After two wins in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, Weber State men’s basketball returns to Big Sky Conference play with a road trip to two sometimes tricky places to play, taking on Sacramento State and Portland State.

The Wildcats (11-4, 2-0 Big Sky) first take reigning Big Sky player of the year Dillon Jones and a surging offense to Sacramento, where the somewhat desperate Hornets (4-11, 0-2) will look to get back into the win column before losses snowball too far down the hillside.

Sac State again carries a transfer-heavy roster after graduations and departing transfers, and three of them lead the Hornets in scoring: forward and North Carolina A&T transfer Duncan Powell (13.5 ppg), wing and Utah State transfer Zee Hamoda (12.1), and guard and Tulsa transfer Brandon Betson (9.6).

The Hornets are an interesting bunch. The offense plays slowly and inefficiently, averaging 63.5 points per game against Division I opponents. Sacramento State rebounds fairly well on both ends but is second-to-last nationally in turnover rate, turning the ball over on 25.2% of offensive possessions.

Powell and Akol Mawien can score inside, with Powell shooting 61.5% on two-pointers this season. But one fascinating facet at Sacramento State is 3-point shooting: the Hornets are 12th nationally in percentage of field goal attempts as 3s (47.8%) but 304th in actual 3-point percentage against DI opponents (29.9%).

So should one or two players heat up — likely Hamoda, Austin Patterson or an unchecked Powell — that quantity means Sac State could quickly become a difficult game.

The game is the 60th matchup between the schools; WSU leads the all-time series 49-10, with an often-competitive 22-7 mark in Sacramento, and has won seven straight.

Ken Pomeroy’s numbers suggest a 10-point WSU victory at 80% probability.

The game at Sacramento State tips at 6 p.m. PST/7 p.m. MST on Thursday.

Portland State (10-5, 1-1) has seen its share of interesting results so far this season, starting 5-2 against DI opponents and claiming road wins at Air Force, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Baptist and Fresno State while battling to a loss with a stronger-than-expected St. Thomas team on a neutral court.

But after league play began, PSU lost by 34 at Eastern Washington and survived at Idaho before losing by 16 at Kansas City in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The Vikings have been up and down recently but haven’t played a DI home game since Nov. 28, so this weekend’s home games may help level things.

PSU struggles to score efficiently but takes care of the ball (and also gets on the offensive glass well enough), and its defense causes a good share of turnovers, so the Vikings still find their chances to score. Portland State also has no scoring-dominant player: Texas Tech transfer KJ Allen averages 10.9 points per game, Isaiah Johnson 9.9, Jorell Saterfield 9.8, JUCO transfer Ismail Habib 9.2 and Bobby Harvey 8.8.

Habib (38.4%), Harvey (35.2%) and Saterfield (33.3%) are the consistent 3-point threats by volume and percentage, while four of those five above also average about one steal per game.

WSU leads the all-time series 45-18 but with a 17-14 edge in Portland, and the series is knotted 5-5 in the last 10.

Pomeroy’s numbers favor WSU by four points at 64% probability.

The game at Portland State is scheduled for 4 p.m. PST/5 p.m. MST on Saturday.

Both games will stream on ESPN+ with a WSU radio call on 103.1 FM.

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