The third game of the season presents Utah State with its second, and final, in-state foe of the season. Weber State will roll into town only four days removed from its near-upset of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Aggies will look to avoid allowing the Wildcats to pull off an actual upset in the Wednesday-evening showdown.
Here’s all of the necessary info ahead of this next game for Utah State.
How to watch
- Tip-off: 7 p.m. (Mountain Time)
- Location: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (Logan, UT)
- TV Broadcast: KMYU and the Mountain West Network
- Radio Broadcast: KVNU (102.1 FM, 610 AM) / kvnutalk.com / KVNU mobile app
KVNU Aggie GameDay pregame show with Stockton Jewkes and J.D. Walker: 6 p.m.
KVNU Aggie Call: Immediately after Coach Calhoun’s post-game comments
Availability Report
Utah State and Weber State currently have no players expected to miss the upcoming game due to injury.
Projected Starters
Utah State (2-0)
- G – Drake Allen (6-5, Sr.) – 5.5 points | 4.0 rebounds | 9.0 assists
- G – Mason Falslev (6-4, Jr.) – 13.5 points | 4.5 rebounds | 2.5 assists
- G – MJ Collins (6-4, Sr.) – 22.5 points | 3.5 rebounds | 1.0 assists
- F – Tucker Anderson (6-9, Jr.) – 6.0 points | 1.5 rebounds | 1.0 assists
- F – Karson Templin (6-8, Jr.) – 8.0 points | 2.5 rebounds | 2.0 assists
Weber State (1-1)
- G – Tijan Saine (5-10, Jr.) – 11.0 points | 3.0 rebounds | 4.0 assists
- G – Jace Whiting (6-2, Sr.) – 17.0 points | 3.5 rebounds | 2.5 assists
- F – Viljami Vartiainen (6-6, Jr.) – 10.5 points | 3.0 rebounds | 3.5 assists
- F – Nigel Burris (6-7, Sr.) – 10.5 points | 6.0 rebounds | 0.5 assists
- F – Malek Gomma (6-8, Jr.) – 10.0 points | 9.0 rebounds | 1.5 assists
Team Statistical Ranks
Pace and offense/defense efficiency ratings via Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. All rankings are out of 365 teams.
Utah State
- Pace — 156th
- Offensive Efficiency — 117.5 (28th)
- Defensive Efficiency — 100.0 (70th)
- 3-point Percentage — 50.0% (4th)
- 3-Point Attempt Rate — .394 (191st)
- Offensive Rebounding Percent — 39.1% (87th)
- Total Rebounding Percent — 57.6% (79th)
- KenPom Rank – 38th
Weber State
- Pace — 199th
- Offensive Efficiency — 102.1 (247th)
- Defensive Efficiency — 110.0 (266th)
- 3-point Percentage — 37.5% (90th)
- 3-Point Attempt Rate — .374 (238th)
- Offensive Rebounding Percent — 40.4 (70th)
- Total Rebounding Percent — 62.2 (19th)
- KenPom Rank – 269th
Game Preview
A year ago, Utah State and Weber State faced off in an exhibition game in Logan which the Aggies won in dominant fashion, 85-66. That game wound up preceding a 10-game winning streak to begin the 2024-25 campaign. The Wildcats that last year’s Aggie team defeated wound up going 12-20, the worst season for Weber State in half a decade. This year’s team has quite a few new faces, mixed with a handful of familiar ones, that have them poised for a resurgent season that would make former head coach Randy Rahe proud.
Fourth-year head coach Eric Duft lost his leading scorer, Blaise Threatt, who averaged 20 points per game last year. In his place, the Wildcats have leaned on a combination of returning talent, such as wing Trevor Hennig and UNLV transfer guard Jace Whiting. The two are tied for the team lead in scoring, each at 17.0 points per game.
Despite being a transfer from UNLV, Whiting’s name won’t be all that familiar to Utah State fans for his time with the Rebels. The 6-foot-2 guard suffered a season-ending injury in his second game last year and didn’t step on the court in any of the Aggies _ games against UNLV. Where USU fans might remember seeing Whiting facing off against their team comes from his two seasons spent at Boise State. Whiting played five games against Utah State wearing Broncos colors, averaging 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 20.1 minutes per game.
His role at Weber State has expanded to that of lead guard and he’s shown an ability to create offense quite well. Whiting has showcased a craftiness in getting downhill toward the basket. His athleticism doesn’t pop off the screen, but his smooth ball-handling and quick first step have consistently enabled him to get around the defense for an open look near the rim or to draw a foul.
Henning started in the Wildcats’ opener against West Coast Baptist of the NCCAA (National Christian Collegiate Athletics Association), scoring 20 points in just 17 minutes played. He then came off the bench against Utah, but played 35 minutes and had 14 points. He’s been the team’s most efficient 3-point shooter, making 4 of 7 attempts so far this season (a team-best 57.1%).
Along with these two talented scoring guards, Weber State has Western Washington transfer Tijan Saine. He’s averaged 11.0 points these first two games, but has more scoring potential hidden under that. Last year at the Division II level, he averaged 17.3 points per game, shooting 46.5% from the field overall along with 39.6% from three. Saine is a flamethrower waiting to happen, although it hasn’t happened yet at the D1 stage with his field goal percentage currently sitting at 38.1% through two games.
These three quick guards will present a challenge with their speed and ability to break down defenses with said speed.
Utah State’s best defense will very likely be great offense. Specifically, not turning the ball over. Aggies head coach Jerrod Calhoun has harped on his team’s turnover-prone nature all preseason and throughout the exhibition and early-season contests. His dissatisfaction with the 18 turnovers committed in USU’s win over VCU was apparent.
Turnovers can very quickly lead to points, especially against good transition teams. And Weber State has been an active transition team. Nearly a third of their points in two games have come on transition plays. If Utah State limits those opportunities, the Wildcats will have much less to feed their offense on.
“Take good shots, don’t take bad shots. Don’t turn the ball over and don’t put your defense in bad situations,” Calhoun said. “We should be better defensively, but our offense has hurt our defense a little bit. So we’ve got to get better at certain points in the shot clock, the first 12 seconds that is, but I think some of that’s due to our inability to take care of the ball offensively.”
One familiar face will return to the Spectrum, this time for an official game. Former Aggie forward Nigel Burris has become an integral part of Weber State’s lineup. He played in the exhibition game last year, starting and recording seven points, six rebounds in 18 minutes. He went on to start 28 times in 33 appearances for the Wildcats that season, averaging 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds. It was a solid bounce-back for the forward after he averaged less than five minutes per game in 20 appearances for Utah State in 2023-24. Calhoun praised Burris for his play in a hybrid positional role.
“He’s playing at a high, high level. He’s much more confident,” Calhoun said. “He’s playing like a 5-4, so it makes it difficult. He sometimes rolls, he sometimes pops. So our ball screen defense has got to be good.”
Computer Prediction Scores
- KenPom — Utah State win 89-67
- Haslametrics — Utah State win 86-63
- EvanMiya — Utah State win 88-68
