Weber State basketball: Wildcats ready to return to league play

OGDEN — Following an odd 26-day break from conference action, Weber State will resume Big Sky play on Thursday.

The Wildcats face Montana State on New Year's Eve in their second league game of the season. Weber State opened conference play with an 80-65 win over Sacramento State on Dec. 5.

In the meantime, Weber State played six nonleague games and went 4-2 in them.

"It's different to start conference, be in that atmosphere, and then jump back into the preseason schedule," said Weber State point guard Damian Lillard, who currently leads the Big Sky in scoring with a 19.1 points per game average. "It was kind of funny, but we'll be ready for it to start."

The scheduling quirk wasn't exclusive to the Wildcats. Only one conference game, between Sacramento State and Idaho State, has been played since Dec. 5.

It's now time to get down to business in the Big Sky, as Weber State is finished with its nonleague schedule and only a handful of games remain between Big Sky teams and nonconference teams.

PARITY RULES?: In what may be a sign of things to come in the Big Sky, only three teams have unbeaten records in conference play. And that's with just a total of seven Big Sky games being completed so far.

Weber State was the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky title, but teams such as Montana, Northern Colorado and Montana State have looked solid in nonleague play. Montana has quality wins over Oregon, Boise State and Fresno State. Northern Colorado beat Colorado State, Air Force and San Jose State, and only lost to Oklahoma by one point.

The Wildcats' best win is over Utah. Sacramento State, picked to finish last in the Big Sky, has a good win over Oregon State.

"Everybody seems like they're doing good," Lillard said. "We're just ready to play. We don't know what to expect."

It could be one of those years where the regular-season conference champion has two or three losses.

"You just never know," said Weber State center Steve Panos. "On any given night, a team can come out and beat somebody, especially if they get in a rhythm. That's how the Big Sky is. It'll be pretty exciting to see how everything turns out. This year, I think it's a little more even. It'll come down to a couple games toward the end, I think."

SURPRISING BEARS: Northern Colorado was picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big Sky, but has so far made preseason prognosticators look like fools.

The Bears are 11-3, off to their best start since the 1988-89 season and the only Big Sky team ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25. Northern Colorado is coming off a 93-69 win over San Jose State in which it sank 18 3-pointers.

The high-scoring Bears are led by Will Figures and Devon Beitzel. The two players each sank six 3-pointers in their win over the Spartans.

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