WSU basketball: Wildcats staying focused on Hornets

The Weber State Wildcats have undoubtedly felt tempted to look past tonight's game at Sacramento State and toward a more important contest at Northern Arizona on Saturday.

The Wildcats play the first of three straight road games tonight against Sacramento State, which is in the midst of a dismal season. The Hornets are 0-6 in the Big Sky and 1-18 overall. They've lost 13 straight games, and each of their 18 losses has been by double digits.

Perhaps the biggest question to ask about this team is how in the world did it defeat UC Davis by 12 points on Dec. 3?

Nonetheless, the Wildcats say they are taking tonight's game seriously and not looking ahead to playing a tougher opponent in a more hostile environment when they face the Lumberjacks on Saturday. Weber State was an upset victim at home against Montana State last week, so the Wildcats say they know not to take any team lightly.

"Going on the road, people might look at their (the Hornets) record and see that they haven't won a game in conference and slack off," said Wildcats forward Daviin Davis. "I'm not going to let my teammates do that. We're going to go in there and fight and try to get a win."

Senior guard Loren Leath poses about the only threat the Wildcats need to worry about against Sacramento State. He leads the team with a 15.8 points per game average, and he's scoring 27 points per game in conference play. He torched Northern Colorado for 41 points while draining nine 3-pointers in a game last Tuesday. Center Justin Eller (10.7 points and 6.9 rebounds) is the only other Sac State player who averages double figures.

The Hornets are led by first-year coach Brian Katz. He replaced Jerome Jenkins, who was fired at the end of last season. To get the job, Katz beat out former Weber State coach Joe Cravens, who was a candidate for the position.

Despite the Hornets' record and seemingly a lack of firepower outside of Leath, coach Randy Rahe said they can't be dismissed.

"Any game on the road is difficult," he said. "You try to hold down homecourt, (we) gave one away the other night (against Montana State), now we just got to try and go steal one. Sac State will be a great challenge for us."

Rahe said he planned to put his players through some tough practices during the week to prepare them for Sacramento State, and that he was counting on seniors Davis and Kellen McCoy to help make the younger players understand that beating the Hornets is no guarantee.

"I think we got good senior leadership, and that they will help the team understand it doesn't matter who we're playing," Rahe said. "They're (the Hornets) a very capable team. The bottom line is if our mind is not right we won't be successful no matter who we play."

On the air

Weber State (10-8, 4-1)

at Sacramento State (1-18, 0-6)

Tonight, 8:05 p.m.

TV: None

Radio: 1430 AM

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E-mail: aaragon@desnews.com

Wildcats on the air