Weber State basketball: Wildcats' dance dream dashed

OGDEN — Cancel that dance reservation.

Weber State's hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years were dashed when the Wildcats were stunned 70-61 by Montana State in the Big Sky semifinals on Tuesday night in front of 5,162 fans at the Dee Events Center.

Instead of hosting preseason favorite Portland State in the championship game tonight, Weber State will watch the sixth-seed and 14-16 Bobcats play for a chance to play in the big dance.

"They beat us," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said of the Bobcats. "I thought they did a tremendous job. They came in with a what looked like a nothing-to-lose attitude and played like it. We played quite a bit tight and we couldn't loosen them up."

The Wildcats, because they won their regular season conference championship but lost in the Big Sky tourney, will now play in the NIT Tournament. They'll learn who their opponent will be on Sunday.

That's hardly a consolation prize for the Wildcats, who stormed into the Big Sky tourney on a 12-game winning streak and as the favorites to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Weber State, which is built on defense, rebounding and effort, had its offense clicking entering Tuesday's game and was as well-rounded as it had been all season.

That changed against the Bobcats, who won for the second time in the Dee Events Center this season. Weber State shot a dismal 33 percent from the field, and an even worse 4-of-26 from 3-point range.

"We played really hard tonight, and played our hearts out like we always do," said senior guard Kellen McCoy. "The shots just weren't going in for us tonight. We were getting open looks like usual, but the shots weren't going in."

The Wildcats actually started the game on fire. They built a 16-6 lead less than eight minutes into the contest, but couldn't sustain the advantage. Montana State responded with a 13-3 run to tie it, and showed it wasn't going away easily.

The game's momentum changed permanently when Montana State guard Will Bynum recorded a dunk over Weber State forward Daviin Davis that's been replayed endlessly on highlight shows. It came with 5:24 left in the first half, trimmed Weber State's lead to 26-25 and seemed to suck the life out of the Wildcats' fans and steal their confidence.

"That was a big energy boost for us," said Montana State guard Marquis Navarre.