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.
Weber State only scored three points during the remainder of the first half, and fell behind by three points at the break.
"I thought once Montana State made that run (it was the turning point)," Rahe said. "We just could not get relaxed after that."
The loose and free Bobcats slowly pulled away in the second half. A 3-pointer by Branden Johnson gave Montana State a 40-33 lead with 17:41 left in the game. Bobby Howard sank a 3-pointer to put the Bobcats up 48-36 with 11:50 remaining and Weber State couldn't get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
The loss can't be considered anything less than shocking for the Wildcats. Their 12-game winning streak was the second longest in the nation behind Memphis (22 wins) and they had only lost one other conference semifinal game on their home court in school history prior to Tuesday. Just a week ago, Weber State defeated Montana State by 20 points in Bozeman.
"That's the danger of a conference tournament," Rahe said. "One slip up and you're done."
E-mail: aaragon@desnews.com