Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Idaho State
'Cats suffer first Big Sky loss on ISU buzzer beater
1/29/2012 4:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POCATELLO, Idaho - Kenny McGowen's three-pointer at the buzzer gave Idaho State a 64-62 win over Weber State Saturday night, snapping Weber State's 10-game winning streak and giving the Wildcats their first conference loss.
Idaho State led by four at halftime and led by as many as eight in the second half. With Idaho State on top 50-42 with under 10:00 to play the Wildcats went on a 14-5 run to take a 56-55 lead with under 6:00 to play. The 'Cats led again at 60-58 with 2:38 to play after a Scott Bamforth jumper. ISU came back with a three-pointer by McGowen to take a 61-60 lead with 2:02 to play.
Bamforth made two free throws to put the 'Cats back on top with 1:47 remaining. After an Idaho State turnover the Wildcats Damian Lillard missed a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to give Idaho State a final chance. That's when McGowen nailed a three-pointer from the corner with no time on the clock to give the Bengals the win, snapping a seven-game WSU winning streak over Idaho State.
"We battled hard tonight but I give Idaho State a lot of credit," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "We fought hard and had a chance to win the game down the stretch but they made a couple of plays and did what they needed to do."
Weber State shot 45 percent from the field and held ISU to 42 percent shooting. Both teams were tied in rebounding at 31 and each had 12 turnovers, though the Wildcats had eight turnovers in the first 12:00.
Weber State, who entered the game leading the country in free throw percentage, shot just 12-19 from the line for 63 percent shooting.
Scott Bamforth led Weber State with 17 points on 5-11 shooting. Damian Lillard, the nation's leading scorer, finished with 15, tied for his second lowest scoring night of the season. Lillard finished the night 5-17 from the field, including 1-7 shooting from three-point land. However, he did pass Jimmy Degraffenried for second place in Weber State career scoring, now with 1,637 career points.
WSU senior Kyle Bullinger scored a season-high 12 points on 5-7 shooting. Darin Mahoney pulled down eight rebounds for the Wildcats. McGowan led Idaho State with 19 points.
"We knew this was going to be a tough game and it was," Bullinger said. "We had some chances down the stretch but just didn't get it done."
With the loss the Wildcats drop to 16-4 overall and 8-1 in Big Sky play.
WSU will return home for two games next week when they host Portland State Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Northern Colorado Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
