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Weber State's Dyson Koehler (4) tries to get a shot between Idaho State's Blake Daberkow (32) and Jackson Greene on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, at Reed Gym in Pocatello, Idaho.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State forward Antoniette Emma-Nnopu (7) sizes up the defense of Northern Colorado's Ruthie Loomis-Goltl on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State men’s basketball finishes the regular season with Saturday-Monday jaunts to Pocatello and Portland, and first gets a matchup with the Idaho State Bengals.

Down the stretch, the Big Sky Conference has been as weird and interesting as ever. For example, Idaho State lost nine straight in a stretch that included six road games. Returning home, though, the Bengals just beat Montana and Montana State, who were then second and third in the league.

ISU crushed MSU 91-76 — the same Montana State team that just thrashed first-place Portland State 84-69 on Thursday.

What happened? In person, when Weber State needed a last-second ArDarius Grayson shot to beat ISU, the Bengals seemed to have pretty good frontcourt and wing contributions but were starved for some good guard play.

Enter Gus.

Gus Etchison, the Hoosier and fifth-year senior who spent two years at Western Michigan before another two at NAIA Marian (Indiana), feels like an unknown. He only played three minutes in ISU’s loss in Ogden. Entering last week, the 5-foot-10 Etchison averaged 6.4 points in 11.3 minutes per game.

Then he had one of the best weeks imaginable against top competition.

“Etchison was always a guy, he scared you because he’d come in and he can bang shots in a hurry. I think he was struggling with some consistency, for whatever reason. He’s figured that out,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said after Saturday’s win over Montana. “We’ll have our work cut out for us, for sure.”

Etchison helped ISU edge Montana with 29 points in a season-high 27 minutes, going 4 of 7 from the 3-point line.

For an encore two nights later: 36 points in 31 minutes, shooting 12 of 17 on two-pointers while adding eight assists to blow out Montana State.

Duft said he’s not surprised. Because WSU (15-14, 9-7) and ISU (12-17, 5-11) are a travel pair, Weber State watches film of Idaho State almost every Friday because the Bengals play on Thursday who the Wildcats face each Saturday.

“His talent pops off the screen. … It’s not completely surprising. I know it is to most people but, if you’ve seen him in some stretches during the season, man, he is a shotmaker,” Duft said. “You see this every now and again — got a guy who’s a senior, he’s got nothing left to lose, so he’s letting it rip. Obviously, he’s found something.”

Etchison had two 40-plus-point outings in his first year at Marian, including a game where he made nine 3-pointers and another where he scored 33 in one half. He played only six games last year before opting for season-ending surgery. Transferring to Idaho State, he’s had flashes here and there this season but, outside a 20-point game in a loss at Montana State, has been a relative nonfactor in Big Sky play.

He’s a factor now, taking home College Insider’s national mid-major player of the week honors.

After that, WSU closes the slate at Portland State (18-9, 12-4) for a Monday night matchup. PSU will be arriving home from its trip to both Montana schools; the pair opened Big Sky play with an overtime game in Ogden in which a late, missed free throw helped PSU tie the game and later win it in overtime.

The Vikings started league play 11-1 but have lost three of the last four, including Thursday’s loss at MSU (16-13, 10-6) in which PSU trailed by as much 21 in the second half. PSU has clinched at least a share of the regular-season crown but still needs a win, or a loss each from MSU and Eastern Washington, to win outright.

In the shakeout of standings and seeding, MSU and EWU both held home serve Thursday night to keep Weber State in fourth place. In a matchup of the two hottest teams, Eastern Washington (12-17, 10-6) vanquished Northern Colorado (18-11, 8-8) to end the Bears’ seven-game win streak and run the Eagles’ streak to seven itself.

WOMEN FINISH AT HOME

Weber State women’s basketball, winners in two of the last three, hopes to build momentum headed into the conference tournament as it closes the regular-season slate hosting Idaho State at 2 p.m. Saturday and Portland State at 6 p.m. Monday.

WSU lost at Idaho State by 11 earlier this season, trailing 20-8 after the first quarter and playing evenly from there.

In the opener at Portland State two months ago, WSU seemed to be settling into conference play with a 58-51 lead and 6:22 remaining but surrendered a 17-0 run to end the game and lost by 10 — the start of what became a painful nine-game losing streak.

WSU has two seniors to honor in guard Lanae Billy and forward Antoniette Emma-Nnopu, both two-year players after transferring to Weber.

Billy, of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, was one of the best 3-point shooters in the country as a junior (45.7%), her first season at WSU after transferring from Fort Lewis College. But she had more difficulty this season, perhaps because she was more of a focal point in opponents’ game plans. Over 47 games, she’s averaged 9.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.1% from 3. Her next make from 3 will be her 100th at Weber State.

Emma-Nnopu, the Australian who transferred from UNC Greensboro, has proven a formidable post presence on both ends. In 45 games, she’s averaged 11.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. This season, she’s scoring 14.7 points per game and is 13 of 31 (41.9%) from the 3-point line.