In one of the most thrilling victories in school history, the Weber State men’s basketball team pulled off a 91-89 double-overtime win over San Jose State on Saturday night. Damian Lillard single- handedly carried the Wildcats to the win, scoring a career-high 41 points in the game.

The Wildcats trailed by as much as 18 points in the first half before surging back to lead by four at one point in the second half, but San Jose State would not go away. With less than 10 seconds left in regulation, the Spartans led 67-64. That’s when Lillard took over. He hit a deep 3-pointer with a hand in his face with 5.6 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime.

That 3-pointer gave Lillard only 24 points in the game. Little did the amped up Dee Events Center crowd know that the Lillard show was just beginning. Lillard scored eight of the nine Weber State points in overtime, the most important being the five points he scored in four seconds with under two minutes left to tie the game and give the Wildcats the lead.

With Weber State down by four points, Lillard hit an off- balance floater in the lane to bring the Cats to within two. The floater would have been impressive enough on its own, but Lillard sneakily stole the inbounds pass and laid it up to tie the game, getting fouled in the process. The free throw gave the Wildcats the lead, but the Spartans were able to eventually force the second overtime.

There, Lillard was somehow even better, scoring nine of the Wildcats’ 13 points in the second five-minute overtime period. Even with Lillard’s superhuman effort, the Wildcats looked destined to lose, trailing 89- 88 with just 18 seconds left. Lillard, however, refused to let that happen.

Working quickly, Lillard drove through the lane and got some daylight on his defender to make a layup. The defense fouled Lillard on the shot, a whistle that went unheard by almost everyone in the Dee Events Center with the crowd at fever pitch.

Lillard made the free throw to put Weber State up by two with 10.7 seconds left. The Wildcat defense held on the last possession to give the Wildcats the win, moving them to 5-1 on the young season. San Jose State dropped to 3-5 on the season with the loss.

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Lillard is now the nation’s leading scorer, averaging 28.2 points per game. The win on Saturday night was head coach Randy Rahe’s 100th as a college head coach.The Spartans were a good team but should have been a team the Wildcats handled better. A poor shooting first half and some inconsistent inside play were responsible for the slow start.

It appeared that the turning point in the game was when senior forward Kyle Bullinger went down with a gruesome elbow injury. Bullinger tried to catch himself with his right arm after losing his balance in midair while coming down with a rebound. He suffered a dislocated elbow and will be out for about eight weeks.

The immediate effects of the injury was a Wildcat run to close the deficit, but the long-term effects of the injury are potentially devastating for the team.

Bullinger’s absence Wednesday night when the Wildcats travel to Provo to take on BYU will make a huge difference. Bullinger provided a versatile inside man for the Wildcats with calming senior leadership. Bullinger is a great shooter from the outside and the team’s leading rebounder. His calming influence on the court will be sorely missed in the rowdy environment at the Marriott Center.

The Wildcats will need senior forward Darin Mahoney and sophomore forward Byron Fulton to step up to provide that inside presence on the boards that Bullinger gave them.

Weber State is going through a lull right now, most likely attributable to their inconsistent preseason schedule. The Wildcats have been playing sparingly over the last couple of weeks, but now that the schedule will become more steady the Wildcats should be able to get into a rhythm.

The Wildcats may also be susceptible to the “Kobe- factor,” struggling when the star player scores a lot. It seems like the Cats struggle more offensively when Lillard scores more. That could either be because when Weber State struggles, Lillard takes over or because the offense is more potent when Lillard is facilitating rather than taking over.

Lillard almost always waits as long as he can to make sure his supporting cast steps up. He’s not a selfish player and he prefers to facilitate for his teammates, but when he has to he puts the Cats on his back.

Recent opponents have locked down on Scott Bamforth’s outside shooting after the Utah State clinic he put on from beyond the arc. Right now, teams are able to shut Bamforth down because the Wildcats are not relying on the inside presence of Kyle Tresnak enough. They are settling for outside shots a little bit too much, which allows teams to focus on defending the arc while ignoring Tresnak. Bullinger’s presence in the game opened things up because he was strong down low and could shoot from the outside. That’s a role Fulton could potentially fill.

When the inside game with Tresnak becomes effective, that will open things up for Bamforth and Lillard to work together. Right now, teams seem content to let Lillard get his points while locking down on everyone else.

The X-factor on Wednesday night will likely be Tresnak. If he can establish the post game, the Wildcats will be able to stay with the Cougars in Provo. If not, it may be a long night, no matter how good Lillard is.

The Wildcats will have their hands full at the Marriott Center, but it should be an entertaining game and a chance for the Wildcats to prove that they are the best team in the state.

Trevor Amicone is the sports director at 88.1 Weber FM, "Ogden's Radio Station," and host of the sports talk radio show, "Fully Loaded Sports with Trevor Amicone." Find more of his blogs at TrevorsTopTens.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TrevorAmicone.

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