Weber State picks up slack on Lillard's rare off night

OGDEN — Damian Lillard always seems to draw a crowd, whether it's opposing defenders, media members or professional basketball observers.

But on Thursday night, when eight NBA scouts were on hand at the Dee Events Center to see the Weber State star in action, the junior guard struggled through an icy shooting night that was nearly as cold as the sub-freezing weather outside — 4-for-14, including a 2-of-6 night from 3-point range.

Heck, the 90-percent foul shooter even missed once from the foul line, finishing with "only" 17 points — nearly 10 less than his 25.8-point average that leads the nation.

And guess what? It really didn't matter much at all.

Teammates Scott Bamforth and Byron Fulton picked up the slack, Lillard still made big plays when his team needed him most and the Wildcats overcame 33-percent shooting as a team to turn back Montana State, 63-49, for their seventh straight victory.

"That's just a sign of being a good team when everything doesn't go your way and you still find a way to win," said Lillard, last week's national player of the week whose average slipped by a half-point with Thursday night's sub-par performance. "It just shows that we're starting to get better as a team and maturing as a team and the fact that we don't have to make every single shot to be able to come out on top."

Weber State is now 9-0 at home, 13-3 overall and 5-0 in Big Sky Conference play heading into Saturday's showdown with the University of Montana (11-5, 4-0).

Bamforth wound up with a game-high 20 points, although he was just 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. When asked what it meant for he and his teammates to win by a double-digit margin despite their frosty shooting, Bamforth looked at it as a good indicator of his team's fierce competitive desire.

"It just says we fight," he said. "We know we're never gonna shoot the ball great every night. There's going to be those nights when you don't shoot the ball well, and great teams find a way to win.

"Even if we do shoot well, it comes down to us playing hard, and if we don't play hard and aren't ready to play every night, anyone can beat us and every team in the league can beat us, They are capable of beating us, so we have to come out ready to play."

Along with his 17 points, just the fourth time this season he's scored less than 20, Lillard contributed six rebounds and three steals for the Wildcats.