During the Big Sky season, Idaho State basketball players don't look forward to Fridays the way most of us do.

To them, it's the worst day of the week.

Coming off a game the day before, they have to spend their Fridays scouting a new team they will play on Saturday, practicing a new game plan and, in some cases, traveling to a different city.

It's one heck of a cram session that can leave players exhausted and keep coaches up all night.

For once, though, the Bengals didn't have to deal with that pressure yesterday. Because they played Weber State on Thursday and will play the Wildcats again at 7:05 p.m. today in Ogden, Utah, there wasn't anything new to go over.

"It makes everything easy on us," Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien said. "The league asked us last year if we were OK with playing the same team twice in a weekend, and I was all for it."

Randy Rahe was less enthusiastic about facing Idaho State in back-to-back games, but when the Bengals wanted to keep the weekend series going, he agreed.

"It's easy to prepare, but it can sometimes be hard to play the same team twice," Rahe said. "But I don't think it gives either team an advantage, and if neither team has an advantage, then I have no problem with it."

The hardest thing Idaho State players said they had to deal with leading up to tonight's game was staying focused after what happened at Holt Arena on Thursday, when the Bengals blew a 13-point lead in the second half and lost to the Wildcats 76-67 in overtime.

It was a difficult loss to take, but now that they are 4-4 in conference play, they need wins more than ever to assure themselves a spot in the Big Sky tournament.

"We've got our backs against the ropes now," senior guard Matt Stucki said. "In the second half of conference play, we have to go on a run. It's essential. We're going to do everything we can to be ready. Right now we've just got to get rested and move on."

Weber State players, who are currently elated to sit atop the conference standings with a 7-1 conference record, made similar comments.

"It's kind of weird," guard Kellen McCoy said. "We don't have to go over too much of the scouting reports - just rest our bodies up and get ready to play."

Said guard Damian Lillard: "It's always tough to beat a team two times in a row. But it's all mental. This is over with. Now we have to focus on our next game. They're our next opponent, so we're just gonna deal with it then."

For once, players didn't have to deal with it on Friday.

Idaho State (7-15, 4-4) at Weber State (13-8, 7-1)

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah

Watch/Listen: www.bigskytv.org/930 AM KSEI

What's at stake:

Idaho State can move back above .500 in the conference standings with a win at Weber State.

Key Matchup:

Damian Lillard vs. Donnie Carson. Lillard got free far too often on Thursday and made key jump shots. He led the Wildcats with 22 points and three 3-pointers. Carson needs to keep an eye on him at all times today.

Three things about Weber State

- At 7-1, Weber State is a full game up on 6-2 Portland State in the conference standings.

- Randy Rahe, who is in his third year at Weber State, applied for Idaho State's last coaching vacancy but was not even a finalist for the job. Current Bengals coach Joe O'Brien was eventually hired.

- The Wildcats lead the league in home attendance this year, averaging 4,200 fans.

Happy ending if …

Amorrow Morgan plays even an average game. He had his worst game of the season on Thursday, and the Bengals were in position to win the whole way.

Sad ending if …

Matt Stucki continues to struggle on the road. This season, he has failed to score more than 13 points in a game away from Holt Arena and averages just eight points a game on the road. Compared to a 15.5 points-per-game average at home, that's quite a drop off.

Bottom line:

A win at Weber State would give Idaho State some much-needed momentum moving into the second half of conference play.