coaches and media and WSU was picked 1st. Athlon Sports College Basketball magazine picked Montana State to take 6th with Weber on top expected to repeat as Big Sky champs.
Athlon on MSU:Bobby Howard, a senior forward and first-team all-league pick, is back after averaging 14.3 points and 5.8 rebounds last winter. So is 6'5" senior Erik Rush (11.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg). But with eight new players on his roster, coach Brad Huse will need Rod Singleton, a first-year junior college transfer and highly touted point guard, to figure things out in a hurry. If he does, the Bobcats could surprise a lot of naysayers who believe the graduation losses of Marquis Navarre, Branden Johnson and Will Bynum are too much to overcome.
Montana State Bio Established: 1893 Undergraduates: 10,842 Postgraduates: 1,408 Location: Bozeman, MT Nickname: Bobcats Colors: Blue & Gold Stadium: Worthington Arena (6,378)
Notable alumni of Montana State include Dennis Erickson, current head football coach at Arizona State, Craig Kilborn the actor and former talk show host played basketball for the Bobcats. Also, the Big Sky's only school to ever win a national championship in men's basketball was MSU in 1929.
12/21/10 No. 23 BYU 72, Weber St. 66 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Jimmer Fredette scored 28 points, including a pair of free throws down the stretch and the No. 23 BYU Cougars held off Weber State 72-66 on Tuesday night.
BYU, which bounced back from an 86-79 loss to UCLA on Saturday, improved to 11-1. The Wildcats fell to 6-5.
The game was supposed to be a matchup of marquee point guards, with two NBA scouts on hand to watch Fredette and Weber State star Damian Lillard. But Lillard, who was leading the Big Sky Conference in scoring at 21.5 points a game, suffered a season-ending foot injury last week and is scheduled to undergo surgery on Sunday.
Still, the Wildcats refused to give in.
After trailing by 17 points in the second half, the Wildcats pulled within 67-63 on Scott Bamforth's 3-pointer with 2:30 to play.
When Fredette missed a 3-pointer with 1:25 left then was called for an offensive foul, Weber State had a chance to cut it to a single possession. But Byron Fulton was called for a travel and Jackson Emery's free throw bumped BYU's lead to six.
Kyle Bullinger's driving layup with 12 seconds left pulled Weber State within 70-66, but Fredette was fouled immediately and made both free throws for the final margin of victory.
Bamforth, who moved into the starting lineup after Lillard's injury, led Weber State with 17 points. Lindsey Hughey added 15 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, and Darin Mahoney had five blocks and seven rebounds.
Mahoney and B.J. Porter set the tone from the beginning. Mahoney had two blocks in the first four minutes and Porter blocked Emery's shot from behind during a Cougar fastbreak.
But BYU grabbed the offensive rebound and scored for an 11-7 lead. From there, BYU went on a 11-4 run, capped by Fredette's 3-pointer, to take a 22-11 lead with 7:51 left in the half.
Fredette scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half, and hit five 3-pointers to lead all scorers.
12/20/10 Tuesday Night, #23 BYU at Weber State Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV & KJZZ | Twitter | Fan Contest! Since 1973, the 'Cats and Cougars have played each other 35 times. The Wildcats are 10-25 overall and 10-7 in Ogden. Weber's last win against BYU was 2003 winning the game 75-69 after a 15 point halftime lead. WSU went on to win 16 more in a row that year to have the nation's 2nd longest win streak. The following stats are since 1964 which was the first year WSU competed as a 4-year institution as well as WSU's first year in Division I basketball.
Weber State vs Brigham Young
Since 1964
WSU
BYU
Overall Wins
878
851
Last Tournament Appearance
2007
2010
Last Tournament Win
1999
2010
Tournament Appearances
14
22
Tournament Wins
6
8
Highest Tournament Seed
7
4
Conference Titles
19
17
20 Win Seasons
23
24
Winning Seasons
39
37
Losing Seasons
8
10
Best Record
27-3
30-6
Worst Record
7-22
1-25
Undefeated in Conference
2
0
12/19/10 BYU at Weber on KJZZ Weber State (6-4) will host BYU (10-1) on Tuesday at the Dee Events Center at 7 pm. The game will be televised on KJZZ. The last WSU game to air on KJZZ was December 3, 2008, which was the last time BYU played at Weber State in the annual home-and-home series which dates back to 1974. The two teams have played each other every year since '74 except for 1979 and 1980. In 1979 and 1980 Weber won back-to-back Big Sky titles with 25-9 and 26-3 records respectively. In both years the 'Cats were 7-seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The 1980 team finished the season nationally ranked 17th.
Weber State is 10-25 all-time vs BYU and 10-7 in Ogden.
12/18/10 Southwest at WSU, Tonight, 7:30 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter Weber State's first ever meeting with the University of the Southwest takes place tonight in the second act of a double-header. The WSU women's team will play Boise State at 5 pm followed by the men's game at 7:30 pm.
The USW Mustangs are 1-3 in conference play and 6-5 overall with a one game winning streak. WSU will be their first DI opponent and they will play at McNeese State on Dec 21. Last season USW finished 7th of 11 in the RRAC with a 10-10 record and 12-16 overall.
USW Bio Established: 1956 Location: Hobbs, NM Type: Private, Non-Denominational Nickname: Mustangs Colors: Blue & Red Conference: Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Classification: NAIA
Weber State Plagued With Injuries Weber State is having an unfortunate season full of injuries unlike any season in recent years. Damian Lillard is out for the season with a broken foot. Scott Bamforth played injured against SUU after separating his shoulder the day before. Bamforth has separated his shoulder two times this season with the first being prior to the regular season starting. Bamforth didn't dress for Tulsa and may not be back on the court until the BYU game on Tuesday. Trevor Morris and Kyle Tresnak had ankle issues against Tulsa and Lindsey Hughey reaggravated his ankle sprain at Tulsa that originally happened in Anchorage against Arizona State.
All players on the roster minus Lillard and Bamforth are expected to play tonight. Lillard is tentatively scheduled for foot surgery on Dec 26. A Jones Fracture requires 10-12 weeks of healing to make sure the bone is solid. Whether or not Lillard can get a medical redshirt is unknown at this time but odds are against him considering WSU has played 9 of its 28 game schedule thus far.
12/17/10 Damian Lillard's Season Ending Injury ESPN.com: Foot surgery to end Damian Lillard's season "Weber State guard Damian Lillard is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a broken foot, a team spokesman said Friday.
Lillard, the reigning Big Sky player of the year, suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot during Thursday's 81-79 overtime loss at Tulsa. He is tentatively scheduled undergo surgery to have a screw inserted in the foot Dec. 26 and need 10 to 12 weeks for the bone to heal.
The 6-foot-2 junior entered the Tulsa game ranked 20th in the nation in scoring averaging 21.5 points per game, but was injured with 16:08 left in the second half going for a loose ball after scoring five points in 21 minutes.
Lillard, who returned to campus Friday to visit with the team's orthopedic surgeon, also led defending Big Sky regular-season Weber State in assists and steals."
12/16/10 Hughey's Half Court Buzzer Beater Not Enough Tulsa 81, Weber St. 79, OT Associated Press TULSA, Okla. -- Justin Hurtt scored a career-high 36 points as Tulsa snapped a three-game losing streak by edging Weber State 81-79 in overtime on Thursday night.
Steven Idlet added 14, including a jumper with 35 seconds left that gave the Golden Hurricane (5-5) a 74-70 lead. Hurtt went 10 for 10 on free throws in overtime to keep the Wildcats (5-4) at bay.
Lindsey Hughey led Weber State with 20 points, including three 3-pointers in the final 12 seconds. Trevor Morris added 15 points and Byron Fulton 11.Weber State led 58-50 on a jumper by Morris with 7:50 left in regulation, but Hurtt led Tulsa back.
A jumper by Hurtt gave the Hurricane its first lead of the second half at 59-58 and another by Tim Peete made it 61-58.
Weber State's B.J. Porter tied it with a 3-pointer with 3:37 to go in the half and each team made just one basket the rest of the way.
12/15/10 Weber at Tulsa, Thurs, 6 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Game Tracker | Twitter | TV: None Weber State tips off Thursday night in its first ever matchup with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The 4-5 Hurricane have DI wins over Oral Roberts, Missouri State, Stanford and former Big Sky member CS Northridge. Tulsa has lost its last three games and two of them at home; overall they are 2-3 at home thus far. Tulsa has losses to Appalachian State, UNLV, AR-Little Rock, Oklahoma State and Princeton.
Last Sunday Tulsa's loss at home to Princeton was an 82-78 heart-breaker in double overtime. Post game comments from Doug Wojcik, Tulsa Head Coach:
"Tough afternoon for TU Basketball. Injuries continue to plague us. Our kids fought back and made two big threes to give us a chance to win the game. We've got to do more of the little things throughout the course of the game to build a lead and then put people away. We did a nice job handling the basketball. We didn't turn it over too much with 50 minutes of playing time. Again, we're not shooting free throws particularly well. Give Princeton credit. They hung in there and found a way to win. We had a tough time guarding Kareem Maddox and Ian Hummer, which we knew about. We talked about it all week. It's just a very disappointing loss."
Tulsa was picked to finish 4th in Conference USA by Athlon Sports this season and they have won 20 or more games each of the last four seasons.
Justin Hurtt a 6-4 200 pound senior guard was selected as a 2011 Conference USA preseason First Teamer. Hurtt is averaging 18 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, .437 FG% and .373 3P%. Steve Idlet a 6-11 junior center is averaging 13.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.0 bpg and has two double-doubles. Scottie Haralson, 6-4 227 lb soph guard averages 12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, .411 FG% and .375 3P%. Another player on the squad also averaging double figures is Jordan Clarkson a 6-4 185 lb freshman guard who averages 12.3 ppg, 2 apg, 1.9 rpg, .448 FG% and .333 3P%.
Weber is 1-3 all-time vs CUSA with a win against Rice (72-66 2OT, 1998-99), a loss to Southern Miss (68-49, 2008-09) and two losses to UTEP (74-63, 1965-66; 73-38, 1966-67).
Tulsa Bio Established: 1894 Location: Tulsa, OK Type: Private, Presbyterian Undergraduates: 2,987 Nickname: Golden Hurricane Colors: Old Gold, Royal Blue, Yellow & Crimson Arena: Donald W. Reynolds Center, capacity: 8,355 Conference: Conference USA Mascot: Captain Cane
In the 2003 NCAA Tournament Weber and Tulsa played in the same two-game session. WSU as a 12-seed lost to 5-seed Wisconsin 81-74 and 13-seed Tulsa beat 4-seed Dayton 84-71. Tulsa lost in the second round to Wisconsin 61-60.
Tulsa has the lowest enrollment of any DI FBS school in the nation
12/15/10 Darin Mahoney, Big Sky Player of the Week From the Big Sky Conference's official site by Jon Kasper WSU's Mahoney Wins Honor BigSkyConf.com
11/14/10 Wildcat Wall: Fan Contest Win A WSU Signed Ball! WeberHoops.com is proud to announce an opportunity for Wildcat fans to win an authentic purple and yellow basketball autographed by the Wildcat men's basketball team.
On Tuesday, December 21st, the Wildcats host the 16th ranked BYU Cougars. And the fans who bring a sign to the game will have a chance to win an autographed ball.
To enter the contest, simply email a picture of the sign that shows it was at the Weber/BYU game to mark@weberhoops.com. The winning sign will be one that is considered original and/or funny.
Signs that are disrespectful and of poor sportsmanship will be disqualified from the contest. Pictures of signs submitted will be posted on WeberHoops.com, and the winning contestant will be notified via email by December 28th. We will accept contest entries up until December 24th.
Special thanks to the Weber State Book Store for giving us a discount on the ball. And a special thanks to Coach Rahe for having his players sign the ball.
Good luck, Wildcat fans!
12/13/10 Thursday Night, Shai Fields On ESPN Weber State signee Shai Fields' Yates High School (Houston, TX), will play Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV) on Thursday night at 7 pm on ESPN. ESPN is showing six appearances of the nation's top three teams in the preseason POWERADE FAB 50. In the POWERADE FAB 50 high school basketball national rankings has Yates at #18 and Findlay is #4. The nationally televised game will take place at Texas Southern University in Houston.
In the POWERADE FAB 50 top 20 regional rankings they have Yates High at #2 in the Southwest Region Top 20. The Southwest Region includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Last season Yates was #1 as the FAB 50 champion with a 34-0 record and Texas 4A state champion. They currently have won 64 games in-a-row.
ESPN's 2010-11 Preseason FAB 50 Outlook 27. Yates (Houston, Texas) Last Season's Record: 34-0, Class 4A state champion Top Player: SF Clyde Santee (6-6, Jr.) Outlook: Graduation losses are plenty, but with coach Greg Wise's system of pressing and quick rotations off a 12-deep club, returnees such as Santee, SG Shai Fields (6-3, Sr.) and PF Charles Lewis (6-6, Sr.) are prepared to step up. Last season Yates set national records for scoring average (116.2) and consecutive 100-point games (15), but the Lions displayed the ability to win close ones as well.
In the West Region Top 20 there are no teams from the state of Utah ranked.
12/12/10 Sunday Scores, Dec 12 San Jose State 70, Eastern Washington 69 San Francisco 50, Montana 48, OT #17 Illinois 86, Northern Colorado 76 Portland State 93, CS Fullerton 89
12/11/10 Saturday Scores, Dec 11 Weber State 77, Southern Utah 71 USC 60, Northern Arizona 52 Idaho State 78, UMKC 57
12/10/10 Weber State at Southern Utah Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Twitter | TV: None Saturday night at 7:30 pm the (4-3) Wildcats will travel down to Cedar to play the (2-6) Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. Currently SUU has lost 2 straight conference games (Oakland, IPFW) after getting a win in the 7th/8th place game at the Great Alaska Shootout against Houston Baptist. Weber and SUU have met on the hardwood 26 times since 1982. Weber leads the series with a record of 20-6. In Ogden, WSU is 15-2 and 5-4 in Cedar City. Tomorrow's game will be Coach Rahe's 5th against the T-Birds and he is 3-1 overall with the lone loss being the first game of the series back in 2007. Rahe is 81-50 overall with WSU and 32-39 on the road.
The T-birds are led by 4th year head coach Roger Reid who is 30-67 at SUU and 182-143 as a DI coach. Reid graduated from Weber State in 1968 with a BS in Physical Education and played for the Wildcats under former WSU coach Dick Motta.
Reid Coaching Experience Head Coach, Southern Utah 2007-Present Head Coach, Snow College 2005-07 Head Coach, Hangzhou (Chinese League) 2003-05 Assistant Coach, Phoenix Suns 1998-2003 Head Coach, Brigham Young 1989-97 Assistant Coach, Brigham Young 1978-1989 Clearfield High School, Head Coach 1974-78 Payson High School, Head Coach 1971-7
SUU received and accepted a formal invitation to join the Big Sky Conference along with the University of North Dakota beginning in the fall of 2012. UC Davis and Cal Poly also have accepted invitations as football only members.
SUU Conference History 1923 Joined Intermountain Collegiate Athletic Conference 1963 Moved to four-year competition, became an NAIA Independent 1967 Joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 1986 Joined the Western Football Conference (football only) 1986 Became an NCAA Division II Independent in all sports but football 1988 Became an NCAA Division I Independent in all sports but football 1993 Joined the American West Conference as a charter member as football moves to Division I 1996 Became an NCAA Division I Independent 1997 Joined the Mid-Continent Conference, which later became The Summit League 2002 Gymnastics joins the Western Gymnastics Conference as a charter member 2004 Football joins the Great West Football Conference as a charter member 2006 Gymnastics joined the Western Athletic Conference 2010 Announced the University will join the Big Sky Conference
T-Bird Bio Established: 1897 Location: Cedar City, UT Nickname: Thunderbirds Colors: Red & White Undergraduates: 6,490 Postgraduates: 567 Conference: Summit League
12/4/10 Saturday Scores, Dec 4 Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter Iowa 70, Idaho State 53 Weber State 65, Seattle 61 Illinois State 62, Montana State 56 Northern Arizona 91 Bethany 50 Utah Valley 77, Sac State 52 Northern Colorado 84, Black Hills St 52 Eastern Washington 112, New Hope Christian 41
12/3/10 Seattle at Weber State, Sat, 2 PM Seattle University (3-7) comes to Ogden with wins against Oregon State, Navy and Montana State. Weber State (3-3) will attempt to avenge last year's 91-87 loss at the Key Arena in Seattle. Last year's Seattle team had 17 wins but had a huge loss with Charles Garcia leaving for the pros after his junior year. Garcia's 18.6 ppg and 8.3 rpg will be hard to make up for and with seven losses in 10 games the Redhawks are struggling.
Weber State is 9-6 all-time against Seattle. In 1968-69 the two teams played each other three times. The regular season was a split and in the post season WSU beat Seattle in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.
SU moved up to DI in 2008-09 after spending the past 30 years between the NAIA and DII ranks. SU had a DI men's basketball team from 1950 to 1980. From 1950 to 1971 SU was an Independent; from 1971 to 1980 Seattle was a member of the West Coast Conference.
The 1958 SU team led by Elgin Baylor made it to the Final 4 where they knocked off #1 ranked Kansas State before losing the title game to Kentucky. In 1966 Texas Western's "glory road" to winning the national title was almost perfect. TWU's lone loss on the season was to Seattle U. During the 1960's, SU sent more players to the NBA than any other school.
SU is reclassifying from Division II to Division I right now and the move will take five years and should be complete in 2012-13. Prior to last season SU hired Cameron Dollar, a former assistant at University of Washington. Dollar was a top candidate for Sac State before they hired Brian Katz.
SU would like to be reunited as a member of the West Coast Conference, which is made up of small, private, religiously affiliated schools. The WCC is a non-football conference.
Seattle Bio Established: 1891 Location: Seattle, WA Type: Private, Jesuit Undergraduates: 7,751 Nickname: Redhawks Colors: Scarlet & White Arena: Key Arena, capacity: 17,072 Conference: Independent
11/28/10 'Cats Finish 3rd At Great Alaska Shootout Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Damian Lillard hit two free throws after a technical foul with 5.7 seconds left Saturday night and Weber State defeated Drake 82-81 for third place in the Carrs-Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
Drake (2-3) thought it had the game won when Lillard, who finished the game with 31 points, drove the lane and was called for an offensive foul.
But Bulldogs forward Aaron Hawley spiked the ball after the whistle and was called for the technical. Referees reviewed the play before confirming the call.
Weber State (3-3) trailed 46-34 at halftime but rallied behind Lillard's 27 second-half points. Scott Bamforth had 22 for the Wildcats and Byron Fulton had 14.
Rayvonte Rice led Drake with 21 points. Ryan Wedel had 17 points and Hawley had 15 points and six rebounds.
11/27/10 For 3rd Place: Weber State vs Drake, 7:30 PM Tourney Bracket |Scoreboard | Radio | Twitter | Streaming Online | TV: Altitude 2/Fox Sports AZ Weber lost a 59-58 heart-breaker to Arizona State losing its lead with 8 seconds left in the game and missed a buzzer shot. The 'Cats will need to regroup for its game against Drake less than 24 hours later.
SUU and Houston Baptist will play for 7th and 8th place (2 pm). Alaska Anchorage and Ball State will play for 4th and 6th place (4 pm). WSU & Drake will duke it out for 3rd and 5th (7:30 pm) and St. John's and Arizona State will battle for the title (10 pm).
There are four other Big Sky games on today. Montana State lost today to Iowa State 81-59 and Northern Colorado beat Bethune-Cookman 69-45. At 4 pm Eastern Washington will host Idaho and at 8 pm Cal Poly will play at Sacramento State.
11/27/10 Arizona St. 59, Weber St. 58 Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Trent Lockett matched his career high with 24 points, including the game-winning basket with 8.4 seconds left, and Arizona State defeated Weber State 59-58 Friday night in the semifinals of the Carrs-Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
Weber State (2-3) took just its third lead of the game, 58-57, when Damian Lillard hit two free throws with 17.5 seconds left.
The Sun Devils (3-1) inbounded and Lockett drove the left side of the lane. He banked a layup off the glass and in, and was fouled. He missed the free throw but Lillard missed a 3-pointer as time ran out.
The game featured a dozen ties. Arizona led 57-52 with 3:57 remaining on a free throw by Lockett, but didn't score again until Lockett's game-winner.
Jamelle McMillan added 16 points for the Sun Devils and Rihards Kuksiks had 11. Scott Bamforth scored 15 to lead the Wildcats.
11/26/10 Weber State vs Arizona State, 10 PM Tourney Bracket |Scoreboard | Radio | Twitter | Streaming Online | TV: Altitude 2/Fox Sports AZ On Day 2 of the Great Alaska Shootout Weber beat Alaska Anchorage by 32 and Arizona State beat Houston Baptist 73-55. Of the four games played so far, three of the four have been blow outs. Only St. John's and Ball State had a close game which ended in overtime.
Tonight at 7:30 in semifinal #1 Drake and St. John's play to see who goes to the championship tomorrow. Semifinal #2 will follow at 10 pm with Weber and ASU. Earlier in the day on the consolation side of the bracket, SUU will play Ball State and Houston Baptist will meet the host Seawolves of UAA.
Arizona State (2-1) will play WSU for the first time since 1997. In ASU's 73-55 win on the annual day of turkey over Houston Baptist, Ty Abbott (senior first-team All-Pac-10) didn't play due to a knee contusion. Trent Lockett had a team-high 18 points, nine boards and six assists while Kyle Cain came off the bench with 13 points and 17 boards. Cain's 17 boards are the fourth most in a game in the ASU record books. Keala King, also off the bench added 13 points and five assists.
WSU and ASU have split the only two games that have been played and both were at ASU. ASU beat the 'Cats 88-79 on Dec 22, 1997, while WSU beat the Sun Devils 59-56 on Dec 3, 1969.
ASU head coach Herb Sendek is 330-214 in his 18th year as a DI head coach. Sendek has been at ASU the same amount of time Rahe has been at WSU. Sendek's record at ASU is 78-57 with three consecutive 20 win seasons after winning just eight games his first year. Coach Rahe is 79-49 with three 20 win seasons in the past four years and three Big Sky titles. In Sendek's four years ASU has had a 10th, 5th, 3rd and 2nd place finish in the PAC 10. Both coaches will be looking to get win #80 in Alaska.
Weber is 2-14 against the PAC 10: Washington 0-1, Arizona State 1-1,Washington State 0-1, California 0-1,Oregon 0-2,Stanford 0-0, Arizona 0-3,Oregon State 1-3, UCLA 0-2,USC 0-0.
Sun Devil Bio Established: 1885 Students: 70,440 Nickname: Sun Devils Colors: Maroon & Gold Conference: Pac 10
11/26/10 Athlon's ASU Preseason Outlook Athlon Sports Magazine 2010-11 Preview has Arizona State picked to finish 4th in the Pac 10. Jamelle McMillan is picked as the most underrated player of the year, Ty Abbott to the All-Pac 10 First Team and Rihards Kuksiks to the All-Pac 2nd team.
Athlon expects ASU to have many good players at the guard positions fighting for minutes while the bigs will be their weakness for 2010-11. ASU's starting 4 in Rihards Kuksiks is only 6'6". The Sun Devils don't return a single big man that played significant minutes from last season. When Pac 10 play begins ASU might have to bank on back up center 7'2" freshman Jordan Bachynski who has been out of basketball the past 2 years while gone on his LDS mission. Kyle Cain a 6'7 freshman forward will come off the bench. Carrick Felix is a JC transfer from the College of Southern Idaho who originally committed to Duke is an impact player.
Athlon's Final Analysis Sendek has almost miraculously raised the Sun Devil program from the dead and won 20 games in three of his four seasons in Tempe. To do so again, however, will be a tall task.
ASU's non-conference schedule is considerabley tougher than it has been in the past - the Devils will play in the Great Alaska Shootout and travel to New Mexico and Baylor - and the lack of size and skill in the frontcourt could be terminal. But Sendek gets more out of his players - and his system - than any other coach in the Pac 10. His matchup zone defense will keep the Sun Devils in games while he slowly brings along his freshmen, particularly Bachynski.
Given how young ASU is, an NCAA Tournament berth is probably out of the question. But don't be surprised if the sun Devils over-achieve and win 17 or 18 games.
ASU Probable Starters Rihards Kuksiks F 6-6 210 Sr Carrick Felix F 6-6 180 So Ruslan Pateev C 7-0 231 So Jamelle McMillan G 6-2 180 Sr Trent Lockett G 6-4 211 So
WSU Starters Kyle Bullinger F 6-6 215 Jr Darin Mahoney F 6-8 225 Jr Trevor Morris C 6-9 245 Sr Damian Lillard G 6-2 185 Jr Lindsey Hughey G 6-3 200 Sr
11/25/10 Weber St. 86, Alaska-Anchorage 54 Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Lindsey Hughey and Byron Fulton scored 14 points apiece as Weber State defeated Alaska-Anchorage 86-54 on Thursday night in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout.
Damian Lillard added 11 and Kyle Bullinger 10 for the Wildcats (2-2), who shot 59.3 percent (35 of 59).
Taylor Rohde scored a game-high 19 for the host Seawolves (1-3). Mario Gill added 12.
The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 35-23.
Weber State scored the first seven points, and the lead reached double figures when Kyle Tresnak's basket made it 19-8 with 9:54 left in the first half. The Wildcats pushed it to 37-23 at halftime, closing on a 6-1 run.
The Seawolves climbed within 48-39 with 14:42 to play, but Weber State ripped off 18 of the next 20 points for a 66-41 edge with 9:05 to go.
Weber State will face Arizona State in the semifinals.
11/25/10 WSU vs Alaska Anchorage, 9:30 PM Tourney Bracket |Scoreboard | Radio | Twitter | Streaming Online | TV: Fox Sports Early this morning before 3 am the first half of the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout completed. Drake beat SUU 78-59. St. John's took down Ball State 78-73 in what would be considered an overtime thriller but after 2 am who was really still awake?
Drake and St. John's will meet in the semifinal and SUU and Ball State will meet in the consolation semifinal.
Tonight's doubleheader will be Houston Baptist vs Arizona State at 7 pm and Weber State vs Alaska Anchorage at 9:30 pm. The game can be found on the following TV networks: Fox College Sports /DIRECTV Sports Pak/Dish Network Multi-Sport Pak/AT&T U-Verse. Today's winners will meet in the semifinal and the losers will play each other in the consolation semifinal.
11/24/10 Can Anyone Stop Lillard? After 3 games played, Damian Lillard is averaging 27 points per game which is #3 in the nation. Orlando Johnson of UC Santa Barbara is #6 averaging 26.3 ppg. Johnson is the younger brother to former Weber State guard Robbie Johnson. Jimmer Fredette is #13 with 23.3 ppg.
As a team, Weber State is #8 in the nation for free-throw percentage at .808. SUU is #1 shooting .875, Utah is #4, Northern Colorado is #11, UVU is #15 and Portland State is 23rd.
Weber State ranks #25 in the nation for 3-point field goal percentage shooting .421. NAU is #5 at .470.
11/23/10 WSU vs Anchorage on Thanksgiving On Thanksgiving night WSU will take on host University of Alaska, Anchorage. The tournament begins on Wednesday with Southern Utah against Drake and Ball State vs St. John's.
Thursday will be Houston Baptist vs Arizona State with Weber State vs Alaska Anchorage to follow.
Weber's opening opponent, the Seawolves, are the only DII team in the tournament. This is the 33rd annual Great Alaska Shootout. UAA is 30-66 all-time in the tournament. In 26 of the last 32 shootouts UAA has won at least one game. UAA's best finish was 4th place which the Seawolves have done five times (1986, 1987, 1991, 2003, 2009). Four times UAA has won the first round game (1979, Pacific; 1990, Texas Tech; 1993, Wake Forest; 1996, Maine).
UAA's all-time wins: Auburn (1989), Canisius (2003), Dayton (1992), Grambling State (1999), High Point (2004), Idaho (1991), Iona (1988), Jackson State (1994), Louisiana Tech (2008), Miami, Fla. (1987), Missouri (1985), Missouri-Kansas City (2006), Montana (2002), New Mexico (1983), Nicholls State (1980, 2009), Notre Dame (1998), Penn State (1978), Rhode Island (2000), Santa Clara (1991), Southern Illinois (2005), Texas State (1987, 2003), Texas (1986), TCU (1995) and Washington (1986).
UAA is 50-131 all-time vs DI. The biggest Seawolves win in school history was in 1989 when they beat #2 Michigan at the Utah Seiko Classic. Michigan won the national title that year. UAA's head coach at the time was former WSU coach Ron Abegglen (1986-1991). Abegglen became WSU's head coach in 1991.
Last season UAA had a 17-10 record and finished 5th place with an 8-8 record in conference play. In the Great Alaska Shootout, UAA beat Nichols State and lost to Houston and Washington State.
Only three times in the past 32 tournaments has there been a tournament champion that was a traditional mid-major school (1981, Southwestern Louisiana; 2002, College of Charleston; 2007, Butler). Twenty-five of the 32 champions have come from schools that have FBS football teams that compete in BCS conferences.
Notable Great Alaska Shootout MVP's: 1980, Scott Hastings; 1983, Joe Kleine; 1985, Brad Daugherty; 1987, Sean Elliott; 1993, Glenn Robinson; 1995, Ray Allen; 1996, Ron Mercer; 1997, Antawn Jamison; 2001, Dwyane Wade; 2004, Nate Robinson; 2008, Kyle Spain.
UAA Bio Established: 1954 Undergraduates: 16,500 Nickname: Seawolves Colors: Green & Gold Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference Classification: Division II
Weber State is 3-2 vs Anchorage with the last game being in 1995-96. WSU is 6-3 overall vs the state of Alaska including a 3-1 record against Fairbanks.
WSU vs UAA 1995-96 W 108-101 1993-94 W 91-82 1992-93 L 80-71 1978-79 W 73-71 1978-79 L 77-75
WSU vs UA, Fairbanks 2006-07 W 71-66 OT 2002-03 L 77-65 1978-79 W 80-57 1978-79 W 69-63
11/21/10 Alaska Tourney TV Schedule The University of Alaska-Anchorage has announced the TV schedule for the 33rd annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout basketball tournament which will take place during the Thanksgiving holidays in Anchorage. Twelve basketball games will take place in four days between the eight schools.
All games will also be streamed live on GoSeawolves.com. The full tournament subscription package is available for $19.95 and single games can be viewed for $6.95.
In the first round of the tournament starting on Nov 24th, SUU will play Drake and Ball State will take on St. John's. On Nov 25th, Weber will play host Anchorage and Houston Baptist will play Arizona State.
11/20/10 Utah 90, Weber St. 75 Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY -- Will Clyburn had a season-high 27 points and nine rebounds and Josh Watkins added 16 points and six assists to boost Utah over Weber State 90-75 on Saturday night.
In his first three games with Utah, Clyburn has led the team in scoring each time and helped the Utes to their first 3-0 start since 2005-06. Jay Watkins added 12 points and Chris Hines 11.
Damian Lillard led the Wildcats (1-2) with 28 points. Lindsey Hughey had 12.
The ragged game had 36 turnovers and just 17 assists, and the Utes actually had more free throw attempts (45) than field goal tries (42). Clyburn made 14 of 15 from the line as the Utes went 40 of 45 in their highest-scoring game since beating BYU 94-88 on Jan. 27, 2009.
Byron Fulton scored a season-best 11, including 10 in the first half, to keep the Wildcats in the game.
11/19/10 Wildcats Take On Runnin' Utes in SLC On Saturday Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Fans Forum | Twitter | TV: None The 2010-11 season marks Utah's 103rd season of men's hoops and Weber's 49th. Tomorrow night's game will be the 39th meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1973. Coach Rahe was an assistant for the Utes under Ray Giacoletti from 2004-2006. Rahe is 1-3 vs Utah as a head coach. Utah's Jim Boylen is 2-1 against Rahe and the Wildcats.
Weber State is 13-25 all-time against Utah and 10-8 at home. Weber will attempt its second win in-a-row against Utah after winning last year's game 83-76 at the Dee Events Center. WSU's last win in Salt Lake was a 79-77 victory in 2000-01. The last game played in Salt Lake was in 2008-09, Weber lost 74-64. WSU and Utah were tied at 56 all with five minutes to go and then Utah's Tyler Kepkay scored back-to-back 3-pointers and then hit two free throws and scored a layup, giving the Utes a 68-59 lead that WSU never recovered from.
This year's Utes are 2-0 with wins over Grand Canyon and Montana. Utah beat Montana on Wednesday 80-71.
Utah Bio Established: 1850 Undergraduates: 21,526 Postgraduates: 6,685 Nickname: Utes Colors: Red & White Conference: Mountain West 10 highest winning % in NCAA Div I history 1998 NCAA champion runner-up 1944 NCAA National Champions
Boylen's Coaching Experience 2005-07 Michigan State assistant coach (under Tom Izzo), 2004-05 Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach,2003-04 Golden State Warriors assistant coach,1992-2003 Houston Rockets assistant coach, 1987-92 Michigan State assistant coach (under Jud Heathcote).
Jud Heathcote was the head coach for Montana (1971-76) for 5 seasons, he lead UM to its first ever Big Sky championship in 1975. He became Michigan State's head coach in 1976 (and won the 1979 National Championship at the Huntsman Center) and 19 seasons later he would go on to lose the last game he would ever coach to 14-seed Weber State in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tourney.
11/18/10 Potatoes Get New Basketball Court Idaho Central Credit Union Partners with ISU Athletics POCATELLO, Idaho - Idaho State Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey announced a partnership with Idaho Central Credit Union, on Monday, November 8. This partnership with ICCU will allow a new basketball court at Holt Arena to be built. Idaho Central Credit Union will own naming rights for the court at Holt and Reed Gym. The partnership is a substantial four year investment.
11/17/10 Montana at Utah, 7 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Live Stats | Radio Since Weber is playing at Utah this Saturday at 4 pm we should pay attention to Utah's game vs the Griz tonight. We'll be able to see how both Utah and Montana are this year though we don't play the Griz until New Year's Eve. Utah is 1-0 thus far with a win over DII Grand Canyon. Montana is 0-1 with an 81-66 loss at Nevada. UM is yet to have a home game but will open things up in Missoula on the 19th hosting Montana Tech.
11/16/10 Weber St. 97, Colorado Christian 73 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Weber State beat Colorado Christian in the Wildcats' home opener Tuesday night.
Lillard, the Big Sky Conference's reigning MVP and leading returning scorer, hit a 3-pointer, a pair of free throws and a breakaway dunk to give Weber State (1-1) a 26-point lead with just over seven minutes remaining. The Wildcats stretched it to a game-high 27-point margin four minutes later to cruise to victory.
Colorado Christian (0-1) got a game-high 13 points from sophomore guard Jeff Jefferson off the bench.Weber State used an 11-0 run to open the second half to get some separation from the Cougars after leading 31-30 at the break.
Sophomore guard Scott Bamforth came off the bench to score 20 points, hitting 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Guard Lindsey Hughey added 14 points and center Trevor Morris had 13 for the Wildcats.
11/16/10 Colorado Christian at Weber State, 5:30 PM Big Sky Scoreboard | Radio | Big Sky TV | Twitter Tonight Weber State hosts Colorado Christian University at 5:30 pm in the first game of a doubleheader. The WSU women's team will play Utah at 8 pm. The first 2,500 fans in attendance at the games will receive a free Weber State schedule magnet.
Colorado Christian University is a private, interdenominational Christian liberal arts school located in Lakewood, Colorado. In 1914 CCU was founded as the Denver Bible Institute. The CCU Cougars will be led by 6-7 junior Jobi Wall, who was selected as a preseason RMAC All-East 1st Team player. Tonight is CCU's first game.
Weber State is 1-0 all-time vs CCU even though this will be the third ever meeting between the two schools. The first meeting on November 10, 2006, was Rahe's first ever game on the WSU sidelines. WSU won 83-57. Last year's game was an exhibition so it didn't count. WSU won 75-65.
Cougar Bio Private School Undergraduates: 3,400 Location: Lakewood, CO Conference: Rocky Mtn Athletic Conference NCAA Classification: Division II Colors: Navy Blue & Gold Nickname: Cougars
WSU is 39-10 in season openers and 29-3 when opening the season at home. Losing to Utah State 66-60 last year in Ogden ended a 12 year streak of opening wins at home. The only losses came in 1991-92 against St. Mary's, 1997-98 to Utah and USU in 2009-10. WSU is 4-9 when opening the season on an opponent's home court. WSU is 4-1 in neutral court season openers.
There are four other Big Sky games on tonight. Eastern Washington will play at #15 Washington, Alabama State at Northern Arizona, Wyoming at Northern Colorado and Bethany at Sacramento State.
11/15/10 Old Oquirrh Bucket Gets Retired The Old Oquirrh Bucket, once the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in the state of Utah has been retired.
Each year the trophy was awarded to the team that had the best win-loss record against in-state competition. The trophy was named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City.
The trophy was started in 1974 but there wasn't actually a real trophy to pass around until 1977 when Weber State won the bucket for the first time. A Weber fan made the trophy out of an old pioneer bucket by attaching a plaque which included a map of the state of Utah with the names of the four original schools - BYU, Utah, Utah State & Weber State College. Weber didn't become a university until 1991.
According to today's Standard-Examiner the Utah schools have decided to retire the trophy due to recent changes in conference affiliation among schools in the state of Utah, and the differing schedules between those in-state schools.
Utah announced on October 7th that they will discontinue the home-and-home series with Weber State and their future with USU is undetermined. Utah is currently Weber's 6th oldest rivalry which dates back to 1973. The Utes and 'Cats have played every year since 1976 except for 1993. Weber plays at Utah this Saturday and the Utes are scheduled to come to Ogden next year for the last time for the foreseeable future.
11/13/10 Utah St. 77, Weber St. 65 Associated Press LOGAN, Utah -- Brockeith Pane scored 20 points and Tai Wesley added 19 to lead Utah State past in-state rival Weber State 77-65 Saturday night in the season opener for both schools.
Paine also got a team-high four assists while Wesley snared a team-high nine rebounds for the Aggies. Damian Lillard led the Wildcats with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
Weber State led throughout the first half, was up 36-29 at halftime and still in charge at 45-37 with 15:30 to play following a pair of 3-point shots by Lillard. Utah State then went on a 17-0 run over the next five minutes, keyed by eight points from Paine, for a 46-36 lead.
The Wildcats closed to within 63-59 with 4:40 remaining, but Paine scored seven points in the final four minutes and Brian Green scored the Aggies' only 3-pointer in the game to keep Weber State at bay.
11/13/10 Weber State at Utah State, 7 PM Live Stats | Radio | TV: CW30 | Twitter WSU basketball fans that want to listen to the season opener in Logan against USU tonight at 7 pm can tune in to KLO 1430 AM for the live broadcast with The Wildcat, Carl Arky. The game will also be televised on CW30 with Mychal Clayton and Brooks Hansen calling the action.
11/11/10 Three Players Sign National Letter of Intent Weber State Athletics Press Release Weber State Men's Basketball Signs Three Prep Guards to Letters of Intent
Ogden, Utah - Weber State head men's basketball coach, Randy Rahe, has announced the signings of three outstanding high school senior guards to join the Wildcats next season and beyond.
Mike Brown (6-2, 170) from Wasatch High School in Heber City, Utah, Shai Fields (6-4, 165) from Yates HS in Houston, Texas and Gelaun Wheelwright (6-1, 170) from Centennial HS in Corona, California each cast their lot with Weber State.
"We are very excited about all three of these kids. Not only do they fit our needs for our future but they are all terrific fits for the type of people we want in our program," said Rahe. "We evaluate character, competitiveness, being good teammates and students very strongly, and all three of these kids have those intangibles that we look for in our players. All three of these athletes comes from a winning high school program which have excellent coaches who have prepared them for life at the collegiate level."
Brown will play his senior season under Coach Norm Hayter. Last year as a junior, Brown was the Utah 3A Player of the Year averaging 16.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He led the Wasps to Region 10 championship and the 3A state championship.
"Mike is tough and competitive, is a good athlete, and has a high skill level,"said Rahe. "He is a well rounded player who can affect the game in a lot ways. Mike has the unique ability to make his teammates better on both ends of the floor. He loves to defend and is willing to do whatever it takes to win. With some added weight and strength he is set to become a excellent multi-dimensional player for us. He's also a terrifc student with a 3.8 gpa."
Fields is a combo guard who played at Pearland HS last season as a junior, averaging 17.6 points, three rebounds and two assists per game. He has transferred to perennial power Yates HS for his senior season where he will play under Coach Greg Wise. ESPN recruiting says he's a "...good athlete who plays with great energy and urgency."
"Shai is a talented scorer, shooter with a high skill level. He is an excellent athlete with good size, length and has the ability, and hunger, to become a very good defender," Rahe said. "He loves to compete, loves to be in the gym working out. With some weight and strength, Shai has the potential to be make a strong impact in our program. He's is also a terrific student with a 3.2 GPA."
Wheelwright will play at Centennial High this season for Coach Josh Giles. Last year as a junior he averaged 18.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. His team won the Big 8 championships and has a third place finish at the Max Preps Torrey Pines Classic in San Diego. He was named 2nd Team All-CIF and All-Big 8, and was a First Team All-Big 8 Academic Team member as well. ESPN recruiting said "...he has a scorers mentality and can put up a ton of points in a hurry, his handle is very good and has a nifty crossover move..."
"Gelaun is a high level athlete with an excellent skill set. He's a very good shooter, but also has the quickness and explosiveness to go by people and make plays," said Rahe. "He has the physical ability to become a defensive stopper. Gelaun is also very competitive and has shown the ability to raise his level of play against top flight competition. Like Mike and Shai, with some added weight and strength, he too has the potential to become an impact player in our program. He too, is a great student in the classroom with a 3.2 gpa."
11/11/10 Stew Morrill Talks About Weber State Utah State head coach Stew Morrill talks about Weber State today in a press conference in Logan.
Thoughts on playing against Weber State in the season opener... "Weber is a good basketball team, I have nothing but respect for the league that they play in and the winning tradition that Weber State has. When you look at the tradition Weber State has had going back to the coaches they have had some greats, Dick Motta, Gene Visscher, Phil Johnson, Neal McCarthy, and now Randy Rahe. Randy certainly fits right in with that group. He always gives me far to much credit for helping him in his career and he is his own man. He does a great job of running that program and it's a good marriage between the two. I am happy that Weber State recognized his value and have rewarded him with a long-term contract. He does a lot of things really well and his team reflects that because they do things very well. They are an athletic team and they have a premiere player who is as good as any player in the state of Utah. They cause a lot of problems with their ability to shoot three's, their ability to rebound the ball, and their athleticism. They run a lot of good plays, some of which we are familiar with and others we aren't. I was telling our players that we are playing a lot of teams on our schedule that are picked to either win their league or contend right at the top of their leagues. We start our season right away with Weber State coming in picked as the favorite to win their conference. I think when you open up at home against a good team like this, that creates a sense of urgency as to how we are going to react when we play against a good team."
Thoughts on Weber State guard Damian Lillard... "He is a very good guard who makes plays, he can shoot the basketball, and he can get on a roll, much like Jaycee Carroll, where it doesn't matter if you have a hand in his face. What we are going to have to do is make him earn every basket he gets. I don't think that we did that last year in the second half of our game in Logan, he just went off and got them right back into the game. Once he was rolling there wasn't a whole lot that we could do about it. Like I said he isn't just a good shooter, he can take the ball to the basket, he can make plays for his teammates and he can pass the ball extremely well. I think he is the best player in that league and they still have him for several more years. We have a whole lot of respect for that young man but he certainly isn't the only player they have on that team. Kyle Bullinger has been around a long time, Darin Mahoney is a tough kid, Trevor Morris has played a lot of basketball and they have a lot of talent. You don't get picked to win your league if you have just Lillard, they have a lot of weapons."
Thoughts on Weber State's newcomers... "I like their new guys, I don't know if I'd be able to single just one of them out. I have been able to watch both of their exhibition games and I'm sure that Randy has watched both of ours. I know that they have a new guard who they are very high on who has been struggling with a shoulder issue and I'm not sure if he is going to be able to play in our game our not. Most of the newcomers to that team are freshman, but they are good freshman that have a bright future. They have certainly recruited well."
11/8/10 The Stats: Weber State vs Utah State Weber State will open the 2010-11 basketball season playing Utah State in Logan on Saturday at 7 pm. This year's game is the 63rd all-time meeting; the overall series is, WSU with 25 wins and USU with 37. Utah State is Weber's fifth-oldest rivalry in school history.
Against the Ag's, the 'Cats are 15-14 at home, 2-1 on neutral courts and 8-22 in Logan. The first 2 games ever played between WSU & USU were 1971 & 1972, both in Logan and both won by Weber.
There have been 5 overtime games and WSU has taken 3 of them. The lowest scoring game between the 2 was 1971, WSU won 63-62. The highest scoring game was 1988, USU won 107-93. The series has gone back and forth and WSU has led in wins up until 1988 where the series came to a 17-17 tie. Since '89 the Aggies have led the series and the 'Cats had kept within 4 games until USU's recent success winning 9 of the last 10 games dating back to 2003.
Stew Morrill is in his 13th season as USU's head coach, he is 10-4 against Weber with USU. His first year was 1999 and his Aggies lost by 20 points to the 'Cats at the Delta Center. Stew would lose 3 of his first 4 competitions to the Purple and White. Stew is the winningest coach in USU history with a record of 294-99 and 11 straight 23 win seasons. This season USU has 17 home games which will help in securing another 20 win season.
Coach Rahe spent 13 seasons as an assistant to Stew at Colorado State & Utah State. Rahe is 1-5 vs Stew.
Weber State vs Utah State
Since 1963*
WSU
Utah State
Overall Wins
872
879
Last Tournament Appearance
2007
2010
Last Tournament Win
1999
2001
Tournament Appearances
14
17
Tournament Wins
6
4
Highest Tournament Seed
7
10
Last 3 Tournament Seeds
14, 12, 15
12, 11, 12
Conference Titles
19
10
20 Win Seasons
23
23
Winning Seasons
39
37
Losing Seasons
8
11
Best Record
27-3
30-5
Worst Record
7-22
4-23
Undefeated in Conference
2
1
*1963 was the first year Weber State competed as an NCAA Division I basketball team.
11/8/10 WSU vs WNMU Highlights
11/7/10 WSU Goes 2-0 In Exhibitions with 94-78 Win Box Score Weber completes the exhibition part of the season with a 94-78 win over its first ever game against Western New Mexico. Damian Lillard led all scores with 27 points. Kyle Bullinger had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds; he had a double-double in both exhibition games. Lindsey Hughey had 15 points and Trevor Morris added 11 & 7.
WSU shot 53.2% from the field and 61.1% from 3-point range and 70.2% from the foul line hitting just 21-32 in the second half. The 'Cats outrebounded the Mustangs 49-27 but struggled with turnovers giving the ball up 18 times to WNMU's 11.
Weber had a 52-36 lead at the half but the Mustangs rallied back within 6 points in the second half with the help of great 3-point shooting hitting 13-27 in the game. Weber's new young team still getting used to playing together had a few stuggles but ended up with another 18 point lead late in the game before getting the win by 16.
In 2 exhibition games Weber shot 55-117 (47%) from the field, 52-70 (74%) from the free-throw line, 18-45 (40%) 3-point shooting, 53 rpg to its opponents 25.5, 16 turnovers per game to its opponents 12.5. Weber also averages 66.5 minutes per game of Freshmen minutes. Rahe has 4 Freshmen averaging 15-20 mpg a piece. With all these Freshmen getting quality minutes this should be Rahe's youngest team in his 5 years at Weber State.
11/6/10 WSU vs Western New Mexico at 4 PM Weber's last exhibition game takes place today at 4 pm at the Dee against Western New Mexico. WNMU is a DII that competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The matchup between the 'Cats and Mustangs will be the first ever. Prior to the game, the Women's team will be playing the University of Mary with a 2 pm tip-off.
On Wednesday night WNMU lost at NAU, 96-86. The Mustangs were led by TJ Riley a 6-1 guard scoring 26 points and hitting 5 three-pointers. As a team the Mustangs were hot from outside making 13-25 beyond the arc. In an ugly game of 37 total turnovers NAU was able to get the win despite being out scored in the second half. NAU's Lowe's Senior Class Award candidate in Cameron Jones scored 21 points and had 5 rebounds and 5 steals in 25 minutes of action.
Next Saturday, Nov 13, Weber will travel to Logan to take on Utah State for its first official game of the 2010-11 season. USU has 4 votes to be ranked in the AP Top 25 in the preseason poll. Three days later WSU will be back at home for its first home game against Colorado Christian with a 5:30 pm tip-off.
11/5/10 Weber Debuts at #19 In Mid-Major Top 25 CollegeInsider.com's top 25 poll now in its 12th season of existence is a poll for the 25 best teams from the mid-major conferences. This year's first poll was released on Monday with Weber State ranked 19th and 3 other Big Sky teams with votes to be ranked: Montana 33; Montana State 2; Northern Colorado 2.
The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
With BYU joining the WCC next season they will become eligible to be ranked in the Mid-Major Poll along with Weber, SUU and UVU. Utah and USU are not part of the Mid-Major conferences.
In 2009-10 the Wildcats spent most of the season with votes or ranked in the Mid-Major and finished at #17. WSU's 2009 team finished ranked 20th in the Mid-Major. The last week of the regular season the Wildcats had 5 votes to be in the AP Top 25 before falling to Montana State in the Big Sky Semifinals. The 2007 team led by David Patten finished ranked 25th. In 2003, WSU finished the season in the top 10 (No. 30 in the AP Poll). The last WSU team to finish in the AP Top 25 was the 1980 team which finished 17th.
VOTING PANEL: Jesse Agel (Brown), Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), Milan Brown (Holy Cross), Will Brown (Albany), Rick Byrd (Belmont), Dave Calloway (Monmouth), Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee), Billy Donlon (Wright State), James Fox (Davidson), Tyler Geving (Portland State), Mike Gillian (Longwood), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Dick Hunsaker (Utah Valley), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Danny Kaspar (Stephen F. Austin), Kerry Keating (Santa Clara), Billy Kennedy (Murray State), Jim Larranaga (George Mason), Mike Lonergan (Vermont), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Gregg Nibert (Presbyterian), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola MD), Buzz Peterson (UNC Wilmington), Vann Pettaway (Alabama A&M), Clifford Reed, Jr. (Bethune Cookman), John Shulman (Chattanooga), Brad Stevens (Butler), Gary Stewart (UC Davis), Ernie Zeigler (Central Michigan)
11/3/10 WSU vs Laval Highlights
11/2/10 Weber State Men's Basketball Fan Survey Please answer the following question about attendance and interest in Weber State men's basketball games. This information will be helpful to the Athletic Department in efforts to increase attendance and awareness of Weber State Basketball. Your participation is voluntary.
11/2/10 WSU beats Laval Box Score Weber's first exhibition game of the season which ended as an 86-57 blow win saw action from 10 Wildcats (5 Freshmen, 3 Juniors, 2 Seniors). With lots of Freshman minutes being used by Rahe, the opposition was able to hang in the game early on. At the half WSU was up just 6. Shooting better and solid D turned the game around in the second half making the game a 29-point win.
Damian Lillard had the game high 23 points knocking in 8-of-16 from the field. Lindsey Hughey shot 7-of-11 from the floor for 22 points and 10 boards. Kyle Bullinger had a big night with 10 points and 10 rebounds and 2 steals at his debut at the wing. True Freshman Kyle Tresnak hit 5-of-8 for 10 points and had 2 rebounds in 16 minutes. Darin Mahoney had 9 rebounds and Trevor Morris had 8.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Red & Gold 57-24 and shot 30-70 (43%) on the game while allowing 21-55 (38%). Weber also shot an impressive 19-23 (82%) from the free-throw line and struggled early to find its 3-point shot finishing the game 7-27 (26%).
Weber will host DII, Western New Mexico on Saturday at 4pm for its final exhibition game. WNM will play at NAU tomorrow night.
11/1/10 First Exhibition Game Tonight Weber State will play its first exhibition basketball game tonight against Laval University and then wrap things up with a game this Saturday against Western New Mexico. Saturday, Nov 13 at Utah State will be WSU's first official game of the 2010-11 season.
Laval is located in Quebec, Canada. Laval is the oldest school in Canada and it was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French. The school was founded in 1663 and has a current enrollment of 35,000+.
Laval's nickname is Rouge-et-Or (Red & Gold). This will be the second ever matchup between the 'Cats and Rouge-et-Or. On Nov 1, 2007, WSU beat Laval 77-55.
Under Coach Rahe, WSU has played 8 games against Canadian teams and the 'Cats are 7-1. The only loss was in 2007-08 at the Battle of the Border Tournament in Calgary. Weber's one loss was an 81-74 defeat to the U of Calgary which was just hours after the 'Cats beatdown the Mount Royal All-Stars 85-42. Calgary only had the one game that day.
The Red & Gold are on a Utah tour. They lost to BYU 101-55 last Friday and then on Saturday they lost in Logan to Utah State 93-51. In the 2 games Laval is averaging (39-113) 35% from the field, (15-48) 31% from 3-pt land and (13-16) 81% from the charity stripe. J Turcotte-Routhier is leading the team with 14 ppg and 7.5 rpg.
Purple & White Game Recap All scores in the Purple and White were led by Damian Lillard with 17 points last Wednesday. The final score was a tie at 45 all. The game was played in 3 segments which totaled 26 minutes. Trevor Morris scored 10 points, BJ Porter 9 points and looked good working the floor and leaving the fans with the memory of a Daviin Davis like swat from behind. Kyle Tresnak had 8, Kyle Bullinger and Byron Fulton each knocked in 7.
10/25/10 Off Season Update: Part 4 EWU's Earlywine Extended Eastern Washington head coach Kirk Earlywine signed a one-year extension after last season's end. With a young starting lineup the future of EWU is looking very good. The Eags finished the 2009-10 season losing 10 games by 6 points or less and came up short of the Big Sky tournament with a 5-11 Big Sky record and 9-21 overall.
Earlywine is 32-58 in his 3 seasons at EWU and 17-31 in league play.
Prior to EWU, Earlywine was the associate head coach at UNC-Wilmington for the 2006-07 season and held the same title at Weber State under Joe Cravens from 1999-00 to 2005-06.
UNC Hires New Coach After taking UNC to consecutive Big Sky Tournament appearances which are the only appearances in school history after joining the conference in 2006, Tad Boyle, moves on to become the new head coach for the University of Colorado. Boyle was at UNC for 4 seasons where he compiled a 54-62 record (28-36 in conference). His 2009-10 season the Bears went 25-8 overall and 12-4 in the Big Sky and made a post-season appearance in the CIT.
The new head coach for the Bears is BJ Hill who was an assistant under Boyle for 4 seasons. Northern Colorado is hopeful that Hill can keep the program going in the right direction given his experience with the Bears. UNC finished last in the nation in the 2007 NCAA DI RPI report. Four seasons later UNC had its best season in school history winning 25 games.
"We all think that continuity in a sports program is paramount to its success," said Jay Hinrichs, UNC AD. "It was critical that we follow through with our multiyear succession plan to ensure stability throughout our men's basketball program and not miss a beat in the development of our student-athletes."
"This is an unbelievable opportunity," Hill said. "I want to thank Jay Hinrichs, President (Kay) Norton and everybody involved who believed in me. I also want to thank Tad Boyle. I'm extremely excited, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to carry on what Coach (Boyle) started and carrying it on to the next level."
10/24/10 Wildcat Wall: Q&A With Jordan Richardson When Jordan Richardson signed his letter-of-intent in November of 2009, the Wildcats may have found the man who will be able to run the team when Lillard moves on. Richardson attended Merrill West High School in Northern California where he averaged around 22 points per game as a senior...Read More
10/20/10 Coaches & Media Pick WSU to 3-Peat Last season WSU went 13-3 in the regular season and went to the NIT which was its third post season in 4 years. In back-to-back seasons Weber had conference titles and Big Sky MVP's in Kellen McCoy and Damian Lillard.
For the second time in 3 years the coaches poll has tabbed Weber as #1. Of the 8 possible first place votes WSU received 6 (4 last year); a coach can't vote for his own team. In the media poll WSU received 21 (23 last year) of the possible 28 first place votes.
Coming in at second in the coaches to no surprise to the die-hard Big Sky fans is NAU who returns NBA prospect Cameron Jones who considered leaving college early then decided to play his senior year. Jones will be complemented with all-conference hopefuls in Eric Platt, Shane Johannsen and Gabe Rogers. Rogers was 1 of the top performing Freshmen in the Big Sky last season. The 'Jacks have had a rough couple years plagued with injuries and off the court issues. A couple solid recruiting classes should help NAU get back to having winning seasons and finishing in the top 4.
Montana has been picked by the coaches in each of Rahe's 4 seasons to finish second which never happened. This year UM is third in both polls. The Griz are expected to have the best bigs in the 'Sky but replacing two-guard Anthony Johnson is easier said than done. Will Cherry at the point and some promising new recruits will give the Griz what is needed to contend for its first regular season championship since 2000.
Since the Big Sky Conference started in 1964, 10 times there has been a team win back-to-back regular season titles in basketball. Six of these 10 were the Wildcats.
Coaches' Poll Team - First-place votes 1. Weber State 6 2. Northern Arizona 1 3. Montana 2 4. Northern Colorado 5. Montana State 6. Eastern Washington 7. Portland State 8. Idaho State 9. Sacramento State
Media Poll Team - First-place votes 1. Weber State 21 2. Northern Colorado 2 3. Montana 4 4. Northern Arizona 1 5. Montana State 6. Eastern Washington 7. Portland State 8. Idaho State 9. Sacramento State
In 2009-10 WSU was picked 1st in both polls and finished 1st.In 2008-09 WSU was picked 4th/5th by the 2 polls and won the regular season Big Sky Championship. In 2007-08 Weber was picked to finish 1st/2nd and the 'Cats finished 3rd. In Rahe's first season, 2006-07 the 'Cats were picked to finish 6th/7th and won the title after finishing last place the season before.
10/18/10 Blue Ribbon Big Sky Forecast BLUE RIBBON FORECAST 1. Weber State 2. Montana 3. Northern Arizona 4. Montana State 5. Northern Colorado 6. Eastern Washington 7. Idaho State 8. Portland State 9. Sacramento State
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM G-Devon Beitzel, SR, Northern Colorado G-Cameron Jones, SR, Northern Arizona G-Damian Lillard, JR, Weber State F-Bobby Howard, SR, Montana State C-Brian Qvale, SR, Montana
PLAYER OF THE YEAR Damian Lillard, JR, Weber State
10/18/10 Blue Ribbon Preview: Weber State The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook for 2010-11 has been released. Blue Ribbon is an annual publication which includes preseason previews of every NCAA Division I men's college basketball team.
Backcourt: A- Bench/Depth: B- FrontCourt: C Intangibles: A+
The Wildcats have Lillard back, but in terms of personnel, there's some work to be done. Lillard is also the only proven Division I scorer on the roster. In the paint, the responsibility rests on a career role player in Morris and three guys who've never played a minute of collegiate basketball. Rahe also is banking on Bamforth to quickly stake a claim on the perimeter, even if he can't beat out Hughey for a starting job.
"I'm very comfortable playing eight to nine guys tops," Rahe said. "I've always been a big believer in getting our starting lineup set, getting the guys off the bench understanding their roles. The quicker they do that, the better we are.
"We don't usually start playing our best basketball until early or mid-December. The quicker the new guys can become familiar with our system and become comfortable and confident, that's when we'll show the most improvement."
On paper, Weber State will be the Big Sky's team to beat yet again. Being the two-time defending regular-season champion has that effect. The only flaw is that the Wildcats have no NCAA Tournament appearances to show for their regular-season success.
"We've had our opportunities and come up short. It's time," Rahe said. "We want everything. We want to try to win the regular season, we want to try to win the tournament. That's the nature of everything."
Time will tell if some other team has what it takes to unseat the Wildcats.
10/8/10 Walk-on Tryouts Tomorrow, Oct 9, the WSU coaching staff will hold a tryout for walk-on's for this year's squad. The tryouts will take place at 8:30 a.m. in the Stromberg HPHP Complex. Students need to be enrolled in 12 credit hours in order to try out and need to stop by the compliance office and complete all necessary paperwork prior to the tryout.
The 114-team field features teams from 15 conferences as well as one independent: 12 teams from the Mid-American Conference and Colonial Athletic Conference, 10 from the Ohio Valley, nine from the Big Sky, Big South, Big West and WAC; eight from the Horizon League, five from America East and Southern; two from the MEAC and West Coast; and one from the Summit League, as well as independent Seattle.
Eastern Washington, Portland State, Idaho State and Montana State will be at home on BracketBusters weekend. Montana, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State and Weber State will be on the road. The 11 TV matchups will be announced on Jan. 31.
"Having all of our teams in BracketBusters assures our best teams will be vying for one of the coveted television games," said Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton. "Had all of our teams been in last year's pool, we would have been in position for as many as three TV games."
"This is also great for scheduling as it provides an additional future non-conference game," Fullerton added. "Because of our participation on BracketBusters, teams such as Wichita State, Western Kentucky have played non-conference road games against Big Sky teams."
10/4/10 2010-11 Altitude TV Big Sky Schedule The Big Sky basketball "Game of the Week" is back on Altitude Sports & Entertainment for the fourth year. The Altitude games start Sunday, Jan 2nd with Portland State at Idaho State at 2 PM. In the past the games have always been on Sundays, this year 5 of the 8 games will be on Saturdays. The conference semifinal games will be broadcasted on the Altitude and the championship game will be on ESPN2.
The games can be viewed on DirecTV, dish Network, and Comcast.
Altitude is available within a 10-state territory of the Rocky Mountain Region including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota.
Phil Beckner, who has served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the past two seasons, has been elevated to a full time assistant coach replacing Charles Harral. Rahe also announced that Chris Gold has come on board as the new Director of Basketball Operations.
"Coach Beckner has done an outstanding job within our basketball program, and I am excited about his now increased responsibilities," said Rahe. "I know he will continue to play an integral role in the success of our program. He has worked extremely hard to put himself into this position and he's always represented our program in a positive manner. Phil has a terrific future in the coaching profession. Chris brings a tremendous work ethic to our program. He is highly motivated and brings a positive attitude to work each day. He is a great addition to our program."
Beckner came to Weber State in the Summer of 2008. A native of Buckeye, Ariz., he attended Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, where he played four years on the men's basketball team. Gold, a native of Denver, Colo., graduated from Regis High School and also attended Kansas Wesleyan University where he played four years as a point guard.
9/15/10 Off Season Update: Part 2 2009-10 Home Attendance The 2009-10 season saw an attendance increase of 16% from 2008-09. The 2010 average was 5,310 with a single game high of 9,272. In 2009 the average was 4,598 with the highest single game attended being 7,401. Weber State had the 21st highest DI attendance average in the Western United States. Excluding the Pac10, WSU had the 12th highest average in the West. WSU's 5,310 average was higher than: the entire Big West, 3 MWC teams, half the WAC, 8-of-9 WCC teams and higher than USC of the Pac.
There are 334 NCAA Division I men's basketball programs, 31 conferences, 4,995 games were played, 25,164,431 fans, 5,038 national attendance average.
Click here for to see the attendance of each team in the West.
9/10/10 Students, Join The Purple Pak! The Purple Pak and WSUSA were at the Bell Tower today promoting the Weber State/Northern Colorado football game and encouraging students to join the Purple Pak.
Students can join the Purple Pak at the WSU Bookstore or at the Purple Pak tailgate party in the North lot of Stewart Stadium before the UNC game. The 3:30pm tailgate is free to all students. All other Purple Pak tailgate parties will be members only. A membership is just $20.
The Purple Pak will be selling Purple Pak Icecream at its concession trailer behind the South endzone next to the bookstore trailer during the game. Saturday's game kicks off at 6pm and will be on the Altitude as well free online at BigSkyTV.org.
9/9/10 Recruit Verbally Commits Shai Fields, 6'3" guard from Houston, TX, to play his senior season at Yates High has verbally committed to WSU to sign in November. Fields played AAU ball for Team Texas. As a junior he averaged 16.2 ppg and shot 80% from the FT line. Yates was one of the top ranked high school basketball teams in the US in the national polls last season.
Schools of Interest: Bradley, Detroit, Houston, Missouri State, San Diego, Southern Methodist, South Alabama, TCU, UNC-Wilmington, Wichita State and Weber State.
November and April are when the NCAA accepts National Letters of Intent from high school seniors. November 10, 2010 is the start of the early signing period. November 17th is the final signing date. April 13, 2011 will start the regular signing period which will end on May 18th. With most of the top prospects already signed in November and the basketbal season over, teams rush to shore up signees from the year's remaining high school seniors.
9/3/10 Off Season Update: Part 1 What exactly happened over the Summer regarding Weber State basketball and the Big Sky Conference? What did we miss? This is part 1 of a 6 article series summarizing the off season which will be ending in less than 2 months with the annual Purple & White on Oct 27.
Regular Big Sky Schedule Is Back! Due to the economic down turn the Big Sky changed all sports to playing games on back-to-back nights to cut costs last season. Prior to last season the normal schedule would be to have games played on Thursday and Saturday. The 2009-10 basketball season saw games on Friday and Saturday night for conference games.
Overall the teams and coaches didn't like this new format but it had its pro's and con's with the fans. Weber State saw an attendance improvement from 2008-09 to 2009-10. Notably games played on Friday had higher attendance at the Dee than those played on Thursday in 2009. Most WSU fans are glad to see the schedule back to normal. The team is also probably glad to have the schedule back to normal after having to bus from Missoula to Bozeman immediately after a game in a snow storm since there was no travel day.
Portland State Banned From Post Season In early June, OregonLive.com announced the PSU men's basketball program will be banned from all post season play for the 2010-11 season as well they have lost 2 scholarships.
The ban was due to poor academics. PSU's APR (Academic Progress Rate) was 865 which was below the national average of 940 on the 1,000-point scale. A score of 925 is the NCAA minimum to avoid penalties.
Part 2 of this series will be about WSU's 2009-10 home basketball attendance and how it compared to the rest of the Big Sky and the nation.
8/29/10 Wildcat Wall: Q&A With Kyle Tresnak Last year Weber State lost center Steve Panos to graduation. And this is Trevor Morris's last year as a Wildcat. We all know and expect Darin Mahoney to be a contributor at the center position this year and next, but who has coach Randy Rahe recruited as the next generation center? The answer is 6'10" big-man Kyle Tresnak. Tresnak, like fellow teammates Byron Fulton and Blake Davis, comes to Ogden from Arizona. It appears that this 225 pound freshman will likely see some playing time as a true freshman this year as well...Read More
8/19/10 Wildcat Wall: Q&A With Scott Bamforth Weberhoops.com is excited to see what Scott Bamforth, JC transfer out of Western Nebraska CC, will bring to this year's squad. The only JC transfer in this year's recruiting class, Bamforth comes highly touted. Bamforth was planning on playing his sophomore year with Western Nebraska before a season-ending elbow injury prevented that from happening. While this was most likely devastating to him, it can be seen as a positive for the 'Cats. Now, instead of having Bamforth for only 2 years, Weber will have him for 3...Read More
Wildcat Wall is a fan blog on WeberHoops.com with articles by Mark Berger.
8/11/10 Dee Events Center Upgrades: Pro-Star Vision Screen The Dee Events Center will have a new look this October at the Purple and White game. Weber State fans' prayers have been answered and dreams have come true. We have a new JumboTron! Jerry Graybeal was a huge part in getting this done. Click here for pics.
Although technically the term JumboTron was a registered trademark of Sony, the term is commonly used to describe large screens inside sports stadiums. This is not a JumboTron. Sony debuted its JumboTron at the 1985 Expo World's Fair in Japan. Sony left the JumboTron business in 2001. So who cares about Sony? No one here...3 days before the "black-out" home football game vs Montana, WSU fans will get to see for the first time in action its new Pro-Star Vision Screen.
Weber's new Vision Screen was built by Daktronics (Brookings, South Dakota) one of the world's largest suppliers of electronic signs. Daktronics also is responsible for Stewart Stadium's Vision Screen. Daktronics has been in the electronic scoreboard/screen industry since the late 1960's. The company was started by a couple of Jackrabbit professors at South Dakota State.
Some of Daktronics notable creations include the world's largest video display for sports in 2004 at Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians). The two HD screens and the world's largest fascia board at Sun Life Stadium (Miami Dolphins) in 2006. The world's largest HD screen at Texas Memorial Stadium (Texas Longhorns) also in 2006. In 2008 Daktronics installed the world's largest HD lighting display at Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals).
Enough history and back to The Dee. Weber's new Vision Screen will feature 4 HD LCD screens, an all LED display around the screens and a Pro-Add LED Display Ring on top. The front panel of the scorer's table will be another Pro-Add LED Display. Both the ring and the scorer's table will be full-color full-motion LED fascias. Also, The Dee will feature a new scoreboard behind each basketball hoop. Both are LED displays unlike the old bulbs in the previous scoreboards and JumboTron.
Last but not least, the basketball standards will have new three-sided shot clocks which will include the running game time. The old shot clocks were one-sided and didn't have the game time.
The Vision Screen will have replay capabilities and WSU fans will actually be able to know what they looking at unlike the past. It is even possible that all 4 screens and both LED fascias can simultaneously be showing something different.
It is expected that the Vision Screen will be raised up this week. Afterwards, the court will be resurfaced and ready to go for our two-time defending Big Sky Conference Champions. Go Weber!
8/9/10 Wildcat Wall: Q&A With Blake Davis It has been almost two years since redshirt freshman, Blake Davis, committed to come to Ogden to play for Coach Randy Rahe and the Wildcats. Now that his redshirt year is over, he is anxious to get out on the court and show Wildcat fans he belongs on a Division I court. And should he catch Rahe's eye, he may very well get good minutes on the court this year....Read More
Wildcat Wall is a fan blog on WeberHoops.com with articles by Mark Berger.
8/6/10 Wildcat Wall: Excited To See The New Additions I know that it is August and that I should be getting all geared up and excited about football season. And I am excited for football, but mostly because when it's football season, that means we are just a few short months away from watching Lillard and Co. take the court again and make another run at a Big Sky title and an appearance in the NCAA tournament...Read More
Wildcat Wall is a fan blog on WeberHoops.com with articles by Mark Berger.
7/21/10 Official Basketball Schedule Released WSU Athletics has officially released the basketball schedule for the 2010-11 season. The highlights of the schedule are Seattle and BYU at home with a BracketBusters game possibly at home as well. The 'Cats will travel to play Utah, Utah State and SUU. Similar to the 2008 and 2009 seasons WSU will start things off with a game against the Aggies (Nov 13). In late November, from the 25th to 27th, WSU will compete in the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, an 8 team tournament. WSU will play host Alaska-Anchorage on the 25th and then take on either Arizona State or Houston Baptist on the 26th. The third night will be the championship/consolation games.
Big Sky play will begin with WSU heading to Montana for the New Year's Holiday. The 'Cats will play at Montana State on Dec 29 at 7 PM and at Montana on Dec 31 at an undecided time which may give the team a chance to get home before midnight.
All Big Sky games will resume the traditional Thursday/Saturday format fans are accustomed to. Last season the 'Sky scheduled all conference games on Friday/Saturdays to help cut costs.
When Big Sky play gets underway, Weber will play 3 away games before its first home game and 5 of its first 7 on the road. Then WSU will be back at home for 4 games and a total of 5-of-6 games at home in a 19 day stretch.
On February 19th WSU will play in its second ever ESPNU BracketBusters game which could be a home or away game. The announced pairings will take place in early February. Weber's other BracketBusters game was an 80-66 loss on February 19th, 2005, at Boise State. Of the 98 team pool last season, 11 games were nationally televised.
Lillard is the third WSU player to make all-american in the past 4 seasons and the only Big Sky player named to the list this year. David Patten, the 2007 Big Sky MVP and former Wildcat was also an AP All-American and last season's Big Sky MVP in Kellen McCoy also was an All-American.
This season as a sophomore, Lillard was an all-conference first team selection and won the Big Sky MVP award while leading his team to back-to-back titles. Lillard also led the conference in scoring while averaging 19.9 ppg (31st in the nation) and 20.7 ppg in league play.
His .853 free-throw percentage was 50th best in the nation. Damian also led the Big Sky in 3-pointers per game with 2.7, and was fourth in assists with 3.8. He had more than 10 points in 29 of WSU's 31 games, hitting for at least 20 in 17 games. Lillard is one of just four sophomores in Big Sky history to win the MVP award.
AP ALL-AMERICA TEAM FIRST TEAM Evan Turner, Ohio State John Wall, Kentucky Wes Johnson, Syracuse Scottie Reynolds, Villanova DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
SECOND TEAM James Anderson, Oklahoma State Sherron Collins, Kansas Greivis Vasquez, Maryland Jon Scheyer, Duke Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia
THIRD TEAM Greg Monroe, Georgetown Cole Aldrich, Kansas Damion James, Texas Luke Harangody, Notre Dame Darington Hobson, New Mexico
HONORABLE MENTION Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest; Kevin Anderson, Richmond; Luke Babbitt, Nevada; Keith Benson, Oakland; Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga.
Randy Culpepper, UTEP; Noah Dahlman, Wofford; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech; Devan Downey, South Carolina.
Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook; Kenneth Faried, Morehead State; Alex Franklin, Siena; Jimmer Fredette, BYU; Marquez Haynes, Texas-Arlington.
Gordon Hayward, Butler; Lazar Hayward, Marquette; Adnan Hodzic, Lipscomb; Reggie Holmes, Morgan State; Robbie Hummel, Purdue.
Charles Jenkins, Hofstra; Garrison Johnson, Jackson State; Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara; Tyren Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette; Dominique Jones, South Florida.
Adam Koch, Northern Iowa; David Kool, Western Michigan; Damian Lillard, Weber State; Kalin Lucas, Michigan State; C.J. McCollum, Lehigh.
E'Twaun Moore, Purdue; Artsiom Parakhouski, Radford; Patrick Patterson, Kentucky; Quincy Pondexter, Washington; Jacob Pullen, Kansas State.
Jerome Randle, California; Andy Rautins, Syracuse; Justin Rutty, Quinnipiac; Omar Samhan, Saint Mary's; Kyle Singler, Duke; Ekpe Udoh, Baylor; Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State; Hassan Whiteside, Marshall; Ryan Wittman, Cornell. Cornell
While all of the details aren't out - and probably won't be for a few more days - one thing looks certain: Randy Rahe is going to be a Wildcat for a long time.
Rahe signed a contract extension on Wednesday afternoon that will keep him at Weber State through the 2016-2017 season. Financial terms of the contract were not immediately available. However, you can bet that Rahe's salary increased from the $145,000 base pay before benefits that he reportedly earned this season.
This is the second extension Rahe has signed at WSU. Following his first season (2006-2007) Rahe signed a deal that went through the 2011-2012 season. However with schools like Boise State requesting permission to talk with Rahe about their coaching vacancies, WSU felt it needed to act in order to keep its coach.
3/17/10 Cincinnati uses Vaughn's 16 points, 17-0 run to knock off Weber State (7) Weber St 62, (2) Cincinnati 76 Associated Press CINCINNATI -- Deonta Vaughn scored 16 points and became Cincinnati's career leader in assists and made 3-point shots Wednesday night, leading the Bearcats to a 76-62 victory over Weber State.
The senior guard signed on to revive a program that fell on hard times after coach Bob Huggins was ousted. The Bearcats (19-15) hadn't won more than 18 games in any of the last three seasons under coach Mick Cronin, who was brought in for the reconstruction.
Follow the NIT championship from first-round games through the finals at Madison Square Garden on April 1. Bracket
"It's progress," Cronin said. "Getting in the NIT is progress. Playing in March is a habit. When you're building a program, that's important."
Cincinnati, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2006, will host Dayton in the second round. A date hadn't been set.
Vaughn has been through a lot of tough times, failing to reach the NCAA tournament in his four years. He was the team's top player during that span, sometimes the only scoring threat in a subpar offense.
After he set the two school records in the second half, the 2,410 fans gave him a standing ovation during a timeout. At Cronin's urging, Vaughn stood and acknowledged the crowd.
"I just wanted to sit down and get the game over and finish our first NIT game off right," Vaughn said. "It felt good to be among one of the greatest at shooting 3s and dishing the ball out to teammates."
Weber State (20-11) fell apart when Cincinnati went to a half-court trap midway through the first half. The Wildcats had seven turnovers during a decisive 17-0 run and finished with a season-high 23.
The run put the Bearcats up 37-19. Cincinnati had three steals and forced an errant pass, setting up four straight baskets in a 1-minute, 18-second span.
"It was tough," said guard Damian Lillard, who had a game-high 26 points. "When we went over their press, they were right there. Sometimes they denied me the ball and forced everybody else to have to bring up the ball and make plays."
Cincinnati hasn't been very adept at the trap, but thought it might be useful. The Bearcats executed it as well as they have all season, surprising the Wildcats.
"Part of that was my fault," coach Randy Rahe said. "We practiced it a little bit coming in. We haven't seen it a lot. We talked to people in the Big East and asked about it, and people said it wasn't a big factor [for Cincinnati]. We worked on it in practice a little, but obviously not enough."
The Big Sky is 3-15 all-time in the NIT. A Big Sky team is playing in the NIT for the 13th time. Weber State is 1-2 all-time in the NIT, with the victory coming at home in 1984 over Fordham.
3/17/10 USBWA NAMES 2009-10 MEN'S ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS The U.S. Basketball Writers Association located in St. Louis, MO, has released its 2009-10 Men's All-District Teams. There are 9 districts nationwide with the state of Utah in district 8. A player and coach of the year are selected in each region along with an all-district team.
Damian Lillard, the Big Sky MVP, has been selected to the USBWA District VIII All-America Team. BYU's Jimmer Fredette was named the District VIII Player of the Year. New Mexico's Steve Alford was selected as the Coach of the Year. Utah State's Jared Quayle also made the list.
In 2006-07, WSU's David Patten made the all-district team and Coach Randy Rahe was coach of the year.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was established in 1956 and is considered one of the most influential organizations in college basketball.
In other news, Coach Rahe has been nominated as one of the 15 finalists for the CollegInsider.com Durham Coach of the Year Award. The award is given annually to the top mid-major coach in the nation. This is Coach Rahe's 3rd nomination in 4 years. The winning coach will be announced at the Final Four.
3/16/10 Randy Rahe, Big Sky Coach of the Year WSU's Rahe Named Coach of the Year By Jon Kasper BigSkyConf.com
This marks the third time Coach Rahe has received coach of the year honors in his 4 seasons at Weber State. Rahe is now the 6th Big Sky coach to win the award 3 times.
Randy Rahe, WSU; 2007, 2009, 2010 Mick Durham, MSU; 1996, 2002, 2005 Rob Abegglen, WSU; 1994, 1995, 1999 Bobby Dye, Boise St; 1987, 1988, 1993 Neil McCarthy, WSU; 1978, 1980, 1983 Phil Johnson, WSU; 1969, 1970, 1971
No coach in the Big Sky's 47 year history has ever had the honor 4 times.
3/15/10 Attention Purple Pak/Students The Weber State Wildcats are in the NIT Tournament which will be played on Wednesday, March 17th at 5:00 p.m. They will be playing Cincinnati in Cincinnati. You are invited to attend a playoff party at the Alumni Center to watch the game. Refreshments will be served.
Go Wildcats!!
Andy Skillman Purple Pak Chairman
3/15/10 NIT: WSU at Cincinnati on ESPN2 2010 NIT Bracket | NIT Website | Fans Forum On Wednesday night at 5 PM Weber State will take on the Bearcats of Cincinnati on ESPN2. This will be WSU's 1st ever game against the Bearcats and 6th ever game against teams currently in the Big East (0-5).
Cincinnati 0-0,Connecticut 0-0,DePaul 0-3 (Last game 1990),Georgetown 0-1 (1995, L 53-51),Louisville 0-0,Marquette 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0,Pittsburgh 0-0, Providence 0-0,Rutgers 0-0, St. John's 0-0,Seton Hall 0-0,South Florida 0-0,Syracuse 0-0,Villanova 0-0,West Virginia 0-1 (1975, L 80-72)
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe claims 3 Big Sky titles in his 4 years at WSU. Rahe is 77-46 overall as a head coach, his Big Sky record is 53-18, 33-5 at home and 20-13 on the road. Rahe's overall road record is 30-35.
Cincinnati's Mick Cronin is in his 4th year as head coach of the Bearcats. Cronin has an overall record of 56-63 with a CBI appearance and now an NIT appearance. UC is 45-26 at home with Cronin and 27-9 at home in non Big East games. Cronin's best conference finishes were 10th place in 2008 and 2009. The Big East is the best basketball conference in the nation and has 16 teams. Currently 5 Big East teams are ranked and 8 made the NCAA Tournament and 5 made the NIT. Cincinnati's basketball program has been a member of the Big East Conference since the 2005-06 season. Prior to '06, UC was a member of Conference USA.
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (8.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .330 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.6, 6.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.0 spg, .378 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.1 spg, .388 3P%)
Bearcat Bio Established: 1819 Students: 39,667 Postgraduates: 9,420 Location: Cincinnati, OH Colors: Red & Black Home Court: Fifth Third Arena, capacity 13,176 Conference: Big East
UC Schedule November 16 Prairie View A&M W 69-62 1-0 November 18 Toledo W 92-68 2-0 November 23 vs. No. 24 Vanderbilt* W 67-58 3-0 November 24 vs. No. 22 Maryland* W 69-57 4-0 November 25 vs. Gonzaga* L 61-59 4-1 December 1 Texas Southern W 94-57 5-1 December 10 Miami (OH) W 63-59 6-1 December 13 at Xavier L 83-79 6-2 December 16 at UAB L 64-47 6-3 December 19 Lipscomb W 80-52 7-3 December 22 Winthrop W 74-57 8-3 December 30 No. 10 Connecticut W 71-69 9-3 (1-0) January 2 at Rutgers W 65-58 10-3 (2-0) January 4 Pittsburgh L 74-71 10-4 (2-1) January 6 Cal State Bakersfield W 87-58 11-4 January 9 at Seton Hall L 83-76 11-5 (2-2) January 13 at St. John's L 52-50 11-6 (2-3) January 16 Notre Dame W 60-58 12-6 (3-3) January 20 South Florida W 78-70 13-6 (4-3) January 24 at Louisville L 68-60 13-7 (4-4) January 30 Providence W 92-88 14-7 (5-4) February 4 at Notre Dame L 83-65 14-8 (5-5) February 7 No. 4 Syracuse L 71-54 14-9 (5-6) February 13 at Connecticut W 60-48 15-9 (6-6) February 16 at South Florida L 65-57 15-10 (6-7) February 21 Marquette L 79-76 15-11 (6-8) February 24 DePaul W 74-69 16-11 (7-8) February 27 at No. 7 West Virginia L 74-68 16-12 (7-9) March 2 No. 9 Villanova L 77-73 16-13 (7-10) March 6 at No. 20 Georgetown L 74-47 16-14 (7-11) March 9 vs. Rutgers* W 69-68 17-14 (7-11) March 10 vs. Louisville* W 69-66 18-14 (7-11) March 11 vs. No. 6 West Virginia* L 54-51 18-15 (7-11)
3/14/10 WSU To Head To Cincy In the 1st round of the NIT, 7-seed Weber State will play at 2-seed Cincinnati, Wednesday night at 5 PM (MDT) on ESPN2.
3/11/10 WSU To NIT NIT Predictions | NIT Website The 2009-10 Weber State men's basketball team has a bid to this year's NIT. Weber will find out who its opponent will be and when and where the game will be Sunday night on ESPNU during the NIT Selection Show. All games will take place at campus sites through the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Tournament Schedule 1st Rd: Tues, March 16 and Wed, March 17 2nd Rd: Thurs, March 18, Fri, March 19, Sat, March, 20 and Mon, March 22 Quarterfinal Rd: Tues, March 23 and Wed, March 24 Semifinals: Tues, March 30 Championship: Thurs, April 1
Weber State in the NIT (1-2) The Wildcats have competed in three NIT games with its two appearances being 1984 and 2009. In '84, WSU beat Fordham 75-63 and then lost in the 2nd round to SW Louisiana (currently known as Louisiana-Lafayette) 74-72 in double overtime. Last season WSU lost at San Diego State 65-49.
Weber State in the Preseason NIT (1-2) Weber has also competed in the preseason NIT twice. In 1987-88 the 'Cats lost to New Mexico 88-72. In 1995-96 WSU beat Fresno State 102-86 and then lost to Michigan 80-62.
3/10/10 Johnson rallies Montana by Weber St. for tourney title, NCAA bid Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Anthony Johnson wasn't ready to look ahead -- not even to playing in his first NCAA tournament.
Johnson was too busy relishing what he and his teammates had just done, rallying Montana from a 22-point deficit to beat Weber State 66-65 in the Big Sky tournament championship game on Wednesday night.Fast Facts
"Right now I'm kind of confused. It's all kind of just surreal," said Johnson, who scored a tournament-record 42 while leading the Grizzlies back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years. "I'm not even thinking about that. I just want to live in the moment and soak this up a little bit."
Johnson scored 34 in the second half, including the Grizzlies' last 21 points to complete the amazing comeback and stun the tournament's No. 1 seed.
Johnson hit a jumper with 10 seconds left to put Montana up by a point and the Grizzlies completed it with a final stop on defense when Will Cherry tied up Damian Lillard with 2.6 seconds left. The officials called a jump ball and the Grizzlies knew they had the possession arrow and the game.
Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said his assistants suggested trying to get the ball inside to 7-foot Derek Selvig or 6-11 Brian Qvale, but Tinkle wasn't going to do anything to break Johnson's rhythm.
"We're going to get it to AJ," Tinkle said. "We're going to ride him."
The ride will continue when Montana (22-9) makes its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2006, the season before Tinkle was hired by his alma mater to replace Larry Krystkowiak.
Selvig added 12 points and Qvale pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked six for the Grizzlies, who held Weber State to 28 percent shooting in the second half.
After committing 14 turnovers in the first half, Montana had just six in the second, slowly chipping away until Johnson hit what turned out to be the winning shot.
"I feel like I'm kind of dreaming right now," Johnson said. "I'll probably end up watching on TV and it will sink in when we get back home."
Lillard scored 16 to lead top-seeded Weber State (20-10), which led 40-20 at halftime.
"It's hard when somebody's unconscious like that. Even when you have a hand in his face and he's still making it," Weber State's Nick Hansen said. "I don't really think we let down defensively, I think that he just played out of this world."
Johnson took over after Selvig got Montana within 51-45 on a reverse layup with about 10:30 left to play.
Johnson finished 13 for 22 and made all 14 of his foul shots, breaking his previous career high by 10 points despite playing the last several minutes with four fouls. The Wildcats knew who was going to take the shots for Montana, but still couldn't stop Johnson -- and couldn't shoot in the second half, going 7 for 25.
"We're so used to jumping on AJ's back and letting him carry us. He did it one more time," Selvig said. "It was looking pretty abysmal there for a while. We just had to scrap and got it done."
Johnson broke the tournament record of 39 points, set by Mike O'Quinn of Cal State Northridge against Eastern Washington in 1998 quarterfinals.
Franklin Session had 10 points for Weber State, but missed seven of his 12 foul shots. He missed twice from the line with 28 seconds left and Weber State up 65-64, allowing Johnson to make the game-winner on the next possession.
After Johnson's shot, Montana's Will Cherry tied up Lillard and forced a jump ball with 2.6 seconds left, giving possession back to the Grizzlies. Selvig missed his first free throw with 2.1 seconds, then clanged the second off the rim and Weber State didn't have enough time to get the ball back up court for another shot.
Weber State was hosting the semifinals and championship after winning the Big Sky regular season for the second straight year, but fell short again of returning the NCAA tournament, instead settling for an NIT berth.
"We will think about that down the road. It's going to take a while to get over this," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "It hurts, obviously. When guys invest so much into something, it's supposed to hurt. If they didn't there is something wrong."
3/10/10 Championship: Weber State vs Montana, Tonight on ESPN2 Just one year later after WSU hosted the Big Sky tournament and fell in the semifinals, WSU is back in the championship game for the first time since 2006-07.
The 2009-10 season marks the 35th ever Big Sky conference tournament which dates back to 1975-76. Weber has hosted the tournament 10 times and of the previous 9 the 'Cats have won the championship game 6 times out of 7 attempts. The only championship loss in Ogden was to Boise State in double overtime, 77-70, in 1976. The 1976 tournament was played in the old Swensen Gym where WSU played for 15 seasons.
In 1977 the Dee Events Center opened. In the Dee, WSU is a perfect 6-0 in championship games. Two times out of the past 9 when WSU hosted the 'Cats didn't get to the championship game (1984 and 2009).
Tonight is WSU's 13th appearance in a Big Sky tournament championship game, 8 at WSU and 5 on the road. Of the 5 championship games on the road WSU took home the tournament title twice (1978 and 1983).
WSU vs UM, Championships 1978: Weber State 62, Montana 55 (Missoula) 1980: Weber State 50, Montana 42 (Ogden) 1995: Weber State 84, Montana 62 (Ogden) 2005: Montana 63, Weber State 61 (Portland) 2010: Weber State vs Montana (Ogden)
...PSU's Dominic Waters endured all kinds of heckling from WSU fans and still finished the game with 19 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds. He played 33 minutes on a bruised left heel, despite getting his fourth foul with 14 minutes to go in the second half.
At first, the somber senior could only describe his feelings with one word -- "hurt."
Then he talked about the 23-6 foul disparity in the second half.
"We held together and competed in the second half, but fell short," Waters said. "We shot six free throws, they shot 23. They only foul six times in the second half? That is pretty crazy, I don't really understand that. But hey, we got the short end of the stick a lot this year. ... Better luck to the team next year."
3/9/10 Student Section Troubled Waters 'Cats Get 20th Win and Advance to Big Sky Tournament Championship Weber St. 69, Portland St. 60 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard had 23 points, Franklin Session added 13 points and eight rebounds and top-seeded Weber State held off Portland State 69-60 on Tuesday night in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals.
The Wildcats (20-9) advanced to play Montana in the championship game Wednesday night despite one of their worst shooting nights of the season, going 20-for-60 from the floor. The Wildcats also struggled from the foul line and had a difficult time pulling away from the pesky Vikings (13-19), who won the last two Big Sky tournament titles.
Dominic Waters had 19 points to lead the Vikings before fouling out with 23 seconds to play. He was one of four Portland State players to foul out.
Montana 68, N. Colorado 63 OGDEN, Utah -- Anthony Johnson scored 19 points and Will Cherry scored 10, including a jumper with 24 seconds left as Montana scored the final six points in a 68-63 win over Northern Colorado on Tuesday night in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals.
The Grizzlies (21-9) advanced to the Big Sky championship game for the first time since winning it in 2006.
Ryan Staudacher also finished with 10 points and Derek Selvig and Vassy Banny pulled down eight rebounds apiece for Montana, which outrebounded the Bears 36-25.
Will Figures led the Bears (24-7) with 23 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers during a 17-3 run that tied the game at 60 with less than 4 minutes to play.
3/7/10 Big Sky Tournament at the Dee The Big Sky Tournament is almost here. The semifinal games will be held Tuesday and the championship on Wednesday, at the Dee Events Center.
In the semifinals on Tuesday, 2-Northern Colorado will take on 4-Montana in the first game at 4:30 PM followed by 1-Weber State taking on 6-Portland State in the second game at 7 PM. The winners of the semifinal will play in the title game; the winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The semis will be on the Altitude and the championship on ESPN2. All games will also be free on BigSkyTV.org.
Below are the all-time wins and losses in the Big Sky Tournament which started in 1976. Weber is 8-3 between Montana, Northern Colorado and Portland State. The 'Cats have never lost in the tournament to Portland State and have never played UNC.
Big Sky Tournament Win/Loss Records Boise State 11-10 Cal State Northridge 7-4 Eastern Washington 7-9 Gonzaga 0-1 Idaho 15-13 Idaho State 16-20 Montana 25-23 Montana State 16-22 Nevada 11-9 Northern Arizona 13-18 Northern Colorado 0-1 Portland State 7-6 Sacramento State 2-4 Weber State 34-24
Weber State's Tournament Record vs Current Members (26-13) Eastern Washington 1-3 Idaho State 5-3 Montana 5-3 Montana State 5-3 Northern Arizona 4-1 Northern Colorado 0-0 Portland State 3-0 Sacramento State 3-0
Weber State's Tournament Record vs Former Members (8-11) Boise State 2-4 Cal State Northridge 0-2 Gonzaga 1-0 Idaho 1-2 Nevada 4-3
Big Sky Tournament Championships Weber State 7 Boise State 4 Idaho 4 Montana 4 Idaho State 2 Montana State 2 Nevada 2 Northern Arizona 2 Portland State 2 Cal State Northridge 1 Eastern Washington 1 Gonzaga 0 Northern Colorado 0 Sacramento State 0
3/6/10 Big Sky Quarterfinals Big Sky Scoreboard 6-Portland State 68, 3-Montana State 65 4-Montana 81, 5-Northern Arizona 60
PSU upsets MSU in Bozeman. WSU will host the Vikings of PSU on Tuesday at the Dee Events Center at 7 PM. Montana will play Northern Colorado at 4:30 PM.
3/5/10 Wildcat Wall: Got My Tourney Tickets! It's official. I have my two tickets for the Big Sky tournament--a ticket for the semi final round on the 9th and a ticket for the championship game on the 10th. I know it may seem somewhat presumptuous for me to buy a ticket for the championship game when I still don't...Read More
Wildcat Wall is a fan blog on WeberHoops.com with articles by Mark Berger.
3/3/10 The Big Sky Awards - 3 WSU Players Honored Today the Big Sky Conference announced the selections for all-conference awards. From 1963 (the inaugural year of the Big Sky) until 1990, the conference named a 1st & 2nd team. From 1991 to 2006 they only named a 1st team. In 2007 the 2nd team award was re-instated as well as adding the honorable mention list. The panel of voters are the 9 head coaches.
2009-10 Big Sky All-Conference Selections
First Team Damian Lillard, WSU Will Figures, UNC Jamie Jones, PSU Anthony Johnson, UM Cameron Jones, NAU Bobby Howard, MSU
Second Team Steve Panos, WSU Franklin Session, WSU Dominic Waters, PSU Amorrow Morgan, ISU Devon Beitzel, UNC
Honorable Mention Will Cherry, UM Glen Dean, EWU Justin Eller, Sac Broderick Gilchrest, ISU Marquis Navarre, MSU Ryan Staudacher, UM
Individual Awards Most Valuable Player - Damian Lillard, WSU Newcomer of the Year - Franklin Session, WSU Freshman of the Year - Glen Dean, EWU Defensive Player of the Year - Yahosh Bonner, UNC
All-Time Big Sky 1st Team Players Weber State 71 Idaho State 44 Montana 43 Montana State 38 Northern Arizona 28 Eastern Washington 24 Portland State 18 Sacramento State 5 Northern Colorado 2
All-Time Big Sky 2nd Team Players Montana 26 Weber State 25 Montana State 23 Idaho State 21 Northern Arizona 14 Portland State 4 Eastern Washington 2 Northern Colorado 1 Sacramento State 0
3/2/10 Tuesday Big Sky Scoreboard Portland State loses final game of season at Seattle U, 93-80. No other Big Sky teams have games left. The conference tournament starts on Saturday with NAU at UM and PSU at MSU.
2/28/10 Hansen's Hot 3 Pt Shooting Wasn't Enough; Cats Fall to Viks Portland St. 84, Weber St. 79 Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. -- Dominic Waters scored 28 points to lead Portland State to an 84-79 victory over Weber State on Sunday in the final Big Sky game of the regular season.
Jamie Jones had 21 points and eight rebound for the Vikings (12-17, 7-9 Big Sky, and Julius Thomas added 17 points.
Damian Lillard led the Wildcats (19-9, 13-3) with 21 points. Nick Hansen scored 18, Kyle Bullinger had 14 and Lindsey Hughey 12.
Portland State broke open a close game with a 15-0 run midway through the second half and led 62-47 after Waters connected on a 3-pointer with 9:29 to play.
Weber State got back into the game with three 3s from Lillard and cut the lead to 79-76 when Bullinger hit a short jumper with 1:11 remaining. The Vikings connected on 7-of-10 free throws in the final minutes to secure the victory over the conference's top team.
2/28/10 The Final Big Sky Game Today's game vs PSU will be WSU's 35th all-time meeting against the Vikings. Weber is 25-9 all-time against PSU, 16-1 in Ogden, 9-8 in Portland. PSU joined the Big Sky Conference in 1997. PSU along with Sac and CS-Northridge joined the Big Sky when Boise State and Idaho left for the Big West.
Weber swept the Vikings last season and the last time the 'Cats lost to PSU was in Feb of 2009. Portland State had lost 4 straight home games before beating Idaho State on Friday. The Vikings are 7-4 at home on the season and 4-4 in Big Sky games. WSU is 5-2 on the road in league play and 7-7 away from the Dee overall.
Coach Randy Rahe's best record in league is his 7-1 records against both Sac and PSU. Today's game has no impact on the standings. PSU is the 6-seed and WSU is the 1-seed regardless of the outcome.
Probable PSU Starters C-44 Jamie Jones 6-7 220 Sr El Segundo, CA (14.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.2 bpg) F-1 Julius Thomas 6-5 225 Sr Stockton, CA (10.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.4 spg) G-12 Paul Guede 6-5 205 Jr London, UK (5.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .238 3P%) G-4 Melvin Jones 5-10 165 Jr Seattle, WA (11.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, .429 3P%) G-11 Dominic Waters 6-1 180 Sr Portland, OR (19.1 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.3 rpg, .444 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .326 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.8, 6.1 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.8 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .376 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, .388 3P%)
2/28/10 Big Sky Tourney Seeds Set The results of Saturday night's games cemented in the seeds for the conference tournament. Seven of the nine Big Sky schools completed their conference schedules and only the WSU at PSU game remains. The 'Cats and Vikings will tipoff on the Altitude at 2:00 PM.
Montana State beat Montana in Missoula to complete a season sweep against the Griz. Both teams finished with a 10-6 record but the Bobcats get the 3-seed and will host the Vikings in the Big Sky quarterfinals. Montana's loss gives them the 4-seed and NAU. The highest remaining seed will play UNC in the semifinals at the Dee Events Center on Tuesday, March 9th. The lowest remaining seed will take on the Wildcats after the UNC game ends. Both semifinal games will be live on the Altitude.
The Seeds 1. Weber State 2. Northern Colorado 3. Montana State 4. Montana 5. Northern Arizona 6. Portland State
Big Sky Tournament Saturday: 6-PSU at 3-MSU Saturday: 5-NAU at 4-UM Tues: Highest vs UNC, 4:30 PM on the Altitude Tues: Lowest vs WSU, 7:00 PM on the Altitude Wed: Big Sky Championship, 7:00 PM on ESPN2
2/27/10 Saturday Big Sky Scoreboard Montana State 73, Montana 67 Eastern Washington 79, Idaho State 71 Northern Colorado 78, Sacramento State 66
2/26/10 WSU Outright Champs! Weber St. 85, E. Washington 57 Associated Press CHENEY, Wash. -- Damian Lillard scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and added seven rebounds and four steals as Weber State rolled to an 85-57 victory over Eastern Washington on Friday night.
Franklin Session added 16 points, Kyle Bullinger 13 points and 12 rebounds and Lindsey Hughey 11 points as the Wildcats (19-8, 13-2 Big Sky) earned their second straight regular-season title.
Glen Dean scored 17 points and Jeffrey Forbes 10 for the Eagles (8-21, 4-11), who were eliminated from postseason play.
Weber State opened a big early lead, getting back-to-back dunks by Session and Lillard during a 13-0 burst and grabbing a 20-5 lead with 14:11 left.
After two foul shots by Eastern Washington's Gary Gibson cut the deficit to 25-13 with 11:45 left, the Wildcats answered with an 8-0 run capped by Hughey's 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 33-13, and they cruised home.
2/24/10 WSU at Eastern Washington On Friday night at 8 pm (7 pm PST) in Cheney, WA, WSU will take on the Eagles of Eastern Washington and then travel to Portland State to finish up the regular season on Saturday. WSU went 8-0 at home in Big Sky play and currently is 4-2 in road games. EWU is 3-3 in Big Sky home games and 6-5 at home overall. Their 3 conference home wins were against Sac St, UM and MSU. EWU has lost its last 2 games which were both on the road at UNC and NAU.
The top 5 seeds for the conference tournament are already spoken for. The 6th and final spot is up for grabs and will go to either PSU, EWU or ISU. Sac St could still tie the other 3 teams at 5-11 but would lose a tiebreaker. The Eags can only gain the 6 seed with 2 wins this week and 2 PSU losses. ISU needs a win over PSU on Saturday to have a chance. WSU needs to win 1 of its final 2 games or a UNC loss to secure an outright Big Sky title.
Friday's game will be the Wildcats' 56th all-time meeting against the Eags. Weber is 36-19 all-time against EWU, 25-3 in Ogden, 11-16 in Cheney. EWU joined the Big Sky in 1987.
Weber beat EWU 89-67 in Ogden earlier this season and swept the Eags last season (2-0). The last time the 'Cats lost to EWU was on Feb 14, 2008, in Cheney.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe who claims 3 Big Sky titles in his 4 years at WSU is 5-2 against EWU. Rahe is 75-44 overall as a head coach, his Big Sky record is 51-16, 32-4 at home and 19-12 on the road. Third year EWU head coach, Kirk Earlywine, led his teams both to 6-10 records in the Big Sky the past two seasons and neither team made the Big Sky Tourney despite last season's 6-2 start. Earlywine spent 7 years at Weber as an assistant during the Cravens era (2000-2006).
Probable EWU Starters C-45 Brandon Moore 6-9 250 Sr Graham, WA (8.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.9 bpg) F-42 Mark Dunn 6-8 270 Sr Trafalgar, IN (10.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, .390 3P%) G-2 Jeffrey Forbes 5-10 170 Fr Federal Way, WA (11.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.3 spg, .342 3P%) G-1 Glen Dean 5-10 170 Fr Seattle, WA (12.3 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.6 rpg, 0.9 spg, .439 3P%) G-14 Gary Gibson 6-1 175 Sr Windsor, ON (2.3 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, .214 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .311 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.6, 6.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .367 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.7 apg, .382 3P%)
EWU Bio Established: 1882 Undergraduates: 8,309 Postgraduates: 923 Location: Cheney, WA Colors: Red & White Home Court: Reese Court, capacity 6,000 WSU vs EWU, football: 14-14 WSU vs EWU, basketball: 36-19
EWU Big Sky Dec 5 @ Portland State* L 98-75 Dec 31 Sac State* W 79-75 Jan 8 @ Montana* L 79-66 Jan 10 @ Montana State* W 75-73 Jan 15 Northern Arizona* L 73-69 Jan 16 Northern Colorado* L 74-71 Jan 22 @ Idaho State* L 80-74 Jan 23 @ Weber State* L 89-67 Jan 30 Portland State* L 85-77 Feb 7 @ Sac State* L 74-67 Feb 12 Montana State* W 74-69 Feb 14 Montana* W 69-68 Feb 18 @ Northern Colorado* L 58-54 Feb 20 @ Northern Arizona* L 74-71 Feb 26 Weber State* 8 PM Feb 27 Idaho State* 8 PM
2/21/10 WSU Cuts Down Net!
2/21/10 WSU 2009-10 Big Sky Champions WSU To Host Big Sky Tournament WSU fans and players celebrated the men's basketball team's 19th Big Sky title with the win over Idaho State, 89-64, at the Dee Events Center. The team cut down the net for the third time in four years. Steve Panos is the first WSU player to be part of three conference titles in at least 30 years. WSU also has defended its title by winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 1993-94, 1994-95.
Weber is now 41-9 at home vs the Bengals of ISU and 68-40 overall in the series. The 2010 Wildcats had their first undefeated home record in conference play with an 8-0 record since 2003. If the 'Cats can win the final 2 games and go 14-2 it would be WSU's third best Big Sky record since 1984 (2009, 15-1; 2003, 14-0; 1984, 12-2).
On March 9-10, WSU will host the conference tournament for the second year in-a-row for the first time since 1978-79, 1979-80. Tickets are now on sale at the Dee Events Center. The quarterfinals will take place at campus sites (#6 @ #3, #5 @ #4) on March 6. The semifinal game on the Altitude and championship game on ESPN2 will take place at Weber State.
Since moving up to Division I basketball the Wildcats have had nine head coaches. Coach Rahe is one of five WSU coaches to win three titles. Only Neil McCarthy (1976-1985) won more with four. Dick Motta (1963-68) won three titles in four years before leaving WSU to go on to coach in the NBA where he is now one of the winningest coaches in the league's history. Phil Johnson, the current Jazz assistant and former NBA coach of the year won three Big Sky titles in his three year tenure with the Wildcats from 1969 to 1971. McCarthy who won four titles took five years to get his first three and he is WSU's all-time winningest coach with a 200-98 record. Coach Ron Abegglen (1992-1999) won three titles in a six year span (1994, 1995 and 1999).
(Damian Lillard is just a sophomore.)
2/20/10 Weber St. 89, Idaho St. 64 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Nick Hansen scored 21 points -- all on 3-pointers -- and was one of four Weber State players in double figures as the Wildcats beat Idaho State 89-64 Saturday night and clinched a share of the Big Sky regular-season title.
Steve Panos finished with 14 points for the Wildcats (18-8, 12-2), who also earned the right to host the conference tournament March 9-10, at which they will be the No. 1 seeds.
Kyle Bullinger had 12 points and Lindsey Hughey 10 for Weber State.
Amorrow Morgan led the Bengals (7-20, 4-10) with 17 points. Austin Kilpatrick had 12, Todd Starks 11 and Demetrius Moore 10.
Late in the first half Hansen's 3-pointer started a 14-2 stretch and helped Weber State make it 42-25 with 2:57 remaining before halftime.
Damian Lillard's 3-pointer with 4:38 put the Wildcats up 79-48 for their biggest lead of the game.
2/18/10 This Week's Games Big Sky Scoreboard | Big Sky TV Monday CS Bakersfield 82, Idaho State 79 Thursday Northern Colorado 58, Eastern Washington 54 Northern Arizona 86, Portland State 85, 2OT Montana State 80, Sacramento State 74 Saturday Weber State 89, Idaho State 64 Northern Colorado 64, Portland State 61 Montana 86, Sacramento State 58 Northern Arizona 74, Eastern Washington 71 San Jose State 77, Montana State 66
2/15/10 Steve Panos, Big Sky Player of the Week From the Big Sky Conference's official site by Jon Kasper WSU's Panos Wins First POTW BigSkyConf.com
2/13/10 Weber St. 81, N. Colorado 76 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Steve Panos scored a career-high 29 points as Weber State defeated Northern Colorado 81-76 on Saturday to earn a two-game cushion atop the Big Sky Conference.
Nick Hansen scored 18 points, shooting a perfect 6 of 6 from 3-point range for WSU (17-8, 11-2) while Damian Lillard added 14.
Hansen's sixth 3-pointer started an 8-0 run for the Wildcats, giving them a 62-52 lead with 10:45 left.
The Bears (20-6, 9-4) hit five free throws to cut that lead in half, and then eventually pulled to 73-72 with 1:21 left after back-to-back 3-pointers from Will Figures.
Figures led UNC with 33 points while Mike Proctor had 10.
After that, Panos completed a three-point play and WSU made 5-of-6 free throws to seal the win.
2/13/10 Gameday: 1 vs 2 Final: WSU W 81-76 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM | Fans Forum Big Sky Scoreboard Weber State 81, Northern Colorado 76 Idaho State 73, Northern Arizona 71, OT Montana State 79, Portland State 71 Seattle 98, Sac State 67
2/13/10 Weber St. 76, N. Arizona 66 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored 26 points and Weber State came up with 16 steals in a 76-66 victory over Northern Arizona on Friday night.
The Wildcats (16-8, 10-2 Big Sky), who completed a season sweep of the Lumberjacks, also got a big night from Franklin Session. He scored 22 points and grabbed eight steals.
Cameron Jones led Northern Arizona (11-12, 5-7) with 24 points, scoring 16 in the first half.
The Lumberjacks went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to pull within 42-38 with 13:33 left. However, Lillard and Nick Hansen hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Wildcats erupted on a 13-0 surge to lead 55-38 less than five minutes later. Session ended that stretch with a three-point play.
Weber State led 69-50 on a dunk from Session with 5:26 to gain its biggest lead of the game.
2/12/10 Gameday Final: WSU W 76-66 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Weber State 76, Northern Arizona 66 Northern Colorado 68, Idaho State 59 Montana 81, Portland State 76 Eastern Washington 74, Montana State 69
2/11/10 Friday, NAU; Saturday, #2 UNC This week's games will be Weber's third time to play on back-to-back nights in league play. WSU is 3-1 in those games with two at home and two on the road. Friday night WSU will host the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona and then on Saturday, the #1 Wildcats will take on the #2 Northern Colorado Bears. A home sweep this week would put the 'Cats at 7-0 at home with just ISU remaining on Feb 20th. Fans could also start making plans for the Big Sky Tournament in Ogden. If WSU can get past NAU but lose to UNC, WSU would be tied for 1st with an 0-2 record against UNC (assuming UNC beats ISU on Friday).
Friday will be the 91st all-time game between WSU and NAU. Weber is 64-26 in those games and 40-6 at home. Coach Rahe is 6-3 against the 'Jacks; all 3 losses came in 2007-08.
Saturday night's game will be WSU's 8th all-time meeting against UNC. The 'Cats are 5-2 against the Bears with the 2 losses being in Greeley in 2007-08 and this season.
Randy Rahe is a combined 11-5 against this week's foes.
Jan 7, 2010 in Greeley N. Colorado 84, Weber St. 75 Associated Press GREELEY, Colo. -- Devon Beitzel scored 25 points leading Northern Colorado to a 84-75 victory over Weber State Thursday night.
Taylor Montgomery added a career-high 19 points and Will Figures had 14 for Northern Colorado (14-3, 3-1 Big Sky).
Figures became just the third player in school history to score 1,000 points in Division I and the 13th overall.The Bears are off to their best start since beginning 17-2 in 1966-67.
Damian Lillard led Weber State (9-7, 3-1) with 15 points.
The Wildcats won 15 straight regular-season conference games and 10 straight conference road victories before the loss.
Jan 9, 2010 in Flagstaff Weber St. 87, N. Arizona 62 Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Nick Hansen scored 17 points and Damian Lillard added 16 as Weber State beat Northern Arizona 87-62 Saturday night.
The Wildcats (10-7, 4-1 Big Sky) blew open a close game with a 21-7 run in the second half that put them ahead 71-52 with 5:51 remaining.
Weber State led 42-31 at halftime after shooting 53.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Wildcats outscored the Lumberjacks 22-10 in the paint in the first half, and 42-14 overall.
Northern Arizona (7-9, 1-4) got within 43-41 after opening the second half on a 10-1 run before Weber State pulled away.
Cameron Jones led the Lumberjacks with 16 points and Gabe Rogers added 13.
Kyle Bullinger added 13 points, Franklin Session 11 and Trevor Morris 10 for the Wildcats.
Probable NAU Starters C-32 Nick Larson 6-8 225 Sr Ventura, CA (6.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, .344 3P%) F-42 Josh Lepley 6-8 210 So Reno, NV (5.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg) G-10 Cameron Jones 6-4 180 Jr Los Angeles, CA (18.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.1 ppg, 1.1 spg, .412 3P%) G-11 Gabe Rogers 6-2 165 Fr Houston, TX (8.1 ppg, 2.3 apg, .388 3P%) G-12 Julian Olubuyi 5-9 175 Jr Houston, TX (2.9 ppg, 4.0 apg, .333 3P%)
UNC Starters C-41 Mike Proctor 6-8 200 So Phoenix, AZ (7.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) F-33 Neal Kingman 6-6 210 Jr Greeley, CO (6.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .288 3P%) G-32 Devon Beitzel 6-0 170 Jr Lafayette, CO (14.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.0 spg, .445 3P%) G-2 Will Figures 5-9 155 Sr Centennial, CO (16.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, .383 3P%) G-20 Yahosh Bonner 6-0 210 Sr Mesa, AZ (6.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.3 spg, .355 3P%)
WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .313 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.5, 6.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.0 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (8.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .318 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (20.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, .380 3P%)
NAU Schedule Nov 13 Southwestern (AZ) W 113-61 Nov 15 @ Arizona L 87-70 Nov 17 Fresno State L 65-59 Nov 19 Pacific Suspended Nov 25 @ Santa Clara W 88-72 Nov 28 San Diego State L 89-48 Dec 4 @ Montana* L 71-54 Dec 5 @ Montana State L 62-50 Dec 13 UC-Riverside W 68-56 Dec 16 @ #19 New Mexico L 96-57 Dec 19 @ Air Force W 60-52 Dec 20 @ Colorado State L 64-56 Dec 28 @ TX-Pan American W 64-59 Dec 30 Northern New Mexico W 113-68 Jan 2 Northern Colorado* L 75-66 Jan 7 Idaho State* L 68-56 Jan 9 Weber State* L 78-62 Jan 15 @ Eastern Washington* W 73-69 Jan 17 @ Portland State* W 93-86 Jan 24 Sacramento State* W 75-71 Jan 28 Montana State* W 71-58 Jan 30 Montana* L 84-64 Feb 7 @ Northern Colorado* L 70-63 OT Feb 12 @ Weber State* 7:00 PM
UNC Schedule Nov 13 vs McNeese State W 101-73 Nov 15 vs Southern Utah W 73-51 Nov 17 @ Hawaii W 81-75 Nov 20 vs Texas Southern W 66-62 Nov 21 @ Air Force W 70-46 Nov 27 @ North Dakota W 70-63 Dec 1 Colorado State W 70-63 Dec 4 @ Montana State* L 87-63 Dec 5 @ Montana* W 59-48 Dec 12 @ Wyoming L 76-70 Dec 16 Louisiana-Monroe W 95-84 Dec 19 @ Oklahoma L 80-79 Dec 21 San Jose State W 93-69 Dec 28 Denver W 72-57 Dec 30 @ TCU Fort W 64-53 Jan 2 @ Northern Arizona* W 75-66 Jan 7 Weber State* W 84-75 Jan 9 Idaho State* W 78-66 Jan 15 @ Portland State* L 85-69 Jan 16 @ Eastern Washington* W 74-71 Jan 22 Sacramento State* W 79-65 Jan 28 Montana* L 64-62 Jan 31 Montana State* W 74-68 Feb 7 Northern Arizona* W 70-63 OT Feb 12 @ Idaho State* 7:00 PM Feb 13 @ Weber State* 7:00 PM
2/8/10 BigSkyConf.com MBB Notes - Feb. 8 Jon Kasper - Big Sky Conference
Around the Big Sky
WILDCATS IN: Weber State became the first team to clinch a spot in the postseason tournament, clinching one of the six spots on Sunday. Weber State moved to 9-2 in conference with a 75-71 win over Montana State on Saturday in Bozeman, but didn't clinch the spot until Sunday. Sacramento State's 74-67 win over Eastern Washington on Sunday assured Weber State a bid. Idaho State, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State all have at least eight conference losses and will not be able to catch Weber State. The Wildcats have advanced to the Big Sky Championship four consecutive seasons, and have missed out in the postseason just twice - 1981 and 2006 since the league began the tournament in 1976. Weber State has won or shared two of the past three regular-season titles and will position itself for a third title in four years with home victories this week. The Wildcats face Northern Arizona on Friday and second-place Northern Colorado on Saturday. WSU has won 24 of its last 27 Big Sky games. Weber State is 5-0 in conference home games this season and 12-1 the past two seasons.
TOURNEY TALK: Weber State is in the tournament, and Northern Colorado, Montana and Montana State are all on the verge of clinching postseason bids. Currently, a team needs nine victories to clinch a bid, but that number could shrink to eight by Friday night. Northern Colorado (8-3) will clinch a spot with a victory over Idaho State on Friday. Montana State (7-5) can clinch a spot with a win over Eastern Washington on Friday or a victory over Portland State on Saturday. Montana (8-4) will clinch with a win over Portland State on Friday, or losses by Eastern Washington and Idaho State. The top six teams qualify for the Big Sky Championship. The regular-season champion will host the semifinals on Tuesday, March 9, and the championship on Wednesday, March 10. Portland State is currently in fifth place at 5-5. The Vikings play four of their final six conference games at home. NAU is in sixth at 5-6. The Lumberjacks have three road games and two home games remaining.
2/7/10 Sunday Big Sky Scoreboard Northern Colorado 70, Northern Arizona 63, OT Seattle 80, Portland State 77 Sacramento State 74, Eastern Washington 67
2/6/10 Montana Ends 6 Game Losing Streak to WSU Montana 75, Weber St. 61 Associated Press MISSOULA, Mont. -- Anthony Johnson scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and surging Montana topped league-leading Weber State 75-61 in Big Sky play Friday night.
Johnson sank 12 of 14 free throws in the second half. Montana enjoyed a 21-for-28 outing from the foul line for the game. The Wildcats made just 10 trips.
Ryan Staudacher provided the shooting touch for the Grizzlies (16-7, 7-4), who have won six of their last seven and snapped an six-game losing streak to Weber State.
Staudacher hit five 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. His 3-pointer with 5:14 left gave Montana a 68-52 after Weber State had closed within eight on a 9-0 spurt. Will Cherry added 14 points.
Damian Lillard scored 24 points to lead the Wildcats (14-8, 8-2). Lindsey Hughey and Franklin Session had 12 apiece.
Weber State had beaten the Grizzlies 64-56 last month.
2/5/10 Gameday Final: WSU L 75-61 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Montana 75, Weber State 61 Montana State 63, Idaho State 60 Portland State 76, Sacramento State 62
2/3/10 Wildcat Wall Blog Interview With Franklin Session Wildcat Wall is a fan blog on WeberHoops.com with articles written by Mark Berger and Rod Eyre.
New Fan Favorite, Franklin Session
February 3rdFor three years Daviin Davis's style of play made him a fan favorite. He blocked shots, he dove for lose balls, and he dunked like no other. When he graduated last year, I wondered who would step up and take his place as the fans' favorite.
This year there is no doubt who holds that honor. Franklin "The Blur" Session.
Listed as 6'2" and 175 pounds, no one on Weber State's active roster is smaller than shooting guard Franklin Session. However, if you look at Session's statistics, it is clear that no one plays bigger. Session leads the team in rebounds and steals. He is number two on the team in assists, blocked shots and minutes played. (In conference play he is actually #1 in all these categories!) Oh, yeah. The dude can dunk as well!
Of all the players on the court he shows the most emotion, much to the pleasure of the fans. Often after a big dunk, a blocked shot, or any other big play, Session looks to the student section and waves his arms or thumps his chest, bringing fans to their feet in applause.
In short he has become a fan favorite because he is fast, athletic, enthusiastic, emotional, and he always gives one hundred percent effort.
WeberHoops.com caught up with him and was able to ask him a few questions.
Q- You have quickly become an obvious contender for Fan Favorite. What do you think about that? A- "I don't know about fan favorite. Damian is pretty favorable lol..."
Q-You are often the smallest player on the court. What is your secret to getting so many rebounds and blocked shots? A- "I just play hard as possible every possession, and I can tell where rebounds are going to end up, and I just go get them!"
Q-I have noticed that you now do the jump balls at the beginning of games. How did you get that assignment? A- "I got that assignment because when we went into the 3 OT game at Idaho State we needed the first possession in every OT, so I ended up winning them and they decided to just keep me at the jump balls now."
Q-I know the student section really likes you because you acknowledge them after a big play. How important are the fans and the student section for you and the team? A- "The student section and the fans are a big part of where our energy as a team comes from, especially me. I feed off the student section and fans because it just takes my game to another level...so to me the fans and student section are much needed and very important!!"
Q-You mention on a Facebook status that you really want a championship ring. How big would it be to win the Big Sky title? A-Winning the Big Sky title would be one of the biggest accomplishments in my life! Especially since I have wanted a ring that big since high school lol..."
By Mark Berger For questions, comments, or thoughts, email me at mark@weberhoops.com
1/31/10 Game of the Week Big Sky Scoreboard Northern Colorado 74, Montana State 68
1/30/10 Saturday Big Sky Scoreboard Montana 84, Northern Arizona 64 Sacramento State 71, Idaho State 55 Portland State 85, Eastern Washington 77
1/29/10 WSU beats Sac; 5th Straight Win Weber St. 81, Sacramento St. 59 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Steve Panos scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds as Weber State defeated Sacramento State 81-59 on Friday night to complete a season sweep of the Hornets.
The Wildcats (14-7, 8-1 Big Sky) used a 17-4 run midway through the first half to take control of the game. Lindsey Hughey started the stretch with a 3-pointer followed by a three-point play, and Weber State eventually led 33-22 with 4:24 left in the first half.
Damian Lillard scored 15 points, while Hughey added 14 and Franklin Session 11.
Justin Eller led the Hornets (7-15, 1-8) with 12 points. Duro Bjegovic had 10.
After leading 36-28 at halftime, the Wildcats started the second half on a 9-0 run, with Panos scoring four points. Weber State eventually built a 72-44 lead after a basket from Lillard with 6:57 remaining.
1/28/10 Thursday Night's Games Big Sky Scoreboard Montana 64, Northern Colorado 62 Northern Arizona 71, Montana State 58
1/26/09 Fri: Sac State at Weber On Friday night, WSU, now 25th ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25, will attempt to win its 5th straight game and 6th straight against the Hornets of Sacramento State. This week's lone matchup is the 17th all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Hornets in Ogden. WSU is 4-0 at home in Big Sky games and Sac is 0-4 in Big Sky road games.
The Hornets have only one win in Ogden and just four wins overall out of the 32 all-time games. All four of Sac's wins against Weber have come in the last seven years. In 2005-06 (one of the eight worst seasons in WSU history) Sac State and Portland State both got their only win in Ogden to date, and after the Hornets won they were so excited they even took the game ball home.
WSU head coach Randy Rahe is 6-1 overall against the Hornets. Sac State's head coach Brian Katz is 0-3 vs Weber and was a first year DI coach last season. Katz spent 19 seasons in the JC rankings all in the state of California. He spent 15 years prior to Sac at San Joaquin Delta JC in Stockton, CA. At San Joaquin Delta Katz went 348-138 (79%). The 4 years prior to San Joaquin Katz was the coach at Lassen JC where he posted a 87-47 (65%) record. Overall he was 435-185 (70%) at the JUCO level.
Sac Starters C-40 Justin Eller 6-8 235 Sr Yreka, CA (9.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg) F-33 Duro Bjegovic 6-7 235 Jr Drnis, Croatia (6.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.6 apg, .444 3P%) G-12 Jared Stigall 5-10 160 Sr Sacramento, CA (1.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 apg, .280 3P%) G-23 Domineek Daniel 6-3 190 Jr Barstow, CA (7.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, .313 3P%) G-21 Sultan Toles-Bey 5-10 185 Jr Compton, CA (10.6 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.7 rpg, 1.7 spg, .359 3P%)
WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .310 3P%) G-23 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.8 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (8.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .331 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (20.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, .367 3P%)
Sac Schedule Nov 13 @ Rice L 81-51 Nov 14 vs. Houston Baptist W 70-60 Nov 15 vs. South Alabama L 70-58 Nov 18 Bethany (CA) W 90-75 Nov 21 @ Oregon State W 65-63 Nov 24 @ Idaho L 75-61 Nov 28 UC Riverside L 59-58 Dec 2 @ UC Davis W 59-57 Dec 5 Weber State* 80-65 Dec 8 @ USC L 51-36 Dec 12 @ Pacific L 79-49 Dec 19 Idaho State* W 64-63 Dec 21 William Jessup W 74-42 Dec 27 Loyola Marymount L 82-78 Dec 31 @ Eastern Washington* L 79-75 Jan 2 @ Portland State* L 94-66 Jan 9 Seattle W 80-67 Jan 15 Montana* L 57-56 Jan 17 Montana State* L 58-53 Jan 22 @ Northern Colorado* L 79-65 Jan 24 @ Northern Arizona* L 75-71 Jan 29 @ Weber State* 7:00 PM
Hornet bio Established: 1947 Undergraduates: 22,555 Postgraduates: 5,417 Location: Sacramento, CA Colors: Green & Gold Mascot: Herky the Hornet Series: WSU is 28-4 all-time vs Sac
1/25/10 Lillard's 2nd POTW / WSU Ranked in Mid-Major Lillard Player of the Week From the Big Sky Conference's official site by Jon Kasper Lillard, Morgan Share Honor BigSkyConf.com
Mid-Major Top 25 CollegeInsider.com's top 25 poll now in its 11th season of existence is a poll for the 25 best teams from the mid-major conferences. This year's first poll was released in October with no Big Sky teams ranked but 4 had votes to be ranked: Weber State 50; Montana State 9; Portland State 9; Montana 4.
With Northern Colorado surprising many by starting the season going 7-0, it quickly caught the attention of the Mid-Major voting panel. UNC is now 17-4 overall and ranked 10th. Weber State after starting the season with 50 votes was no where to be found after starting the season 0-3. Now that WSU is 7-1 and sitting on top of the Big Sky voters are respecting the Wildcats. WSU along with 4 other schools went from being unranked to cracking the top 25. Interestingly WSU didn't even have a single vote to be ranked just last week while Montana has spent the whole season with votes.
The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
WSU's 2009 team finished ranked 20th in the Mid-Major. The last week of the regular season the Wildcats had 5 votes to be in the AP Top 25 before falling to Montana State in the Big Sky Semifinals. The 2007 team led by David Patton finished ranked 25th. In 2003, WSU finished the season in the top 10 (No. 30 in the AP Poll). The last WSU team to finish in the AP Top 25 was the 1980 team which finished 17th.
VOTING PANEL: Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), Will Brown (Albany), Rick Byrd (Belmont), Dave Calloway (Monmouth), Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee), Steve Donahue (Cornell), Anthony Evans (Norfolk State), James Fox (Davidson), Mike Gillian (Longwood), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Dick Hunsaker (Utah Valley), Eddie Jackson (American), Kerry Keating (Santa Clara) *, Billy Kennedy (Murray State), Tod Kowalczyk (UW-Green Bay), Jim Larranaga (George Mason), Jim Les (Bradley), Mike Lonergan (Vermont), Bob Marlin (Sam Houston State), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Tom Moore (Quinnipiac), Jimmy Patsos (Loyola MD), Tom Pecora (Hofstra), Vann Pettaway (Alabama A&M), Rick Scruggs (Gardner-Webb), John Shulman (Chattanooga), Brad Stevens (Butler), Gary Stewart (UC Davis), Scott Sutton (Oral Roberts), Wayne Tinkle (Montana), Ernie Zeigler (Central Michigan)
1/22/10 Weber St. 89, E. Washington 67 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored a career-high 36 points, including 25 in the first half, to lead Weber State to an 89-67 win over Eastern Washington on Saturday.
The sophomore scored the first eight points of the game as the Wildcats (13-7, 7-1 Big Sky) jumped out to an 18-5 lead.
Steve Panos added 19 points for Weber State, and Lindsey Hughey and Trevor Morris each finished with 10.
Glen Dean led the Eagles (6-15, 2-6) with 16 points. Laron Griffin had 11 and Jeffery Forbes added 10.
Eastern Washington pulled within 34-30 on a basket by Forbes with 4:37 left in the first half. But Lillard took over again, scoring 12 points in the next two minutes to give the Wildcats a 46-32 lead.
After leading 50-34 at halftime, WSU stretched its lead to 61-39 five minutes into the second half and never trailed by less than 12 points the rest of the game.
1/23/10 Gameday Final: WSU W 89-67 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Weber State 89, Eastern Washington 67 Idaho State 88, Portland State 80, OT Montana State 61, Montana 52
1/22/10 Weber St. 86, Portland St. 83 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Franklin Session scored a career-high 24 points and was one of four Weber State players in double digits as the Wildcats defeated Portland State 86-83 on Friday night.
Damian Lillard scored 15 for the Wildcats (12-7, 6-1 Big Sky), who made 8 of 10 free throws in final 55 seconds to hold on for the win. Lindsey Hughey had 13 points and Steve Panos 10.
Weber State's free throws came after Melvin Jones' 3-pointer ended a 6-0 run for the Vikings (8-11, 3-4) and pulled them within 78-76. Jones' layup with 15 seconds left cut Weber State's lead to 84-83.
After two free throws by Hughey, the Vikings had two chances to tie the game. But Dominic Waters and Jones each missed 3-point attempts, with Jones' shot coming at the buzzer.
Waters had 21 points for the Vikings. Phil Nelson and Julius Thomas each had 15.
1/22/10 Gameday Final: WSU W 86-83 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Weber State 86, Portland State 83 Idaho State 80, Eastern Washington 74 Northern Colorado 79, Sacramento State 65
1/21/10 Fri: Portland State; Sat: Eastern Washington Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM This Friday night at the Dee Events Center WSU will host the Portland State Vikings, WSU will also host Eastern Washington on Saturday. Due to the economic downturn the Big Sky Conference has made some adjustments to the scheduling of men's basketball by playing games on back-to-back nights to cut costs. As for when the traditional Thurs/Sat schedule will resume it is unknown.
Friday's game vs PSU will be WSU's 34th all-time meeting against the Vikings. Weber is 24-9 all-time against PSU, 15-1 in Ogden, 9-8 in Portland. PSU joined the Big Sky Conference in 1997. PSU along with Sac and CS-Northridge joined the Big Sky when Boise State and Idaho left for the Big West. WSU's Saturday night game against the Eagles of EWU will be the 55th all-time meeting; overall WSU is 35-19 vs the Eagles, 24-3 in Ogden, 11-16 in Cheney, WA. EWU joined the Big Sky in 1987.
Weber swept the Vikings and Eagles last season (4-0) and the last time the 'Cats have lost to both teams was on Feb 14th and 16th of 2008. Portland State's loss last week to NAU at home on Jan 17th was its first loss in the Stott Center in a year since losing to Weber on Jan 18, 2009.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe is 10-3 vs the two Northwestern foes. Rahe is 68-41 overall as a head coach, his Big Sky record is 44-15, 26-4 at home and 18-11 on the road. First year PSU head coach Kevin Geving is 8-10 overall and 3-3 in league play. Geving was an assistant to Ken Bone who led the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament the past 2 seasons before leaving for Washington State. EWU's Kirk Earlywine in his 3rd year is 29-50 overall and 14-24 in Big Sky play. Coach E led his teams both to a 6-10 record in the Big Sky the past two seasons and neither team made the Big Sky Tourney despite last season's 6-2 start. Earlywine spent 7 years at Weber as an assistant during the Cravens era (2000-2006).
Preseason Polls The Big Sky preseason polls had PSU and EWU picked to finish 3rd and 8th respectively in both polls. Lindy's College Basketball magazine picked PSU 4th and EWU 6th while Athlon Sports magazine went with PSU 2nd and EWU 7th.
Portland State Lindy's: The Vikings enjoyed their greatest success in school history the past two years with consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Others naturally took notice, namely Washington State, which promptly hired coach Ken Bone to the Pac-10. Now it's Tyler Geving's turn. Bone's lead assistant loses some star quality with graduations and departures, but also has enough firepower returning in double-figures scorers Dominic Waters and Phil Nelson to make another title run. The Vikings are woefully short in stature and will need to depend on their athleticism, not size, to get victories.
Athlon Sports: The Vikings, who put together back-to-back 23-win seasons and made it to the NCAA Tournament the last two years under Ken Bone, will be a diffent team now that their former coach has moved on to Washigton State. But the school's decision to promote associate head coach Tyler Geving to replace Bone should make the change relatively seamless, which means Portland State should remain among the Big Sky's top teams. Geving welcomes back five letterwinners, including starters Phil Nelson (10.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg), a junior forward, and senior forward Jamie Jones (9.1 ppg). But the key returnee is senior combo guard Dominic Waters, who started only two games last season but averaged 11.4 points and 2.9 assists per game in earning a spot on the All-BSC second team. Waters is a game-changer who can provide instant offense, and he should help keep PSU among the league's elite programs.
Eastern Washington Lindy's: Now is the time for the Eagles to take a step forward. It's year three in coach Kirk Earlywine's tenure in Cheney, and he has the players to make a statement. Three starters return, including two of the conferences's best in guard Benny Valentine, a 5-7 blur who was EWU's top scorer last year, and 6-9 post Brandon Moore, who led the club in rebounding. Big power forward Mark Dunn is a another returning starter. Add a large and talented recruiting class and on paper, this should be the year the Eagles get a least into the conference tournament, something they haven't done the past three seasons.
Athlon Sports: The Eagles failed to take as big a step as third-year coach Kirk Earlywine had hoped last winter, mainly because of chemistry problems resulting from the midseason addition of a couple of players who had been academically ineligible. Both are gone. This year's team has a chance to build around one of the Big Sky's top point guards in senior Benny Valentine (15.1 ppg). But to make any great strides, the Eagles will need to find help for 6'9" senior center Brandon Moore (11.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) on the low blocks.
Probable PSU Starters C-44 Jamie Jones 6-7 220 Sr El Segundo, CA (12.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.0 bpg) F-21 Phil Nelson 6-7 220 Jr Keizer, OR (12.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.2 spg, .400 3P%) G-12 Paul Guede 6-5 205 Jr London, UK (4.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .209 3P%) G-4 Melvin Jones 5-10 165 Jr Seattle, WA (13.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, .481 3P%) G-11 Dominic Waters 6-1 180 Sr Portland, OR (18.9 ppg, 4.7 apg, 2.2 rpg, .488 3P%)
Probable EWU Starters C-45 Brandon Moore 6-9 250 Sr Graham, WA (8.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg) F-42 Mark Dunn 6-8 270 Sr Trafalgar, IN (12.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, .459 3P%) G-2 Jeffrey Forbes 5-10 170 Fr Federal Way, WA (9.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg, .281 3P%) G-1 Glen Dean 5-10 170 Fr Seattle, WA (12.1 ppg, 3.8 apg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 spg, .449 3P%) G-14 Gary Gibson 6-1 175 Sr Windsor, ON (2.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.9 apg, .111 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (10.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .333 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.7, 6.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.7 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .331 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, .344 3P%)
PSU Bio Established: 1946 Undergraduates: 18,012 Postgraduates: 6,272 Location: Portland, OR Colors: Forest Green & White Home Court: Stott Center, capacity 1,500 WSU vs PSU, football: 18-12 WSU vs PSU, basketball: 24-9
EWU Bio Established: 1882 Undergraduates: 8,309 Postgraduates: 923 Location: Cheney, WA Colors: Red & White Home Court: Reese Court, capacity 6,000 WSU vs EWU, football: 14-14 WSU vs EWU, basketball: 35-19
PSU Schedule Nov 13 vs Belmont L 74-67 Nov 14 vs Wright State L 75-70 Nov 15 @ #13 Washington L 111-55 Nov 21 Cal Poly W 92-83 Nov 29 @ Stanford L 83-64 Dec 2 @ #25 Portland W 86-82 Dec 5 Eastern Washington* W 98-75 Dec 9 Linfield College W 85-52 Dec 13 @ Pepperdine W 93-81 Dec 15 @ Saint Mary's L 101-80 Dec 19 @ Washington State L 93-69 Dec 21 @ Boise State L 69-62 Dec 29 Williamette W 97-90 Jan 2 Sacramento State, CA* W 94-66 Jan 8 @ Montana State* L 77-71 Jan 9 @ Montana* L 90-58 Jan 15 Northern Colorado* W 85-69 Jan 17 Northern Arizona* L 93-86
EWU Schedule Nov 14 Portland A L 64-58 Nov 16 @ Washington State L 67-61 Nov 17 Whitman W 100-88 Nov 21 @ UT-Arlington W 72-68 Nov 24 Boise State L 82-69 Nov 28 @ Idaho L 76-54 Dec 1 Walla Walla W 89-61 Dec 5 @ Portland State* L 98-75 Dec 12 Seattle U W 100-97 OT Dec 17 @ Nevada L 73-70 Dec 19 @ BYU L 91-34 Dec 22 vs Chicago State L 62-53 Dec 23 vs Jackson State L 72-67 Dec 28 @ Gonzaga L 94-52 Dec 31 Sac State* W 79-75 Jan 8 @ Montana* L 79-66 Jan 10 @ Montana State* W 75-73 Jan 15 Northern Arizona* L 73-69 Jan 16 Northern Colorado* L 74-71
1/20/10 Jazz Bear Night Friday vs PSU
WSU will host Portland State and Eastern Washington on back-to-back nights this Friday and Saturday. Tipoff for both games will be at 7 PM at the Dee. Look for the Standard-Examiner Family Night coupon to get six tickets for just $25 in Thursday's paper. Coupon is valid for both games.
1/17/10 Sunday Big Sky Scoreboard Northern Arizona 93, Portland State 86 Montana State 58, Sacramento State 53
1/17/10 Big Sky Overtime Records Last night Weber State beat the ISU Bengals in triple overtime at Holt Arena in Pocatello. WSU has played in eight overtime games during the Coach Rahe era and have won five of the contests. Idaho State has played in 13 overtime games in the same span of time but only succeeding twice. At one point last season ISU lost three straight games in OT, two of them in double OT.
Most Overtimes in a Game 4 Portland State at Northern Arizona - Jan. 4, 2009 4 Weber State at Eastern Washington - Jan. 16, 1999 4 Idaho State vs Montana State - Jan. 26, 1989 4 Idaho State vs Weber State - Feb. 28, 1981 4 Montana vs Idaho State - Feb. 17, 1979 4 Gonzaga vs Idaho State - Feb. 10, 1978 4 Weber State vs Northern Arizona - Jan. 25, 1966
Most Overtime Games in a Season 5 Weber State - 1998-99 5 Montana - 1994-95 (Three 2OT) 5 Weber State - 1977-78 5 Idaho State - 2000-01 5 Idaho State - 2008-09
1/17/10 WSU wins Border War in Pokey in Triple OT! Associated Press Weber St. 95, Idaho St. 93 POCATELLO, Idaho -- Damian Lillard hit a layup with 0.5 seconds left in triple overtime Saturday to lift Weber State to a 95-93 victory over Idaho State.
Lillard finished with 28 points for the Wildcats (11-7, 5-1 Big Sky). Franklin Session added 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists; Steve Panos had 21 points and seven rebounds; and Kyle Bullinger finished with 13 points.
The Bengals (4-14, 1-5) were led by Amorrow Morgan with 30 points. Broderick Gilchrest had 25 points and seven assists, and Austin Kilpatrick added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Morgan hit a jump shot with 1:02 left in the second overtime to tie it 82-82. Lillard's 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.
In the first overtime, Gilchrest had a chance to end the game. But after hitting his first free throw with 0.7 seconds left to tie it at 74, he missed the second attempt.
1/15/10 Friday Night Portland State 85, Northern Colorado 69 Montana 57, Sacramento State 56 Northern Arizona 73, Eastern Washington 69
1/14/10 Sat: Weber at Idaho State This Saturday night in Pocatello, Idaho, the Wildcats will take on the rival Bengals of ISU at Holt Arena in the 107th all-time meeting. WSU's Purple Pak will be taking its third annual trip to ISU as well the Wildcat Club will also take a bus of fans as they do occasionally. This is the second Purple Pak bus trip this season and the students are hoping it won't be their last. Last season the Pak had 5 bus trips - NAU, UM, ISU (football and basketball) and San Diego State.
Overall in the series against the Bengals, WSU is 66-40, 40-9 at home, 26-31 in Pokey. WSU has won the last 2 games played against ISU and the 'Cats have also won 2 of the last 3 in Holt Arena.
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe is 4-2 against ISU and 67-41 overall as a head coach. Rahe's Big Sky record is 43-15, 26-4 at home and 17-11 on the road. ISU head coach Joe O'Brien in his 4th season with the Bengals is 42-68 overall. In the past 3 seasons he has led ISU to a 6th, 5th and 4th place finish in the Big Sky.
2008-09 in Ogden Last year's 2 seniors in Daviin Davis and Kellen McCoy scored 19 and 18 points respectively to lead WSU to a 75-61 win over ISU at the Dee. Damian Lillard scored 10 points. The win was the 2nd in the same week against ISU. ISU had an early lead but the 'Cats took the lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half and never trailed after that. Matt Stucki led ISU with 15 points, Chron Tatum scored 13 and Amorrow Morgan with 11.
2008-09 in Pocatello Weber beat Idaho St in overtime 76-67. Lillard led WSU with 22 points as the 'Cats overcame a 13-point deficit late in the game. Kyle Bullinger, Steve Panos and Daviin Davis all scored 13 points. ISU led 49-36 with 14 minutes left in the game before WSU mounted its comeback. The Bengals had two chances to end the game but missed a free throw and a field goal attempt in the last 15 seconds of regulation. In OT, WSU outscored ISU 13-4. Matt Stucki had a game high 29 points and Amorrow Morgan scored 11.
Preseason Polls The Big Sky preseason polls had ISU picked 3rd by the coaches and 4th by the media. The Bengals even had one 1st place vote from the coaches poll. Lindy's College Basketball magazine and Athlon Sports magazine both picked ISU to finish in 5th place.
Lindy's take on ISU: Success for ISU has been extremely difficult to come by. The Bengals have posted just one winning season in the past 11 years, and even that was only 15-14. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance? That was in 1987 - some current players were not even born then. So last year's 13-19 mark wasn't that bad considering ISU finished fourth in the conference and won a game in the Big Sky Tournament, and did so despite losing four overtime games during the season. The Bengals have one of the league's top players returning in talented senior guard Amorrow Morgan, a first-team all-conference pick last season. He might even have enough help to get ISU above the .500 mark this season.
Athlon Sports on ISU: Fourth-year coach Joe O'Brien, armed with a three-year contract extension, has some holes to fill as he continues trying to build the Bengals into a title contender. But the return of All-Big Sky performer Amorrow Morgan, a guard who averaged a team-high 13.6 points, last winter, should help ease the sting of the graduation loss of Matt Stucki, another All-BSC selection. Chron Tatum, a senior forward, is also back, along with senior guard Donnie Carson and 7'0" center Deividas Busma. The Bengals are getting better, but they're not there yet.
Probable ISU Starters C-21 Demetrius Monroe 6-8 200 Sr San Diego, CA (9.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg) G-23 Austin Kilpatrick 6-6 205 Sr Puyallup, WA (5.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, .375 3P%) G-1 Amorrow Morgan 6-5 210 Sr Memphis, TN (17.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg, .311 3P%) G-20 Donnie Carson 6-2 195 Sr Detroit, MI (4.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, .250 3P%) G-2 Broderick Gilchrest 6-0 185 Jr Memphis, TN (14.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.1 spg, .311 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (10.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .344 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (8.9, 6.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.7 spg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (10.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .354 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (18.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.8 apg, .339 3P%)
Bengal Bio Established: 1901 Students: 13,802 Location: Pocatello, ID Colors: Black & Orange Home Court: Holt Arena, capacity 8,000 Mascot: Benny the Bengal
Famous Potatoes ISU alumni: Jerry Graybeal, former WSU Athletic Director; Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings; Ron Boone, broadcaster for the Utah Jazz; Merril Hoge, ESPN commentator; Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals head coach; William L. Petersen, actor on CSI.
ISU Schedule Nov 13 @ Iowa State L 88-68 Nov 15 @ Bradley L 74-69 Nov 17 @ BYU L 87-53 Nov 21 Colorado Christian W 77-60 Nov 24 @ Utah State L 77-44 Nov 28 @ UM-Kansas City W 68-65 Dec 1 @ Notre Dame L 80-70 Dec 5 @ Utah L 68-56 Dec 9 Boise State L 79-67 Dec 11 @ USC L 59-53 Dec 19 @ Sac State* L 64-63 Dec 22 @ Oregon L 77-71 Dec 28 Montana Tech W 63-55 Dec 31 Montana* W 67-65 Jan 3 Montana State* L 70-63 Jan 7 @ Northern Arizona* L 68-56 Jan 9 @ Northern Colorado* L 78-66
The last time ISU won the Big Sky title was in 1994 and they were co-champs with Weber State. ISU has 4 regular season Big Sky titles: 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1994. The Wildcats are the defending conference champions and have won 18 Big Sky titles overall which is the most of any Big Sky school in basketball. Only NAU Cross Country has more conference titles with 19. Montana football also has 18 titles.
1/10/10 Potato Week: Fan Bus Trip On Saturday, Jan 16, the Weber State men's basketball team and 2 fan busses will travel to Pocatello for the annual game in the Potato Cellar (Holt Arena) between WSU and Idaho State. Tipoff is set for 7 PM.
The 'Cats are 66-40 all-time vs the Bengals, 40-9 in Ogden and 26-31 in Potatoville. The 'Cats have won 2 out of the last 3 on the other side of the border.
Student Bus $20 Saturday will be the Purple Pak's 3rd annual trip to ISU for basketball and fourth overall in the same time including football. After taking 4 bus trips last season, the students are anxious to get back on the road to cheer on the Purple & White. Seats are still available for the trip, anyone interested should contact Bev Rudd (801-626-6468, 801-663-6135, beverlyrudd@weber.ed) for further details. Drinks, snacks and game ticket will be provided by the Purple Pak.
Wildcat Club Bus $45 Drinks, snacks and game ticket will be provided the Alumni Association and Wildcat Club. For questions call 801-626-7535 or click here to register online for the trip.
When/Where Both busses will leave at 4 PM from the west parking lot of the Alumni Center behind the Weber State Credit Union.
The deadline for both trips are this Wednesday, Jan 13. Payment must be received with reservation.
1/9/10 Weber St. 87, N. Arizona 62 Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Nick Hansen scored 17 points and Damian Lillard added 16 as Weber State beat Northern Arizona 87-62 Saturday night.
The Wildcats (10-7, 4-1 Big Sky) blew open a close game with a 21-7 run in the second half that put them ahead 71-52 with 5:51 remaining.
Weber State led 42-31 at halftime after shooting 53.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Wildcats outscored the Lumberjacks 22-10 in the paint in the first half, and 42-14 overall.
Northern Arizona (7-9, 1-4) got within 43-41 after opening the second half on a 10-1 run before Weber State pulled away.
Cameron Jones led the Lumberjacks with 16 points and Gabe Rogers added 13.
Kyle Bullinger added 13 points, Franklin Session 11 and Trevor Morris 10 for the Wildcats.
1/9/10 Gameday Final: WSU W 87-62 Big Sky TV | KLO 1430 AM | Big Sky Scoreboard Northern Colorado 78, Idaho State 66 Montana 90, Portland State 58 Sacramento State 80, Seattle 67
1/8/10 Friday Night Montana State beat Portland State in Bozeman, MT, to give PSU its first loss, 77-71. The Bobcats were up on the Vikings by as many as 14 points in the first half and 11 in the second. PSU came back and tied things up at 59-59 with 7 minutes to play. With 1:25 left in the game the Viks were down 73-71. Phil Nelson missed a 3-pointer at the 1:15 mark and Dominic Waters committed a turnover with 20.8 seconds in the game. Waters had the game-high with 24 points, Melvin Jones 14, Nelson 13 and Jamie Jones had 10 points and 10 boards for PSU. MSU was led by Bobby Howard with 18 and 4 other Bobcats scored in double figures. PSU had 20 turnovers and 8 by Waters.
Eastern Washington traveled to Missoula and lost to Montana 79-66. Anthony Johnson scored 25 points and Will Cherry, off the bench chipped in with 17. EWU had 22 turnovers.
1/7/10 N. Colorado 84, Weber St. 75 Associated Press GREELEY, Colo. -- Devon Beitzel scored 25 points leading Northern Colorado to a 84-75 victory over Weber State Thursday night.
Taylor Montgomery added a career-high 19 points and Will Figures had 14 for Northern Colorado (14-3, 3-1 Big Sky).
Figures became just the third player in school history to score 1,000 points in Division I and the 13th overall.The Bears are off to their best start since beginning 17-2 in 1966-67.
Damian Lillard led Weber State (9-7, 3-1) with 15 points.
The Wildcats won 15 straight regular-season conference games and 10 straight conference road victories before the loss.
1/5/10 Thurs: Weber at Northern Colorado This week's matchup in Greeley will be the 7th all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Bears. The 'Cats are 5-1 against the Bears with the only loss being in Greeley in 2007-08.
2008-09: W 88-84 OT, W 82-76 2007-08: L 55-52, W 70-54 2006-07: W 61-60, W 76-65
WSU's 3-0 start in Big Sky play is the 3rd time that the 'Cats have been as successful in the past 8 seasons. Weber's last 4-0 start was in 2003. WSU also has the chance to win its 11th straight regular season conference road game. UNC is 2-1 in league play with its first Big Sky home game being Weber State. UNC went to the Montanas and lost at MSU by 24 points, 87-63, and then beat the Griz the following night 59-48. Last Saturday the Bears went down to Flagstaff and jacked NAU 75-66.
Randy Rahe is 5-1 against the Bears. UNC head coach Tad Boyle is 44-61 overall as a head coach with 3 years of experience at UNC. In his 3 years with the Bears he has led his teams to a 5th, 7th and 9th place finish.
2008-09 In Ogden The 'Cats came back from a 16-point hole in the second half to beat UNC 88-84 in OT. Daviin Davis, the 2008-09 Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, sunk a 3-pointer to give WSU a 2-point lead (86-84) with 18 ticks left in overtime. Davis forced a turnover and Kellen McCoy hit two free throws with 9 seconds left. McCoy led all scores with 23 points, Damian Lillard had 18, WSU also set a new school record with 15 3's. The previous record of 14 was set in 1993-94. WSU was down 73-66 with 45 seconds left in regulation. Lillard hit a game tying 3-pointer at 74-all and sent the game to OT.
2008-09 In Greeley Last year's Big Sky MVP Kellen McCoy logged 25 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists as WSU surged past UNC 82-76 for a 6th straight conference win and 9th win out of 10 Big Sky games. Kyle "K-Bull" Bullinger recorded 17 points and 5 boards, Lillard dropped in 15. UNC was led by senior Jabril Banks with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Devon Beitzel scored 15 points, Mike Proctor and Will Figures both scored 10 points.
Stats So far this year Weber State has played 7 home games and 8 away. UNC has only played 4 home games while spending most of the season on the road playing 12 away. The Bears are 4-0 at home and 9-3 away. Team points per game: WSU 73.7, UNC 75.1. Points allowed: WSU 70.6, UNC 65.8. FG%: WSU .426, UNC .462. 3P%: WSU .324, UNC .400. FT%: WSU .721, UNC .736. Rebounds: WSU 36.53, UNC 32.43. Ast: WSU 12.73, UNC 12.56. TOs: WSU 12.33, UNC 13.37. Blk: WSU 3.07, UNC 1.62. Stl: WSU 5.60, UNC 7.78.
Preseason Polls In the Big Sky preseason polls UNC was picked 6th by the coaches and media. Lindy's College Basketball magazine picked UNC to finish 8th. Athlon Sports magazine picked UNC to finish in 6th place.
Lindy's take on UNC:The Bears have been steadily moving up the ranks in the Big Sky since moving to Division I four years ago. UNC finished fifth in the conference last year, but was quickly bounced in the conference tournament. Steady veteran guard Will Figures - last year's second-leading scorer - is back, as are two other starters in Devon Beitzel and Taylor Montgomery, but the graduation of first-team all-conference player Jabril Banks will sting. It appears the Bears have .500 talent at best and lack the inside presence needed to make a significant move this year.
Athlon Sports on UNC:The Bears lost Jabril Banks, one of the league's most productive players, to graduation, but fourth-year coach Tad Boyle still has a decent amount of talent coming back. The best of the returnees is Will Figures, a fleet-footed senior guard who matched Banks for team-high scoring honors last winter by averaging 12.1 points. Devon Beitzel, a shooting guard who averaged 11.8 points as a sophomore, is also back, but with Banks gone, the frontline - where junior Taylor Montgomery (3.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg) is the most experienced of the returnees - remains a concern.
UNC Starters C-41 Mike Proctor 6-8 200 So Phoenix, AZ (7.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.8 spg) F-44 Taylor Montgomery 6-7 230 Jr Aurora, CO (8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .400 3P%) G-32 Devon Beitzel 6-0 170 Jr Lafayette, CO (14.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 spg, .436 3P%) G-2 Will Figures 5-9 155 Sr Centennial, CO (16.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.2 spg, .406 3P%) G-20 Yahosh Bonner 6-0 210 Sr Mesa, AZ (7.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg, .444 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (10.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .352 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (8.9, 7.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .343 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.7 apg, .343 3P%)
Bears Bio Established: 1889 Undergraduates: 10,799 Postgraduates: 2,182 Location: Greeley, Colorado Colors: Navy Blue & Gold Home Court: Butler-Hancock, capacity 2,941
UNC Schedule Nov 13 vs McNeese State W 101-73 Nov 15 vs Southern Utah W 73-51 Nov 17 @ Hawaii W 81-75 Nov 20 vs Texas Southern W 66-62 Nov 21 @ Air Force W 70-46 Nov 27 @ North Dakota W 70-63 Dec 1 Colorado State W 70-63 Dec 4 @ Montana State* L 87-63 Dec 5 @ Montana* W 59-48 Dec 12 @ Wyoming L 76-70 Dec 16 Louisiana-Monroe W 95-84 Dec 19 @ Oklahoma L 80-79 Dec 21 San Jose State W 93-69 Dec 28 Denver W 72-57 Dec 30 @ TCU W 64-53 Jan 2 @ Northern Arizona* W 75-66 Jan 7 Weber State*
Making History In 2008-09 the Bears made their first ever Big Sky Conference post season appearance. They also had their first ever All-Big Sky 1st team player in Jabril Banks. UNC has had 4 Big Sky honorable mentions, Devon Beitzel and Will Figures last season and Sean Taibi and Jabril Banks in 2007-08. UNC's first Big Sky season, 2006-07, they finished 2-14 and 4-24 overall. In 2007-08 they finished 6-10 and 11-19 overall and last season the Bears went 8-8 and 14-18. One more win this season will tie last season's win total.
1/3/10 Altitude TV Big Sky Schedule The Big Sky basketball "Game of the Week" is back on Altitude Sports & Entertainment for the third year in-a-row. The Altitude games start today with Montana State at Idaho State at 2 PM. Each Sunday will feature the game of the week in Big Sky basketball; also, the conference semifinal games will be broadcasted on the Altitude. The championship game will be on ESPN2.
The games can be viewed on DirecTV, dish Network, and Comcast.
Altitude is available within a 10-state territory of the Rocky Mountain Region including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota.
Date
Games
Time
1/3
Montana State at Idaho State
2 PM
1/10
Eastern Washington at Montana State
2 PM
1/17
Northern Arizona at Portland State
2 PM
1/24
Sacramento State at Northern Arizona
2 PM
1/31
Montana State at Northern Colorado
2 PM
2/7
Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado
12 PM
2/14
Montana at Eastern Washington
4:30 PM
2/20
Sacramento State at Montana
4 PM
2/28
Weber State at Portland State
2 PM
3/9
Big Sky Semifinal
TBA
3/9
Big Sky Semifinal
TBA
1/2/10 Wildcats Off to 3-0 Start! Weber St. 64, Montana 56 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored a career-high 30 points as Weber State beat Montana 64-56 on Saturday night.
Lillard's biggest shot of the game came in the closing minutes when he hit a 3-pointer with 1:40 left to break a 54-54 tie.
He then gave the Wildcats (9-6, 3-0 Big Sky) a 59-54 lead with a layup with 39 seconds left.
Will Cherry scored 17 points to lead the Grizzlies (10-6, 1-3), who trailed 33-23 at halftime but opened the second half on an 8-1 run and eventually led 50-42.
Lillard scored 16 of his points in the first half and at one point had outscored the entire Montana team, 14-13.Steve Panos had 10 points for the Wildcats, including a key layup off an offensive rebound with 14 seconds to play to give Weber State a 62-54 lead.
Brian Qvale had 14 points for Montana while Anthony Johnson scored 11.
1/2/10 Gameday Final: WSU W 64-56 TV: On the Internet at Big Sky TV | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Northern Colorado 75, Northern Arizona 66 Portland State 94, Sacramento State 66
1/2/10 Tonight: Montana at Weber On New Year's Eve Weber State played its first day game since the 90s and beat Montana State. Tonight WSU will conclude the New Year's weekend games by hosting the Montana Griz who last won at the Dee in 2003-04. The game will be Weber's 107th all-time meeting between the 2 schools. The Wildcats have played Montana and Idaho State 106 times each and Montana State the next most at 105 meetings.
2008-09 In Ogden Last year at the Dee, WSU beat UM 71-55. Kellen McCoy and Daviin Davis each scored 18 points. Damian Lillard chipped in with 17. WSU hit 24-of-30 from the charity stripe. In the game UM took an early lead, but WSU went on an early run outscoring UM 16-2 in the first half to take an 18-11 lead. The 'Cats biggest lead, 62-43, came on a layup by Lillard with 5 minutes to go in the game. The Griz then scored 8 in-a-row to get within 11 but it would not be enough at the Dee. For the Griz, Anthony Johnson scored 21 points and Jack McGillis added 16.
2008-09 In Missoula When Weber traveled to Montana, the 'Cats were 6-0 on the road with 2 to go to finish with a perfect 8-0 on the road; a conference record. Lillard scored 16 and Steve Panos added 13 to help WSU beat UM (69-58) for the second straight in Missoula. Daviin Davis added 12 points and seven boards in WSU's clincher for the Big Sky title with a 12-1 record. Lillard's 12 points at halftime put WSU ahead 33-27 at intermission. Davis scored on two consecutive layups to increase WSU's lead to 54-38 with 11 minutes to go. Weber was up by as many as 19 points before winning by 11. Anthony Johnson led the Griz with 17 and was the only player on his team to score in double figures.
Weber/Montana Stats WSU is off to a 2-0 start in conference play for the second time since 2003. The 2003 team went 16-0 and the 2009 team went 15-1. The 'Cats have won 14 straight conference regular season games and 9 straight conference road games. Montana is 1-2 in conference play after hosting NAU and Northern Colorado a few weeks ago, the Griz beat NAU and then lost to UNC. Montana played in Pocatello 2 nights ago and lost to Idaho State on a last second shot by the Bengals for the 67-65 win. The W was just the second against DI opponents so far this year for the struggling Bengals who have 8 seniors on the roster.
Weber's all-time record against Montana is 63-43 overall, 38-13 in Ogden, and 25-30 at UM. Of all the schools in the Big Sky, Montana has the best record against Weber State.
Randy Rahe is 11-4 against the Montanas, 6-3 vs MSU and 5-1 vs UM. WSU's last loss to Montana was in January of 2007 in Missoula. Montana's Wayne Tinkle is 58-48 overall has a head coach with 3 years of experience at UM. In his 3 years with the Griz he has led his teams to 3rd, 4th and 2nd place finishes.
So far this year Weber State has played 6 home games and 8 away. UM has played 9 home games and 6 away. WSU is averaging 74.4 ppg and 67.1 for UM. WSU allows 71.6 ppg and UM allows 58.3. UM is 2-5 away from Missoula while WSU is 3-5 away from Ogden.
Preseason Polls In the Big Sky preseason polls Montana was picked 2nd by the coaches and media. Montana also had 3 out of 8 possible 1st place votes by the coaches while Weber had 4 votes. In the media, UM had 3 votes out of the posssible 28 and WSU had 23 votes. Lindy's College Basketball magazine picked Montana to finish 3rd with Weber in 2nd and Montana State 1st. Lindy's also selected UM's Anthony Johnson as Big Sky MVP and WSU's Franklin Session as Newcomer of the Year. Athlon Sports magazine picked WSU 1st and UM 3rd.
Lindy's take on UM:The Grizzlies bounded into Big Sky title contention last year following several difficult seasons. They should be back in the hunt this year behind the play of guard Anthony Johnson, last year's Big Sky Newcomer of the Year. Johnson is arguably the Big Sky's top player and has a nice supporting cast with sharp-shooting guard Ryan Staudacher and rugged forward Jack McGillis. Low post is a major concern in Missoula, however. Coach Wayne Tinkle needs junior post Brian Qvale to step up. Expect the Grizzlies to be in the hunt for the conference title in the regular season and postseason tournement.
Athlon on UM:The Grizzlies have been a bit of an enigma in recent years, looking like perennial title contenders on paper but seldom living up to expectations. This looks like another championship-caliber team that fourth-year coach Wayne Tinkle has assembled. Senior guard Anthony Johnson averaged 17.6 points to lead the Big Sky in scoring last season and finished fifth in assists with an average of 3.1 per game. The 6'6" Johnson is versatile and athletic, and seems to have splended supporting cast that includes returning starters Ryan Staudacher (7.8 ppg), a senior guard and outstanding perimeter shooter, and senior forward Jack McGillis (8.1 ppg), a 6'6" wing who knows how to get to the basket. Mix in several other returning letterwinners and a couple of highly promising players who redshirted last season and the Griz seem ready to contend once again - on paper.
Probable MSU Starters C-41 Brian Qvale 6-11 255 Jr Williston, ND (10.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.9 bpg) F-44 Jack McGillis 6-6 215 Sr Missoula, MT (6.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.8 spg, .281 3P%) G-2 Raason Young 6-6 175 Jr Washington, DC (5.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg, .538 3P%) G-3 Ryan Staudacher 6-3 210 Sr Kirkland, WA (8.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, .418 3P%) G-23 Anthony Johnson 6-2 210 Sr Tacoma, WA (16.8 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.3 rpg, .366 3P%)
A newcomer on the Griz squad is freshman Will Cherry. UM fans are very excited about this young player who was rated very high by ESPN recruiting standards. Cherry was rated as an 80 and is a 6'1" guard from Oakland, CA.
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (10.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .340 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.1, 7.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .344 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (18.6 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.6 rpg, .326 3P%)
UM Schedule Nov 13 North Dakote W 61-37 Nov 14 Boise State W 95-82 Nov 15 Loyola Marymount W 64-63 Nov 19 @ Denver L 56-49 Nov 23 @ Oregon W 68-55 Nov 29 @ Washington L 63-59 Dec 4 Northern Arizona* W 71-54 Dec 5 Northern Colorado* L 59-48 Dec 10 @ Loyola Marymount W 82-73 Dec 12 @ Colorado State L 62-61 Dec 16 Montana St-Northern W 57-43 Dec 19 UC-Riverside W 67-52 Dec 21 Fresno State W 59-56 Dec 23 Great Falls W 100-52 Dec 31 @ Idaho State* L 67-65 Jan 2 @ Weber State*
1/1/10 Weber State Streaks 14 straight regular season conference wins 10 straight regular season conference road wins 9 straight conference road wins (including conference tournaments) 5 straight wins against Montana 5 straight wins against Sac State
Weber State has the Big Sky record for the most consecutive wins in-a-row overall, in Big Sky play, at home and on the road. The longest win streak is 18 straight games and 24 straight conference games. The longest road winning streak is 13 in-a-row in conference games. The record for consecutive road wins whether it be conference or not is 8 straight which was tied by WSU in 2008-09. The only team in school history to go 8-0 on the road in conference play in one season was WSU last year. Weber's overall road win streak ended at Santa Barbara this season on November 17th.
WSU also ends 2 streaks. Weber beat Utah to end an 8 game losing streak to the Utes dating back to 2000-01. WSU's 2-of-3 wins at the Basketball Travelers Invitational in Logan ends a 15 year losing streak in the Spectrum. Weber's last win on USU's court was during the 1993-94 season.
WSU's home opener streak comes to an end. In season openers WSU is 39-9. Weber is 29-3 when opening the season at home. Losing to Utah State 66-60 this season ended a 12 year streak of opening wins at home. The only losses came in 1991-92 against St. Mary's, 1997-98 to Utah, and now USU in 2009-10.
WSU is 4-8 when opening the season on an opponent's home court. WSU is 4-1 in neutral court season openers.
1/1/10 WSU Wins 14th Straight Regular Season Big Sky Game Weber St. 75, Montana St. 62 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Kyle Bullinger scored 20 points, while Franklin Session added 10 points and 10 rebounds as Weber State defeated Montana State 75-62 on Thursday.
Nick Hansen scored 15 points for the Wildcats (8-6, 2-0 Big Sky), who shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final 1:21. Steve Panos added 14.
Marquis Navarre led the Bobcats (7-6, 2-1) with 14 points, while Bobby Howard and Danny Piepoli each had 13.MSU went on a 10-2 run late in the first half to take a 36-35 lead with Will Bynum hitting a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch.
But a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left in the period gave WSU a 37-36 lead at intermission. It was just the second time this season the Wildcats led at halftime.
12/31/09 Gameday Final: WSU W 75-62 TV: On the Internet at Big Sky TV | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM
12/29/09 Thurs: Montana State at Weber, 3 PM New Year's Eve at 3 PM Weber State will host Montana State for its first home conference game. The game will be the 104th all-time meeting between the 2 schools.
Last season, the last week of the year WSU closed out a record setting 15-1 season by going 8-0 on the road. No Big Sky team had ever won 8 road games in one season. WSU notched its 8th road win in Bozeman beating MSU 84-64. Damian Lillard scored a then career-high 27 points. Kellen McCoy, last year's Big Sky MVP dropped in 20 points, "The Real" McCoy scored 15 points in the first 9 minutes to give WSU a double-digit lead just 6 minutes into the first half.
WSU's lone season loss was a 75-70 decision to MSU in Ogden earlier in the season.
The next meeting between WSU and MSU was in the semifinal game of the Big Sky Tournament. In the quarterfinal MSU traveled to Missoula and beat Montana 56-54. With MSU coming to Ogden for the Big Sky semifinal WSU had just received 5 votes (35th) in the AP Top 25. BYU was ranked 25th, Utah 29th with 29 votes, Utah State 33rd with 6 votes.
In the semifinal game after WSU had just won 12 straight games the 'Cats fell to the Bobcats 70-61. It took MSU 46 years to muster up 9 wins in Ogden and then in 2009 the Bobcats beat WSU twice and at the Dee. In the game MSU's Branden Johnson made four 3-pointers scoring 16, Divaldo Mbunga added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Kellen McCoy led WSU with 16 points. The Wildcats couldn't get any shots to fall after being such a good shooting team all year. WSU shot 33% in the game and was just 4-of-26 from downtown.
It's now 2010 and WSU is back and ready for another run for the Big Sky title. WSU is already 1-0 with an early December conference win on the road at Sac State. The 'Cats have won 14 straight conference regular season games and 9 straight conference road games and even 10 straight regular season conference road wins dating back to March 3rd of 2008.
Weber's all-time record against Montana State is 69-34 overall, 43-11 in Ogden, and 26-23 at MSU. Notable alumni of Montana State include Dennis Erickson, current head football coach at Arizona State, Craig Kilborn the actor and former talk show host played basketball for the Bobcats. Also, the Big Sky's only school to ever win a national championship in men's basketball was MSU in 1929.
Randy Rahe is 10-4 against the Montanas, 5-3 vs MSU and 5-1 vs UM. WSU hasn't lost to the Montana Griz since January of 2007.
Preseason Polls In the Big Sky preseason polls Montana State was picked to finish 5th by the coaches and media and WSU was picked 1st. Lindy's College Basketball magazine picked Montana State to win the Big Sky with Weber in 2nd.
Lindy's take on MSU:The Bobcats more than made up for a sub-par regular season in March. After barely garnering the sixth and final berth into the Big Sky Tournament, the Bobcats upset rival Montana on the road and then No. 1 seed Weber State on its home court. In the title game, MSU came oh-so-close before falling to Portland State, 79-77. For his work, coach Brad Huse was awarded a three-year contract extension. More good news in Bozeman: The Bobcats return four starters, led by leading scorer Will Bynum, and fellow double digit scorer Bobby Howard. The loss of first-team all-confernce post Divaldo Mbunga is a huge one, however.
Probable MSU Starters C-42 Branden Johnson 6-9 230 Sr Yakima, WA (10.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, .375 3P%) F-15 Bobby Howard 6-7 225 Jr Great Falls, MT (13.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, .346 3P%) F-23 Erik Rush 6-5 210 Jr San Jose, CA (13.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.1 spg, .263 3P%) G-20 Will Bynum 6-3 180 Sr Almagordo, NM (8.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.0 spg, .200 3P%) G-3 Marquis Navarre 5-11 165 Sr Oceanside, CA (10.9 ppg, 3.0 apg, 2.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, .500 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .340 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.1, 6.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .352 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.1 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.6 rpg, .333 3P%)
Montana State Bio Established: 1893 Undergraduates: 10,842 Postgraduates: 1,408 Location: Bozeman, MT Nickname: Bobcats Colors: Blue & Gold Stadium: Worthington Arena (6,378)
MSU Schedule Nov 14 @ Nevada L 75-61 Nov 17 Colorad Christian W 68-58 Nov 21 Southern Miss L 66-62 Nov 25 @ San Francisco W 70-66 Nov 28 @ Oregon L 89-66 Dec 4 Northern Colorado* W 87-63 Dec 5 Northern Arizona* W 62-50 Dec 9 @ Memphis L 76-51 Dec 12 Northern New Mexico W 103-54 Dec 18 UC-Santa Barbara W 76-64 Dec 21 @ Cal Poly W 76-72 Dec 23 @ Boise State L 58-56 Dec 31 @ Weber State*
Basketball Travelers Invitational Dec 21: Weber beats CS Fullerton 82-71, video clip | Utah State beats Morehead State 79-72 Dec 22: Weber beats Morehead State 66-64, video clip | Utah State over CS Fullerton 83-60 Dec 23: Morehead State beats Fullerton 69-62 | Weber loses to Utah State 85-73
12/23/09 Utah St. 85, Weber St. 73 Associated Press LOGAN, Utah -- Tai Wesley scored 19 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead Utah State to a 85-73 win over Weber State Wednesday night.
Jared Quayle added 16 points and Modou Niang a career-high 13 for the Aggies (9-4). The win was the final game of the Basketball Travelers Invitational, hosted by Utah State.
Damian Lillard scored 22 for Weber State (7-6), Kyle Bullinger 21 and Nick Hansen 11. Lillard did not score from the field until the second half.
The Wildcats got a layup from Trevor Morris with 13:50 to play to bring the score to 55-46, the closest Weber State would get in the second half. Two consecutive tip-ins from Tyler Newbold put the Aggies back in charge.
Wesley scored the first five points of the game as Utah State burst out to a 14-2 lead. The Aggies held a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the first half and led 46-29 at halftime.
12/23/09 Weber State vs Utah State Part 2 Weber State started the 2009-10 basketball season off hosting the Utah State Aggies and WSU will now conclude the preseason at Utah State. Tip-off is set for 8:05 PM tonight. The game is the 62nd all-time meeting; the overall series is, WSU with 25 wins and USU with 36.
Against the Ag's, the 'Cats are 15-14 at home, 2-1 on neutral courts and 8-20 in Logan. WSU is now 10-20 overall in the Spectrum with the 2 wins this week against Fullerton and Morehead. WSU's last win in Logan was in 1994. The first 2 games ever played between WSU & USU was 1971 & 1972, both in Logan and both won by Weber.
There have been 5 overtime games and WSU has taken 3 of them. The lowest scoring game between the 2 was 1971, WSU won 63-62. The highest scoring game was 1988, USU won 107-93. The series has gone back and forth and WSU has led in wins up until 1988 where the series came to a 17-17 tie. Since '89 the Aggies have led the series and the 'Cats kept within 4 games until USU's recent 6 game win streak that put them 10 ahead.
Stew Morrill is in his 12th season as USU's head coach, he is 9-4 against Weber. His 1st year was 1999 and his Aggies lost by 20 points to the 'Cats at the Delta Center. Stew would lose 3 of his first 4 competitions to the Purple and White. Stew is the winningest coach in USU history with 267 wins and 10 straight 23 win seasons. This season USU has 18 home games which will help in securing another 20 win season with 8 down thus far.
Coach Rahe spent 13 seasons as an assistant to Stew at Colorado State & Utah State. Rahe is 1-4 vs Stew (1-1 at home, 0-1 neutral, 0-2 in Logan).
Injuries USU will play tonight's game without starting center Nate Bendall who will be out for heart surgery. When WSU played USU the first time the Aggies had to play without starting small forward Pooh Williams. Williams is now back and playing at 100% but Bendall is now out for the next 7-10 days.
Salt Lake Tribune: "Bendall's surgery is not considered serious, career, nor life threatening. He had the option of getting the surgery done during or after the season, but decided to get it done over the holidays."
Probable USU Starters C-44 Matt Formisano 6-8 240 Jr Centennial, CO (4.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg) F-42 Tai Wesley 6-7 240 Jr Provo, UT (13.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.3 apg) F-5 Pooh Williams 6-3 200 Jr Federal Way, WA (8.3 ppg, 2.3 apg, 2.0 rpg, .414 3P%) G-24 Tyler Newbold 6-4 210 Jr Payson, UT (8.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, .377 3P%) G-21 Jared Quayle 6-1 180 Sr Perry, UT (11.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 4.7 apg, .413 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (8.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .395 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.7, 7.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .341 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (18.8 ppg, 3.7 apg, 3.4 rpg, .317 3P%)
USU Schedule Nov 13 at Weber State W 66-60 Nov 18 at Utah L 68-67 Nov 21 at Northeastern L 64-61 Nov 24 Idaho State W 77-44 Nov 28 Southern Utah W 89-49 Dec 2 Brigham Young W 71-61 Dec 5 Saint Mary's L 68-63 Dec 12 Utah Valley W 87-56 Dec 16 at Cal State Bakersfield W 68-51 Dec 18 at Long Beach State L 75-62 Dec 21 Morehead State W 79-72 Dec 22 Cal State Fullerton W 83-60 Dec 23 Weber State
Weber State vs Utah State
Since 1963*
WSU
Utah State
Overall Wins
859
860
Last Tournament Appearance
2007
2009
Last Tournament Win
1999
2001
Tournament Appearances
14
16
Tournament Wins
6
4
Highest Tournament Seed
7
10
Last 3 Tournament Seeds
15, 12, 14
12, 14, 15
Conference Titles
18
9
20 Win Seasons
22
22
Winning Seasons
38
36
Losing Seasons
8
11
Best Record
27-3
30-5
Worst Record
7-22
4-23
Undefeated in Conference
2
1
*1963 was the first year Weber State competed as an NCAA Division I basketball team.
12/22/09 Weber St. 66, Morehead St. 64 Associated Press LOGAN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored 22 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, to push Weber State past Morehead State 66-64 Tuesday night.
Lindsey Hughey also added 15 for the Wildcats (7-5) and Nick Hansen added 13. The win came in the second day of the Basketball Travelers Invitational hosted by Utah State.
Morehead State (4-6) was led by Maze Stallworth, who dropped in 21 and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Kenneth Faried scored 16 and Demonte Harper 14 for the Eagles.
Trailing by as many as 20 points twice in the first half, Weber State took their first lead of the game 50-49 with 5:25 to play in the game when Kyle Bullinger made a breakaway layup following a missed shot by Faried.
The teams then traded leads or were tied nine times until Lillard made a spinning layup to give the Wildcats a 58-57 advantage with 51 seconds to play.
12/22/09 Gameday Final: WSU W 66-64 TV: None | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM
12/22/09 Tues: WSU vs Morehead State Tonight in Logan, WSU will attempt to win its second game in 2 days. The Basketball Travelers Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods in Logan continues after WSU and USU each get a win on the opening night. Weber will play Morehead State who lost to Utah State 79-72 and USU will take on CS Fullerton who lost to Weber 82-71. Tonight's game will be the first ever between the Wildcats and the Eagles of Morehead State. WSU is 3-0 all-time against current Ohio Valley Conference members - Austin Peay 0-0; Eastern Kentucky 1-0; Eastern Illinois 1-0; Jacksonville State 0-0; Murray State 0-0; SE Missouri State 0-0; Morehead State 0-0; Tennessee-Martin 0-0; Tennessee State 1-0; Tennessee Tech 0-0.
Preseason Polls Last season Morehead made it to the big dance for the first time since 1984 and won the play-in-game against Alabama State and then lost to 1-seed Louisville 74-54. Morehead returns big man Kenneth Faried and three other starters and was picked to finish first in the OVC this year. Athlon Sports picked the Eagles to win the OVC and to make the NCAA Tournament as a 15-seed. Lindy's college basketball magazine has Faried ranked as the 20th best center in the nation.
Probable Morehead Starters C-35 Kenneth Faried 6-8 225 Jr Newark, NJ (16.8 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 1.6 spg) F-22 Demonte Harper 6-4 185 Jr Nashville, TN (12.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.3 spg, .379 3P%) F-1 Maze Stallworth 6-4 215 Sr Elizabethtown, KY (8.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, .305 3P%) G-11 Terrance Hill 6-1 170 So Columbus, GA (7.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, .313 3P%) G-15 Brandon Shingles 6-3 175 Sr Albany, GA (5.0 ppg, 6.3 apg, 2.5 rpg, 1.3 spg, .250 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .342 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.8, 6.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (8.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .324 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (18.4 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 spg, .329 3P%)
Morehead Bio Established: 1887 Location: Morehead, KY Nickname: Eagles Colors: Blue & Gold Undergraduates: 7,921 Postgraduates: 1,588 Arena: Ellis T. Johnson Arena, 6,500 Conference: Ohio Valley
morehead Schedule Nov 13 at No. 5 Kentucky L 75-59 Nov 16 Brescia W 86-51 Nov 21 Louisiana-Monroe L 74-73 Nov 29 Kent State L 63-57 Dec 3 at Tennessee-Martin W 74-66 Dec 5 at Murray State L 86-56 Dec 15 St. Catharine W 81-53 Dec 18 East Tennessee State W 60-58 Dec 21 at Utah State L 79-72 Dec 22 vs Weber State Dec 23 vs Cal State Fullerton
Notable Morehead State Alumni: Billy Ray Cyrus, famous Country singer and mullet; Phil Simms, former NFL QB and MVP of Super Bowl XXI; Kelly Kulick - pro bowler; Liz Johnson pro bowler.
12/21/09 Weber St. 82, Cal St.-Fullerton 71 Associated Press LOGAN, UTAH -- Damian Lillard scored 20 points and joined three other Wildcats in double-figure scoring as Weber State topped Cal State Fullerton 82-71 Monday night.
Franklin Session and Lindsey Hughey added 14 for Weber State (6-5), while Steve Spanos dropped in 12.
The win was in the opening round of the three-day Basketball Travelers Invitational, hosted by Utah State.
Fullerton (4-4) was led by Jacques Streeter with 21, Gerard Anderson 14 and JerVaughn Johnson 13.
Though trailing at half, the Wildcats pushed to a 63-52 lead with 10:23 to play behind three 3-point shots by Nick Hansen.
After that, the Titans were never able to draw closer than 79-71, though Streeter scored 14 in the second half.
12/21/09 Gameday Final: WSU W 82-71 TV: None | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM
12/19/09 Mon: WSU vs CS Fullerton @ USU Tournament On Monday WSU will head up to Logan for the Basketball Traveler's Invitational sponsored by Gossner Foods. The Wildcats will play 3 games in 3 days before the holiday break and 4 games in 7 days including the UNLV game. The games in Logan will be a 4 team tournament although all 4 teams will play each team once and there will be no champioship game. On the first night WSU will be matched up with California State University, Fullerton at 5:30 pm followed by Morehead vs Utah State at 8 pm. WSU will play Morehead State on Tuesday and then Utah State on Wednesday. Weber State's all-time record vs the Fullerton Titans is 3-1.
WSU vs Fullerton 1963 W 86-78 Ogden; L 93-112 Fullerton 1988 W 81-77 Ogden 1989 W 88-77 Fullerton
WSU is 27-20 against current Big West Conference members - Pacific 2-1; UC Riverside 1-1; UC Santa Barbara 2-1; CS Fullerton 3-1;CS Northridge 13-8; Long Beach State 3-8; UC Irvine 1-0; UC Davis 2-0; Cal Poly 0-0.
Preseason Polls Last season Fullerton finished in 7th place out of 9 Big West teams with a 7-9 record and 15-17 overall. The Titans lost the the Big West player of the year (Josh Akognon, 24 ppg) to graduation but they do return 3 starters from last season in Jacques Streeter, guard; Gerard Anderson, forward; Aaron Thompson, forward. Lindy's college basketball magazine picked them to finish 5th; Athlon Sports picked the Titans to finish 6th. Both polls have Long Beach and Santa Barbara as the top 2.
3 DI Transfers Fullerton has added 3 DI transfers to its roster: Orane Chin, South Florida; Jer'Vaughn Johnson, San Diego State; Bryce Webster, Minnesota. Johnson and Webster are starters and Chin, a 6-7 junior forward comes off the bench averaging 8.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 21 minutes per game.
Probable Fullerton Starters C-13 Bryce Webster 6-10 240 Jr Minnesota, MN (7.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.9 bpg) F-12 Jer'Vaughn Johnson 6-6 240 Sr Compton, CA (11.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.0 spg, .375 3P%) F-5 Gerard Anderson 6-6 205 Sr Los Angeles, CA (5.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 spg) G-0 Aaron Thompson 6-4 190 Sr Los Angeles, CA (12.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg, .632 3P%) G-11 Jacques Streeter 6-0 175 So Los Angeles, CA (10.0 ppg, 3.7 apg, 2.4 rpg, .333 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .342 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.8, 6.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.8 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (8.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .324 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (18.4 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 spg, .329 3P%)
Fullerton Bio Established: 1957 Location: Fullerton, CA Nickname: Titans Colors: Blue & Orange Students: 36,262 Arena: Titan Gym, 4,000 Conference: Big West
Fullerton Schedule Nov 14 Hope International W 93-57 Nov 17 at UCLA W 68-65 2OT Nov 24 New Mexico State W 84-73 Dec 4 vs. Central Arkansas L 69-49 Dec 5 at Stephen F. Austin L 62-61 Dec 9 at San Diego State L 82-68 Dec 12 Occidental W 97-59 Dec 21 vs Weber State Dec 22 at Utah State Dec 23 vs Morehead State
CS Fullerton is well known for its baseball. The Titans have 4 NCAA DI national championships - 1979, 1984, 1995, 2004. Notable Fullerton alumni include: Cedric Ceballos, NBA player; Kevin Costner; Jeremy Giambi, MLB; Steve Mariucci, NFL coach.
12/18/09 UNLV 72, Weber St. 63 Associated Press LAS VEGAS -- Matt Shaw scored 16 points and Chace Stanback added 15 to lead UNLV over Weber State 72-63 on Thursday night.
Shaw was 4 of 6 from 3-point range while Stanback had five rebounds and four blocks for UNLV (9-1). Oscar Bellfield scored 10 points along with eight assists.
Kyle Bullinger scored a game-high 21 points to lead Weber State (5-5). He was 5 of 8 from 3-point range and was 1-point short of tying his career scoring high.
UNLV shot 25 of 53 (47 percent) from the field, while the Wildcats were 20 of 55 (36 percent). The Rebels were 10 of 23 from 3-point range (44 percent), while Weber State was 10 of 24 (42 percent).UNLV had a season-high nine blocks.
12/16/09 Thurs: Weber at #23 UNLV Thursday night at 8 pm local time the (5-4) Weber State Wildcats will take on the (8-1) UNLV Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. UNLV is currently ranked No.23 in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25. After losing at home to Kansas State last week UNLV dropped from No.17 to just outside the top 25 in the AP poll.
On Wednesday night UNLV traveled to Cedar City where they struggled in the first half against the SUU Thunderbirds but then finished them off winnning the game by 18 points. UNLV had a 1 point lead at the half and saw 6 ties and 4 lead changes in the game. UNLV won 77-59
Weber State is 2-1 all-time against UNLV and 1-1 since moving up to Div I. The last meeting between the 2 teams was in 1998-99 (L 82-64). The other game was in 1979-80 against the Tarkanian Rebels, WSU won 79-78 in the championship game at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Weber finished the 1980 season ranked 17th in the AP Top 25.
Coach Rahe, 62-38 overall as head coach of the Wildcats is 1-8 vs Mountain West teams (0-1 New Mexico, 1-3 Utah, 0-4 BYU). WSU overall is 34-60 against current Mountain West teams (13-25 Utah, 10-25 BYU, 5-1 Colorado State, 2-4 Wyoming, 2-2 New Mexico, 1-1 Air Force, 1-1 UNLV, 0-1 San Diego State, 0-0 TCU).
UNLV is led by head coach Lon Kruger. The 2009-10 season is Kruger's 24th year as a head coach in the college ranks. He also spent 4 seasons coaching the Atlanta Hawks (2000-03) and 1 season as an assistant with the New York Knicks (2003-04). Kruger's overall coaching record in college is 438-287. With the Rebels he is 120-54. Kruger has taken 4 different teams to a total of 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. He made it to the Elite 8 with Kansas State in 1988 and the Final Four in 1994 with Florida. In 2007 Kruger took UNLV to the Sweet 16 led by his own son as the point-guard.
UNLV fans have seen different starting lineups every week this season. The probable starters below were the starting 5 against SUU. Also, coming off the bench is UNLV's leading scorer in Tre'Von Willis a 6'4" junior averaging 16.9 ppg, 4 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.1 spg, .273 3P%.
Probable UNLV Starters C-34 Matt Shaw 6-8 240 Jr Los Angeles, CA (5.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg) F-22 Chace Stanback 6-8 So Los Angeles, CA (8.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.0 spg, 0.9 bpg) G-2 Kendall Wallace 6-4 Jr Mesa, AZ (6.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, .371 3P%) G-0 Oscar Bellfield 6-2 So Los Angeles, CA (10.9 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.2 spg, .294 3P%) G-5 Derrick Jasper 6-6 Jr Paso Robles, CA (7.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.6 spg, .278 3P%)
Probable WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (8.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .267 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (10.0, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.1 spg, 0.9 bpg) G-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Sr Pocatello, ID (9.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .328 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (19.6 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 spg, .323 3P%)
UNLV Bio Established: 1957 Location: Paradise, NV Nickname: Rebels Colors: Scarlet & Gray Undergraduates: 22,108 Postgraduates: 6,263 Arena: Thomas & Mack Center, 18,000 Conference: Mountain West
UNLV Schedule Nov 14 Pittsburg State W 91-52 Nov 18 Nevada W 88-75 Nov 21 Southern Illinois W 78-69 Nov 25 Holy Cross W 80-59 Nov 28 No. 16 Louisville W 76-71 Dec 2 at Arizona W 74-72 2OT Dec 5 at Santa Clara W 66-63 Dec 12 Kansas State L 95-80 Dec 15 at Southern Utah W 77-59 Dec 17 Weber State
12/13/09 Weber St. 84, S. Utah 66 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Steve Panos scored 19 points and was one of five Weber State players in double figures as the Wildcats beat Southern Utah 84-66 on Saturday night.
Nick Hansen had four 3-pointers in the first eight minutes as the Wildcats (5-4) built an early 21-6 lead. Hansen finished with 18 points while Franklin Session also had 18.
Davis Baker scored 27 points to lead the Thunderbirds (3-7), who have lost five straight games.
The Thunderbirds cut the Wildcats lead to 66-53 with 8:56 to play following a three-point play by Matt Hodgson, but Weber State answered with 10 straight points.
Southern Utah ended the first half on a 7-3 run, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Damon Heuir, but still trailed 48-31 at intermission. The 48 points were the most scored by Weber State in a first half this season, and the lead was its first at halftime this season.
12/12/09 Gameday Final: WSU W 84-66 TV: Streaming online at BigSkyTV.org | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM
12/11/09 Sat: Southern Utah at Weber Saturday night at 7pm the (4-4) Weber State Wilcats will host the (3-6) Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. Currently SUU has lost 4 straight while WSU has won 3 straight. The two teams have met on the hardwood 25 times since 1982. Weber leads the series with a record of 19-6. In Ogden, WSU is 14-2 and 5-4 in Cedar City. Tomorrow's game will be Coach Rahe's 4th against the T-Birds and he is 3-1 overall with the loss being the first game of the series back in 2007 in Cedar.
2007: L 75-63, W 59-57 2008: W 66-62
Last year's 66-62 win in Cedar was Weber's first win at the Centrum after having lost 2 in-a-row down South. In 2006-07 WSU lost 75-63 and in 2005-06 WSU lost 68-47.
The only overtime game in the series was SUU?s first win over the 'Cats, winning 92-90 in 1986-87 in Ogden. Of the last 6 meetings between the 2 teams SUU has won 3 times.
SUU Starters C-44 Matt Hodgson 6-11 225 Fr Booval, Australia (5.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 bpg) F-34 Matt Massey 6-9 220 So Brisbane, Australia (10.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, .375 3P%) F-4 Jake Nielson 6-3 185 So Aurora, CO (10.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.0 spg, .333 3P%) G-25 Davis Baker 6-5 195 Sr Coto de Caza, CA (16.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .143 3P%) G-3 Damon Heuir 6-2 200 Townsville, Australia (1.2 ppg, 2.2 apg, 2.1 rpg, .500 3P%)
WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (10.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .250 3P%) G-12 Franklin Session 6-2 175 Jr Los Angeles, CA (9.0, 6.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.9 spg, 1.0 bpg) G-15 Lindsey Hughey 6-3 200 Jr Grand Prairie, TX (6.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, .267 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (20.6 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.0 spg, .321 3P%)
T-Bird Bio Established: 1897 Location: Cedar City, UT Nickname: Thunderbirds Colors: Red & White Undergraduates: 6,490 Postgraduates: 567 Conference: Summit League
SUU Schedule Nov 14 at Hawaii L 65-48 Nov 15 vs. Northern Colorado L 73-51 Nov 17 vs. McNeese State W 68-59 Nov 19 Southwest W 111-51 Nov 21 Wayland Baptist Univ W 79-61 Nov 25 Tennessee Tech L 72-65 Nov 28 at Utah State L 89-49 Dec 3 at Centenary L 93-85 Dec 5 at Oral Roberts L 68-53 Dec 12 at Weber State
12/8/09 Lillard, Big Sky POTW Honors From the Big Sky Conference's official site by Jon Kasper Waters, Lillard Share Weekly Honor BigSkyConf.com
12/7/09 Wed: Montana Tech at Weber Wednesday night the Wildcats and Orediggers of Montana Tech will tipoff at 7pm at the Dee Events Center. With wins against Utah and Sacramento State last week, WSU will try to keep the win streak going before hosting SUU on Saturday. Damian Lillard has been on a scoring rampage this season and as of late he scored 27 against Sac and a career-best 28 against Utah. Lillard, the 16th leading scorer in the nation right now might be too much to handle for the Orediggers.
Montana Tech is 4-7 overall and competes at the NCAA DII level. The game will be the 5th ever meeting between the schools. Weber leads the series 4-0. All 4 games have been played in Ogden. The first meeting was during the 2002-03 season, the 'Cats won 94-58 (26-6 overall on the season). In 2005-06 the 'Cats won 81-51 (10-18 overall) and two years ago in 2006-07 WSU won 81-53 (20-12 overall). Last season's meeting, the 'Cats won 77-62 (21-10 overall). The Orediggers will also play Idaho State on Dec 28.
Also, Kelvin Sampson, former Indiana head coach, was the Montana Tech's head coach from 1981-85. According to Wikipedia, despite his storied off-court issues, Sampson had an open invitation to return to Butte to coach again. Montana Tech named it's new basketball court after Sampson. Currently, Sampson is an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. Athletic Director Joe McClafferty: "Sampson is a great man who did a tremendous amount for the school."
Montana Tech Bio Nickname: Orediggers Location: Butte, MT Established: 1889 Enrollment: 2,320 Colors: Green & Copper NCAA Classification: Division II Conference: Frontier
12/6/09 Wildcats Win 9th Straight Big Sky Road Game! The Weber State Wildcats set a Big Sky record last season for the most conference road wins in one season going 8-0. With the win over Sacramento State last night the streak continues to 9 in-a-row. The Big Sky record for consecutive conference road wins is 13 which was set also by WSU back in 1968-70. Weber's next Big Sky road game is at Northern Colorado on January 7th.
WSU has now beat Sac 5 straight times and is now 28-4 all-time against the Hornets (15-1 in Ogden, 13-3 in Sac). Coach Rahe notched his 60th win as a head coach and his 40th conference victory in the same night. Rahe and company are an impressive 16-10 on the road against Big Sky opponents. Road games typically are considered hard to win in college basketball which Rahe is starting to make look deceiving.
RAHE'S OVERALL RECORD
Overall Record
60-38
Overall Home Record
37-8
Overall Road Record
23-30
Big Sky Record
40-14
Big Sky Home Record
24-4
Big Sky Road Record
16-10
RAHE VS BIG SKY
Eastern Washington
4-2
Idaho State
4-2
Montana
5-1
Montana State
5-3
Northern Arizona
5-3
Northern Colorado
5-1
Portland State
6-1
Sacramento State
6-1
12/5/09 Weber St. 80, Sacramento St. 65 Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Damian Lillard had 27 points and four assists in Weber State's 80-65 victory over Sacramento State Saturday night.
Franklin Session had 14 points and 18 rebounds and Nick Hansen added 17 points for the Wildcats (3-4, 1-0), who got their first road win in the Big Sky Conference opener.
Sultan Toles-Bey had 14 points and Michael Selling added 13 points and six rebounds for the Hornets (4-5, 0-1).
Before the Hornets ended the first half leading 32-30, Duro Bjegovic's basket at the 2:51 mark gave Sacramento State its biggest lead at 30-25.
Both teams had trouble finding the basket in the first half. The Hornets made 11 of 31 from the field while the Wildcats hit 10 of 34.
Six lead changes and two ties were recorded in the second half before the Wildcats went on a 17-3 run to make the score 61-50 with less than five minutes remaining.
12/5/09 Gameday Final: WSU W 80-65 Box Score TV: Streaming online at BigSkyTV.org | RADIO: On the Internet at KLO 1430 AM Big Sky Scoreboard Big Sky: Portland State 98, Eastern Washington 75 | Northern Colorado 59, Montana 48 Montana State 62, Northern Arizona 50 Out of confernece: Utah 68, Idaho State 56
12/5/09 Tonight: WSU at Sac State Sacramento State Hornets aka California State University, Sacramento, will be hosting the WSU Wildcats for the 17th ever meeting in Sacramento between the Wildcats and Hornets. Last season when the two teams met, Sac was being outscored by an average of 17.4 points per contest and finished the year with a 2-27 record. This year in just 8 games Sac has doubled its win total from last year to this year with 4 wins and 4 losses.
The Hornets have only one win in Ogden and just 4 wins overall out of the 31 all-time games. All four of Sac's wins against Weber have come in the last 7 years. In 2005-06 (one of the 8 worst seasons in WSU history) Sac State and Portland State both got their only win in Ogden to date, and after the Hornets won they were so excited they even took the game ball home.
WSU head coach Randy Rahe is 5-1 overall against the Hornets. Sac State's head coach Brian Katz is 0-2 vs Weber and was a first year DI coach last season. Katz spent 19 seasons in the JC rankings all in the state of California. He spent 15 years prior to Sac at San Joaquin Delta JC in Stockton, CA. At San Joaquin Delta Katz went 348-138 (79%). The 4 years prior to San Joaquin Katz was the coach at Lassen JC where he posted a 87-47 (65%) record. Overall he was 435-185 (70%) at the JUCO level.
Sac Starters C-40 Justin Eller 6-8 235 Sr Yreka, CA (8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) F-32 Michael Selling 6-8 225 Jr Folsom, CA (8.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) G-21 Sultan Toles-Bey 5-10 185 Jr Compton, CA (12.3 ppg, 3.9 apg, 3.8 rpg, 2.3 spg, .303 3P%) G-14 Mike Marcial 6-1 180 Sr Clovis, CA (2.9 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.3 rpg, .273 3P%) G-22 Antonio Flaggs 6-3 180 Sr Pittsburg, CA (7.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, .375 3P%)
WSU Starters C-40 Steve Panos 6-8 240 Sr Salt Lake City, UT (11.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) F-3 Kyle Bullinger 6-6 210 So Mountain View, WY (10.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, .261 3P%) F-12 Nick Hansen 6-4 200 Jr Pocatello, ID (6.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .306 3P%) G-15 Lindsey Hughey 6-3 200 Jr Grand Prairie, TX (7.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, .364 3P%) G-1 Damian Lillard 6-2 180 So Oakland, CA (20.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.3 spg, .304 3P%)
Sac Schedule ovember 13 at Rice L 81-51 Nov 14 vs. Houston Baptist W 70-60 Nov 15 vs. South Alabama L 70-58 Nov 18 Bethany (CA) W 90-75 Nov 21 at Oregon State W 65-63 Nov 24 at Idaho L 75-61 Nov 28 UC Riverside L 59-58 Dec 2 at UC Davis W 59-57 Dec 5 Weber State 8:05 pm
Hornet bio Established: 1947 Undergraduates: 22,555 Postgraduates: 5,417 Location: Sacramento, CA Colors: Green & Gold Mascot: Herky the Hornet Series: WSU is 27-4 all-time vs Sac
Famous alumni Tom Hanks, Creed Bratton from The Office, Lester Holt anchor of the weekend edition of Today, Joan Lunden & Bobby McFerrin.
12/3/09 Weber St. 83, Utah 76 Associated Press OGDEN, Utah -- Damian Lillard scored a career-high 28 points to lead Weber State to an 83-76 win over Utah on Wednesday night.
Steve Panos added 20 points for the Wildcats (2-4).
Kim Tillie led Utah (3-4) with 20 points while Carlon Brown had 16. David Foster had a school-record 10 blocks but was in foul trouble often and played just 22 minutes.
Lillard hit a jumper with 2:44 left in the game to give the Wildcats a 71-69 lead. On the next trip down the court, Lillard made his only 3-pointer to finish a 9-0 run.
The Utes opened the game on a 9-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer from Tillie and then two more 3s from Marshall Henderson. A three-point play by Brown built Utah's lead to 28-14 with 7:32 left in the first half.
Weber State took its first lead on Lillard's finger-roll that capped a 9-2 run and gave the Wildcats a 53-51 advantage with 13:35 to play.
