GREELEY, Colo. -- They've been the early surprise of the season as far as Big Sky Conference basketball goes, and tonight Weber State gets a first-hand, up-close look at the talk of the league.
In the first game of this week's difficult road trip, the Wildcats (9-6, 3-0 Big Sky) open the stretch at Northern Colorado tonight, followed by Saturday's game at Northern Arizona.
"It's always a challenge, especially this year in our conference because everybody's really good," said WSU coach Randy Rahe. "We've always tried to embrace the challenge of going out there and performing well enough to see what you can do."
Tonight's game has become an important one since the Bears (13-3, 2-1 Big Sky) have become a popular pick to win the league.
The Bears have won four games in a row, and had a very successful non-league season, which included wins against Colorado State and at Air Force Academy and Texas Christian. UNC started the season by winning the Rainbow Classic hosted by Hawaii.
As Northern Colorado knocked off opponents, the Bears gained attention from other Big Sky teams watching the results.
"It'll be a good test," said WSU center Darin Mahoney. "Everybody's picking Northern Colorado to be the toughest team in our conference, so we're excited to go and see how we match up."
Guards Will Figures and Devon Beitzel lead the Bears, averaging 16.1 and 14.8 points per game, respectively, and Beitzel has been the league's player of the week three times this season, including the past two weeks.
But they aren't the only stars for the Bears, who are 4-0 at home this season. UNC welcomes back seven players from last season's squad that made the Big Sky tournament for the first time in school history.
The only real stumbling block in UNC's season was an 87-63 loss at Montana State, which ended a seven-game winning streak. The Bears, who were close late against the Bobcats but saw the point difference change dramatically in the final minutes, rebounded to win at Montana the following night.
"They are tough, they are aggressive, they guard as well as anybody in our league and they've got a lot of weapons," Rahe said of the Bears. "They shoot the ball well, they drive the ball well and they can throw the ball inside. They've got all the pieces and they're a tough, hard-nosed team."
WSU comes into the game following last week's wins at home over Montana State and Montana, and even though the Wildcats are feeling confident, they realize what a big challenge tonight's game will be.
"It's going to take one of our best defensive performances of the year to be competitive with them," Rahe said. "We've got to be aggressive and play the way we play and we've got to defend with a certain kind of mindset."
The Wildcats hope to regain the mindset they had last season when they became the first team in Big Sky history to post a perfect 8-0 record on the road. To do so, the 'Cats say it starts with the way they approach the game during warmups.
"We don't have our fans there, we have to make our own energy so we just feed off each other and try to play hard and good things happened last year," Mahoney said.
"Last year we were able to do it. If we have a good warmup and have our minds right, it's not too bad."
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