OGDEN, Utah, Dec. 10 - Damian Lillard, the NCAA's
leading scorer, scored 31 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures as
Weber State held off Southern Utah, 84-66, Saturday night.
Ray Jones, Jr., scored 14 points while Jackson Stevenett
added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Damon Heuir came off the
bench to chip in 11 points for the Thunderbirds.
Lillard hit a 3-pointer for the first points of the game and
the Thunderbirds never led.
"Lillard hit that 3-pointer at the beginning of the game and
set the tone for them," SUU Coach Roger Reid said. "He's a great player, a
player who will be in the NBA some day, a player who would be in the NBA this
year if he hadn't been injured last year."
Lillard hit 9-of-15 shots, including 5-of-8 from 3-point
range, and also buried 8-of-9 free throws. For good measure, the junior guard
also dished out a game-high nine assists for the Wildcats, who hit 30-of-53
shots (.566), including 13-of-21 (.619) in the second half.
Southern Utah wound up shooting 483 percent, hitting
28-of-58 shots, and won the rebounding battle 28-to-27 while turning the ball
over just 12 times and dishing out 16 assists, but the Wildcats had just eight
turnovers and finished with 20 assists.
"I thought we played hard, we didn't play that poorly on the
offensive end but when a team shoots 62 percent against you it makes it hard to
win," Reid pointed out. "They were hitting shots tonight and they were able to
get some big rebounds at critical times.
"We ran into a good team tonight, a team that is picked to
win the Big Sky," Reid noted. "I'm proud of our team, we've got better times
ahead of us, we just need to re-group and move forward."
After Lillard hit the three to open the game SUU played
within three points for most of the first half, but the Wildcats went on a 12-4
run to close the period and take a 44-32 lead at the break after Byron Fulton
hit a 3-pointer with five seconds to go.
Wade Collie tipped in a Ramell Taylor miss to open the
second half, pulling the Thunderbirds within 44-34, but the Wildcats went on a 14-3
run, pushing the advantage to 58-37 on a Kyle Tresnak dunk with 14:47 to play.
SUU rallied back within 64-51 on a Taylor jumper at the 9:03
mark, but after a time out Weber State scored 12 straight, including 3-pointers
by Lillard and Jordan Richardson, to give the Wildcats a 76-51 lead with 7:03
to play and SUU was never able to get closer than 18 the rest of the way.
-- SUU --
