Weber State basketball: Byron Fulton's big second half propels Weber State to victory

OGDEN — Fresh off a disastrous first-half performance, and fast headed toward a similar outcome in the second half, Weber State's basketball team needed someone to step forward and turn things around.

Byron Fulton provided exactly the sort of lift the Wildcats needed. Fulton scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime to help Weber State escape with a 71-67 victory over Idaho State at the Dee Events Center on Saturday night. That included a pair of crucial 3-pointers that put the Wildcats ahead for good during a decisive 15-0 spurt. The freshman forward also snagged a team high nine rebounds.

"My team needs me to step up right now," Fulton said. "Everyone on the team is stepping up right now, and it's just making it easier to kind of get things going."

With the Wildcats trailing 48-42 with 11:35 remaining in the second half, Fulton got cooking on offense. Lindsey Hughey, who finished with a team-high 18 points, made a couple of layups to bring Weber State to within a basket. Fulton followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Wildcats ahead for good. Kyle Bullinger finished the run with another 3-pointer and Weber State held a 57-48 lead with 6:43 left.

Idaho State managed to rally and cut the Wildcats' lead to two points in the final minute, but Fulton scored a final layup with 14.2 seconds left to secure the victory. One reason Weber State managed to successfully rally is the team started doing things in the second half that typically breed success.

"Everybody started coming together and we started talking more," Hughey said. "We knew we was rushing things a little bit and we tried to calm ourselves down in the (second) half."

First-half struggles for Weber State mainly resulted from the Wildcats' willingness to repeatedly settle for outside shots rather than working the ball closer to the basket. At first, no harm came from camping out on the perimeter. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Scott Bamforth and Kyle Bullinger helped Weber State stake out an 8-2 lead.

That early advantage quickly evaporated in the face of sizzling outside shooting from Idaho State. The Bengals — who shot 50 percent from outside in the first half — matched the Wildcats shot for shot. Chase Grabau and Kenny McGowen each drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to tie the game.

Bullinger hit another from long range and made a pair of 3-pointers to push Weber State back ahead 13-10. At that point, however, Idaho State took over. The Bengals went on a 7-0 run — capped by a pair of layups from McGowen — and took a 17-13 lead.