Game Notes vs. Weber State

There's no place like home. For the first time since Jan. 22, the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team will be playing in the friendly confines of Reese Court this week. The Eagles host Weber State on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. and Idaho State on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.
 
Staff and Faculty Appreciation Night is set for Thursday evening against the Wildcats. Tickets for both contests are available at GoEags.com/tickets. While concession stands and hospitality areas such as The Sixth Man Club and The Eagle Club are back open, masks are still required unless actively eating or drinking. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours for fans ages 11 or older is required for entry to home games.
 
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN/The Varsity Network App.
 
Eastern Washington last hosted Sacramento State and Northern Colorado at Reese Court on Jan. 20 and Jan. 22. The Eagles then hit the road for five-straight games, four of which were played on a nine-day road trip. Eastern Washington started the trip off on a high note with an 89-63 win at Idaho State, but then dropped four-straight to Montana State (69-65), Montana (61-59), Weber State (90-84) and Southern Utah (84-72). The Eagles will look to snap a four-game losing streak, its longest since the 2018-19 season when they lost six-straight from Nov. 27 to Dec. 18.

A LOOK AT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 11-12 overall and 5-7 in Big Sky Conference games. The Eagles have played five-straight on the road with an 89-63 win at Idaho State (Jan. 24) and losses at Montana State (Jan. 27), Montana (Jan. 29), Weber State (Jan. 31) and Southern Utah (Feb. 5). Four of Eastern's seven losses in conference play have been decided by six points or less, falling to Northern Colorado (87-83), Montana State (69-65), Montana (61-59) and Weber State (90-84).
 
The Eagles average 76.7 points per game, the fourth-most offensive output in the conference. They lead the conference and rank 26th in the nation with 16.3 assists per game, totaling 375 to rank 25th. Eastern Washington pulls down 38.83 rebounds per game to rank second in the conference and 69th nationally, with 870 total boards to rank 64th. Eastern has out-rebounded its opponents in 13 games this year. They average 28.13 defensive boards per game which is 27th in the nation.
 
EWU is also one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, firing off 207 total this year to rank 42nd in the NCAA. Eastern also has a stifling three-point defense, only allowing opponents to shoot 31.6 percent behind the arc to rank first in the conference and 95th nationally. Eastern Washington ranks 47^th in the NCAA and third in the Big Sky with 9.0 three-pointers per game. The squad has made double-digit triples in six out of the last eight games, with season highs of 14 against Idaho and 13 against Idaho State.
 
The Eagles are also solid at the free throw line, ranking 35th nationally with 343 free throws made and 51st with 455 attempts. EWU makes 75.4 percent of its attempts to rank 47th in the country.
 
Eastern is 3-0 this season when scoring 90 or more points, and 4-2 when shooting between 50-to-60 percent from the field.
 
Eastern Washington boasts four players who average double figures, three of which rank in the top-12 in the Big Sky. Steele Venters (4th, 16.7 ppg) leads the way, followed by Linton Acliese III (8th, 15.6 ppg) and Rylan Bergersen (12th, 13.1 ppg). Angelo Allegri rounds out the offense with 11.4 points per game. Four Eagles also rank in the top-22 in the conference in rebounding in Acliese (8th, 6.8 rpg), Allegri (10th, 6.7 rpg), Bergersen (21st, 4.8 rpg), and Ethan Price (23rd, 4.5).
 
YOU CAN CALL HIM BOOGIE: Linton Acliese III or "Boogie" was honored on Jan. 4 with the ROAR Organic Big Sky Player of the Week nod after leading Eastern to two Big Sky road wins at Portland State and Northern Arizona. It was the first Player of the Week nod for the program this season. Over the two games, Acliese shot 60.6 percent (20-33) from the field, plus made three three-pointers and made both free throw attempts. He totaled 18 rebounds for an average of nine per game, plus had five total assists and a block while averaging 22.5 points per game. He scored 30 points at Northern Arizona to go with 11 rebounds for his then-fourth double-double of the season.
 
Currently, Acliese ranks eighth in the Big Sky in points (15.6) per game and rebounds (6.8) per game. He's scored in double figures in 18 out of the 20 games he has played in, including 11-straight, to go with five double-doubles. He is second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage, knocking down 53.5 percent (125-235) of his attempts. Additionally, Acliese ranks 72^nd in the nation in free throw percentage, making 51 of his 60 attempts to shoot 85 percent.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFER: Rylan Bergersen ranks third on the team and 12th in the Big Sky with 13.3 points per game, but there's more to it. He's led the team in assists in 15 games, ranking fourth in the Big Sky and 90th in the nation with 4.3 per game. He has 98 assists on the year to rank 70^th across all of Division I, and has three-or-more assists in every game but two, including at least four in 13. He's fourth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio with 1.78.
 
Bergersen can rebound, too, ranking third on the team and 21st in the Big Sky with 4.8 per game. He's pulled down four-or-more rebounds in 17 games. On the defensive side, he's eighth in the conference with 1.3 steals per game, with at least one in every game but four. Last but not least, he ranks 51st in the nation with 92 free throws made and is 53^rd with 119 attempts.
 
In the two games against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, Bergersen led the team in points, steals and assists. He averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the contests. He also shot 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field, 60 percent (3-5) from three-point range, and 76.9 percent (10-13) from the free throw line. Against Idaho State, he scored nine points to go with five rebounds and six assists and at Weber State he scored 17 points on 7-for-9 from the field with three assists. He scored 11 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal at Southern Utah.
 
MOVES LIKE GELO: Angelo Allegri has emerged as a steady three-point shooter for Eastern Washington. He knocks down an average of 2.3 triples per game to rank sixth in the Big Sky, and has at least one three-pointer in 20 out of 23 games. Additionally, he's made at least two in 14 games and three-or-more in nine. Against Multnomah on Dec. 15, he made a career-best six. Allegri ranks second on the team with 53 triples total, shooting 56.6 percent from behind the arc and averaging 6.5 attempts per game. He currently averages 11.4 points per game and has scored in double figures 14 times, including a career-best 23 against Multnomah and 21 points against Idaho.
 
He is emerging as one of the team's top-rebounders, too. Against Sacramento State, he earned his first career double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, the most boards by an Eagle this season. His second double-double came at Montana with 11 points and 11 rebounds before tallying 14 points and 10 boards at Weber State. He has led the team in rebounding in eight games, including seven out of the last nine. He has grabbed at least seven boards in nine out of the last 14 games, including nine out of the last 11. Allegri ranks 10th in the Big Sky with 6.7 per game.
 
VENTERS IS EFFICIENT: One of the sharpest shooters in the Big Sky, redshirt-freshman Steele Venters leads the team and ranks fifth in the conference with 16.7 points per game. Not only does Venters like to shoot, he does it well, knocking down 46.8 percent from the field to rank sixth in the Big Sky. He leads the league in three-point percentage as well, knocking down 2.8 per game at a clip of 45.5 percent, a mark that ranks 17th in all of Division I. At the free throw line, he ranks third in the conference with a clip of 81.7 percent.
 
Venters has scored in double figures in 17 out of 22 games, including nine games with 20-or-more points. He has scored 20-or-more points in five Big Sky games, with a career-high 29 against Southern Utah. Venters has made a three-pointer in every game this year except one, including two or more in 17. He has a career-high six against Southern Utah and followed up with five against Omaha, Colorado, Idaho and Idaho State. Nationally, he ranks 17th in three-point field goal percentage, 66^th in three-pointers per game, 71st in total three's made and 83^rd with 366 total points.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Eagles led for 19:01 of the first half at Southern Utah, but the Thunderbirds used the second half of play to pull away and win 84-72.
 
 Eastern Washington led for 19:01 of the first half and led by as many as 13-points. In the first 20 minutes, the Eagles shot 14-for-26 (53.8%) from the field with six three-pointers. Southern Utah was held to 42.9 percent (12-28). The Eagles led by a point at the half, but the Thunderbirds outscored EWU 48-35 in the second half while shooting 60.7 percent from the field and holding Eastern Washington to 48.3 percent.
 
Steele Venters led the team with 19 points after making four three-pointers. Ethan Price (14 points, 6 assists), Rylan Bergersen (11 points) and Linton Acliese III (11 points) also scored in double figures.
 
A LOOK AT THE WILDCATS: Weber State is 18-6 overall and sit at the top of the Big Sky Conference standings with an 11-2 mark in conference play. The Wildcats had won eight-straight, including one contest over EWU, before Montana State snapped the streak with a 78-57 upset on the road.
 
Koby McEwen leads the Wildcats and ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring at 17.9 points per game. McEwen is also seventh in the Big Sky in field goal percentage and ninth in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers per game. He also ranks second in the nation in free throws with 130 and is third in the country in free throw attempts with 160. As a team, Weber State is first in the nation in free throws made with 399, an average of 16.7 per game. The Wildcats rank third in the country in free throw attempts with 535, for an average of 22.3 attempts per game. In EWU and Weber State's game on Jan. 31, Eastern Washington went 6-of-9 from the line while the Wildcats were 26-for-29.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Washington trails the all-time series with Weber State, 50-27. Before the Jan. 31 loss, the Eagle had won three-straight over the Wildcats. Eastern has not hosted Weber State at Reese Court since March 7, 2020 where EWU won 78-69 to claim the Big Sky Conference regular season title. Unbeknownst to the Eagles, that would be the final game of the season before the tournament got wiped out due to the pandemic.
 
At Reese Court, the Eagles are 17-18 all-time against the Wildcats.

UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hosts Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 17 at Reese Court. They then make the short trek to Moscow, Idaho to play the Vandals on Saturday, Feb. 19 at approximately 4:30 p.m., following the women's game at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 700-AM ESPN.