OGDEN, Utah — In the biggest men’s basketball game of the Big Sky Conference’s regular season, Weber State’s Steve Panos had the best outing of his career. And it came against Northern Colorado.
Panos scored 29 points Saturday night, leading the Wildcats to an 81-76 victory over the Bears in a showdown in front of 5,819 raucous fans at the Dee Events Center.
The win bumped conference-leading Weber State’s record to 17-8 overall and 11-2 in the Big Sky.
Northern Colorado (20-6, 9-4) now trails the Wildcats by two games with only three to play.
Unless Weber State stumbles, it will host the Big Sky’s all-important postseason tournament, which determines the league’s NCAA Tournament team.
“It’s a nice position to be in,” Wildcats coach Randy Rahe said. “But to be honest, all I care about is having a good practice on Monday. If we do, we’ll get better.”
Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle took a similar approach.
“There’s a lot of basketball to be played,” he said, “and there is a lot of improvement to be made by our basketball team. We have to keep getting better in practice and individually in the weight room. I mean, Panos just punked us tonight like we were third-graders. . . . He manhandled us.”
Weber State’s Nick Hansen also helped bury the Bears.
Hansen hit 6-of-6 shots from the 3-point line and scored 18 points.
Down 62-52 with 10:40 remaining, Northern Colorado fought back and forced the Wildcats to make a couple of huge plays down the stretch.
Boyle called Damian Lillard’s 3-pointer that gave Weber State a 73-66 lead with 2:44 left the biggest basket of the game.
“It was a big-time play by a big-time player,” the UNC coach said. “That’s what good players do, and he’s the best player in our league.”
Weber State owned a 73-71 lead with 59 seconds to play when Lillard lost the ball on a drive. But it went to Panos, who picked it up and converted a three-point play.
“I kind of blacked out,” Panos said. “The ball just came to me and I drove to the hoop. I just kind of threw up there and, luckily, it went in.”
