The Weber State University men’s basketball team will follow up its solid season-opening win with a three-game road trip.
The Wildcats will first travel to California to take on San Jose State University for their first away game of the season on Thursday night. WSU defeated SJSU last season in a double-overtime thriller at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Dec. 3, 2011. The game marked the 100th win for Head Coach Randy Rahe as the WSU coach.
Following the game at SJSU on Thursday night, the Wildcats will travel up to Logan to challenge in-state opponent Utah State University on Saturday, Nov. 24. WSU defeated the Aggies last season on Nov. 15, 2011 in Ogden with a score of 73-63.
The Wildcats will conclude their road trip with a game against the University of Dayton on Wednesday, Nov. 28.
In order to find success, the Wildcats will need to play their game effectively. WSU freshman forward Joel Bolomboy said there is one aspect of the game that the team will need to focus on to achieve a win.
“We emphasize defense all the time,” Bolomboy said. “Our main thing is defense. We’re a defensive-based team, and everything we do is on the defensive end, because defense leads to offense.”
During its most recent game, WSU showed it can provide on the offensive end of the court. The Wildcats opened the season with a 110-52 victory over Arizona Christian University. The 58-point win marked the second-highest margin of victory in school history. Seven different WSU team members scored in double-digit figures during the game.
“If we can get seven guys in double figures every game, we’d be pretty good,” said Rahe with a laugh. “Obviously, that team allowed us to get seven guys there. But the thing I liked is that we really did have seven guys in double figures. My whole goal this year is that we need to be balanced in scoring. We’re not going to be very good if we think we are going to have one or two guys getting 20 and 18 points (a game) . . . We’re not that kind of team.”
Unlike with last season, Rahe said the team needs to provide equal offense from all around to succeed.
“We’ve got some really nice players and some good solid talent, but our strength is going to have to be within our team. That means balanced scoring — I hope to have four guys averaging double figures and maybe a couple other guys averaging 7-9 points . . . but that balance is going to make us a tough team to guard . . . Obviously, last year was a lot different.”
