Weber State basketball: Damian Lillard could move into 2nd place on WSU scoring list vs. Hornets

OGDEN — The Big Sky's best and worst men's basketball teams will tangle Thursday night in Sacramento, Calif., where league-leading Weber State and cellar-dweller Sacramento State square off in a game where the Wildcats' biggest challenge could be overconfidence.

After all, the Wildcats (15-3, 7-0 Big Sky) take a nine-game winning streak into tonight's 8 p.m. MST matchup, which includes a 74-63 victory on New Year's Eve over the Hornets, who have lost eight straight and haven't won a game since Dec. 18.

What's more, Weber State owns a lopsided 32-4 advantage all-time in games against Sac State, including a 14-3 WSU lead in Sacramento, where Weber State has won four straight and six of the last seven meetings. Overall, the 'Cats have won nine straight in the series between the two schools.

To add even further to the Wildcats' confidence level, WSU coach Randy Rahe is 10-1 against the Hornets, and Sac State coach Brian Katz is 0-7 against the 'Cats.

Weber State, led by the nation's leading scorer Damian Lillard, is off to its best start since the 1979-80 season and is 7-0 in Big Sky play for the first time since 2003, when the Wildcats went on to run the table with a perfect 14-0 mark in conference play.

Lillard, who's averaging 25.1 points per game, scored just 18 in the Wildcats' last game, an 81-67 win over Northern Arizona a week ago. It was just the fourth time in his last 18 games that Lillard has not scored at least 20 points. He needs just 13 points Thursday night to move past Jermaine Boyette into third place on WSU's all-time scoring list, and with 24 points he'll pass Jimmy DeGraffenried for the second spot on Weber State's career scoring chart.

WSU sophomore center Kyle Tresnak scored a career-high 22 points in the win over NAU and leads the Big Sky in field goal percentage at 58.5.

For Sac State, junior John Dickson leads the team and ranks ninth in the league in scoring with 12.8 points per game. The Hornets' Joe Eberhard is sixth in the Big Sky in rebounding with 6.3 per game, and freshman Dylan Garrity leads the Big Sky in assists with 6.1 per game.

Email: rhollis@desnews.com

Wildcats on the air

Weber St. (15-3, 7-0 Big Sky) at Sacramento St. (5-13, 0-7)

Thursday, January 26th, 8 p.m. MT

Radio: 1280 AM

Wolverines on the air

Chicago St. (2-17, 1-1 Great West) at Utah Valley (11-10, 1-0)

Thursday, January 26th, 7 p.m.

UCCU Center

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UMKC (9-13, 3-7 Summit) at Southern Utah (10-10, 5-5)

Thursday, January 26th, 7 p.m.

Centrum Arena