Coming off its biggest victory ever in Big Sky competition, Weber State will try to keep its season alive when it meets Idaho Wednesday night (6:30 p.m.) in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at Dahlberg Arena.
The Wildcats finished the regular season with a flourish, beating hapless Northern Arizona by 50 points Saturday night in Ogden. They're hoping to keep the momentum going when they get a third chance at the Vandals, who beat them twice during the regular season by small margins."We're happy to be here," said Wildcat Coach Denny Huston. "There is usually no pressure on the sixth seed, so we should go in relaxed and ready to play. This team has been a good road team, so they know what it takes to win in a hostile or strange environment."
Idaho defeated Weber 78-74 in Ogden in early January. Then last month in Moscow, the Vandals won 58-56 on Lance Irvin's shot at the buzzer.
The Vandals, who are coached by former University of Utah assistant Larry Eustachy, will have two players that didn't play in the last game against Weber. Clifford Martin, a 6-8 center, is back after missing nine games due to academic problems and Leonard Perry, a 6-2 guard, missed the game due to illness.
Perry should start along with Calvin Ward at the guardline, Otis Mixon and Sammie Freeman are the forwards and Deon Watson is the center. The leading Vandal scorer is Ricardo Boyd, who averages 12.0 off the bench.
The Wildcats will start Aaron Bell (12.7 ppg) and Al Hamilton (11.6) up front, David Baldwin (11.6) in the middle and Jason Joe (11.6) and Tony Nicholas (9.9) in the backcourt. Freshmen Jimmy DeGraffenried and Elroy Miller are the top Wildcat reserves.
Wednesday's game will be carried live on KXIV-TV (Channel 14) and KLO Radio (AM-1430).