Senior guard Ryan Brimley scored a team-high 18 points and junior point guard Ray Jones Jr. finished with 16 for the Thunderbirds (2-7). SUU shot 48% but the Wildcats (5-3) picked up the win by shooting 47%, outrebounding the Thunderbirds 35-25 and scoring 37 points from inside the paint.

"I was proud of how we played against a good team in Weber State but didn't like how we didn't rebound tonight," head coach Roger Reid commented. "It was nice to see Ryan play well tonight. We got some good minutes off the bench from Jake (Nielsen) and Tyson (Koehler) but just gave up too many points down low."

Both team traded buckets in the opening minutes as sophomore guard Jordan Weirick hit a long three from straight away and later added another long jumper from the left wing. The physical play underneath prevented either team from playing with any rhythm, keeping the score down for most of the first half.

Later in the period, another Weirick jumper was followed by a nice runner in the lane from Jones Jr. to give SUU a 20-18 lead. Freshman forward Kyle Davis later hit a three to give SUU a three-point advantage but Weber State would use a 12-4 run in the closing minutes of the half to take a 34-31 lead at the break.

Southern Utah shot 50% through the first 20 minutes while WSU shot 48% and forced SUU into 12 turnovers. Jones Jr. led Southern Utah with nine points in the first half.

Weber State opended the second half with 9-3 run to build an eight-point lead but the Thunderbirds continued to hang around and kept it close.  SUU eventually pulled back within one as Davis hit two free throws and junior forward Jake Nielsen later followed with a steal and finished with the layin to cut the Weber State lead to 48-46 midway through the second half.

SUU would get within one a couple times after a long three from the right wing by Brimley and a putback by Tyson Koehler with just under nine minutes remaining. Both teams would continue to trade baskets before WSU got a layin and converted on a free throw for the three-point play and followed with a long three on the next trip down to begin to pull away, 64-58 with 5:55 remaining.

Minutes later WSU would extend its lead to ten, making two free throws and then adding a runner in the lane to open up a 70-60 lead with 2:18 remaining.

In the final minute, Brimley hit a fall-away three and Jones cashed in a steal with a layup but Weber State continued to get points at the other end by knocking down free throws and went on to pick up the win.

Sophomore forward Tyson Koehler came off the bench to score eight points and grab a team-high six boards while Nielson scored five points, had four rebounds and four assists also off the bench. Damian Lillard posted a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats who had three players score in double-figures are picked to win the Big Sky Conference this season.

Next up for the Thunderbirds is a Tuesday night home matchup against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Centrum Arena.