By Martin Renzhofer

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Ogden • Like an old car on a frigid winter morning, Weber State had a difficult time getting the motor to turn over.

The Wildcats defeated Montana State, 63-49, for their seventh consecutive victory. But for much of Thursday’s Big Sky Conference basketball game, WSU’s offense sputtered and coughed.

At a glance

—

Weber State 63, Montana State 49

Weber State’s 63 points were its second fewest this season.

» WSU forward Byron Fulton scores 11 and grabs 13 rebounds for his first career double-double.

» Weber State’s Damian Lillard remains the nation’s leading scorer at 25.8 points a game.

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

Even Damian Lillard, the nation’s leading scorer, couldn’t get warm. The WSU (13-3, 5-0 BSC) guard finished with 17 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

"It just came down to us playing harder and getting our energy up," Lillard said. "We worked real hard in practice, but when we came out we weren’t as locked in as we were in practice.

"It was obvious."

Finally, with less than eight minutes to play, Weber State’s offense roared to life, turning an upset bid by the Bobcats (7-8, 2-2) into double-digit victory.

In a three-minute period, Lillard followed a 3-pointer with a three-point play. Sophomore post Byron Fulton, who earned the first double-double of his career, found teammate Darin Mahoney with a sweet pass under the basket. Then Fulton popped a 3-pointer of his own.

What was once a four-point game was suddenly 13. Scott Bamforth finished with 20 points, while Byron Fulton added 11 to go with 13 rebounds.

"I was pretty much trying to be aggressive on the glass," Fulton said.

Weber State, fresh off of two conference road wins, shot 33 percent from the floor, while MSU won the battle of the boards. At times, WSU couldn’t get out of its own way.

Wildcat coach Randy Rahe sensed what was coming and warned his players about staying mentally focused. It didn’t take.

"A buddy of mine did a stat for me ... on home losses — when do they occur," Rahe said. "He told me, and I always felt this way, anytime you come off the road after a couple games, that first home game back is when 70 percent of home losses occur.

"You have a tendency to relax. When you are the road you are such a high edge. We didn’t have the edge."

Weber State countered its inconsistent offense with fly-paper defense and ball security. The Wildcats limited MSU to 34 percent shooting. They also turned the ball over only six times while forcing 14.

"It just says we fight," WSU guard Scott Bamforth said. "We know we’re not going to shoot the ball well every night," Bamforth. "Good teams find a way to win. Even if we shoot well, if comes to us playing hard. If we don’t play hard, any team can beat us."

In addition, forward Kyle Bullinger, out nine games with a dislocated right elbow, finally made an appearance. He was rusty, but healthy in time for Saturday’s showdown with Montana, also unbeaten in conference play.

"We shot 33 percent and still won," Rahe said. "I’ll take it."