OGDEN -- On Groundhog Day, 6,285 Weber State fans saw the same movie they've been watching all year at the Dee Events Center.
Portland State would have rather seen Bill Murray.
Damian Lillard got a standing ovation as he walked off the court after a free throw with 11.5 seconds to go gave him an even 40 points as the Wildcats defeated the Vikings 92-79 Thursday at home.
Weber State (17-4, 9-1 Big Sky) won for the 11th time in 12 games and remained perfect at home, where it has have won 12 in a row dating to last season.
Lillard dropped 38 on Portland State (10-12, 4-6) on the road on Jan. 7 and outdid himself Thursday, knocking down 13 of 18 shots from the field and 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in his second 40-point outing of the year.
Scott Bamforth had 16 points, a career-high eight rebounds and also tied his career high in assists with seven as the Wildcats rebounded from their first loss of the conference season, a heartbreaker at Idaho State last Saturday as the Bengals hit a buzzer-beater.
WSU senior forward Kyle Bullinger made his first start since returning from a dislocated elbow suffered in early December, scoring eight points.
Charles Odum, the second-leading scorer in the Big Sky Conference behind Lillard, scored 26 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field for the Vikings, who dropped their third straight game.
Lillard was announced Thursday as one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the best point guard in college basketball.
The junior from Oakland, Calif., averages 25.1 points per game, still No. 1 in the nation, and owns two of the six times a Weber State player has scored at least 40 points in the school's history.
"Tonight, Damian was just being Damian," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "The last couple of games, he's had a lot of stuff on his plate. He looked really tired mentally, looked a little worn down. It's totally human nature and it's totally to be expected with what's been going on. He's been getting a lot of attention."
Some of that attention has been coming from NBA scouts -- there were nine in attendance Thursday -- and more from being the leading scorer in the nation.
It's taken a toll, Rahe said.
"After the Idaho State game, I didn't even recognize him, I'll be honest with you, his facial expressions and his energy, he was just zapped," Rahe said. "He came in Monday and we talked for a good long time. He needed to get some stuff off his chest, he needed to clear his mind. Like I told him, 'Let's open that baby up and get a shovel and get rid of all the stuff that doesn't matter, go back to playing the game because you love to play and not play because somebody is expecting something of you. Go play for yourself and go play for your teammates. Go back and be Damian.' And he was."
Lillard had 15 points last Saturday at ISU; at one point Thursday, he was 13-of-15 from the field before he tossed up a couple of unsuccessful tries from 35 feet.
Bamforth said it was a pleasure to see Lillard bounce back.
"Last game he was mad because he didn't play too well. He never told me that but you could just see it in his eyes," he said. "It's fun to watch when someone works hard and translates it on to the court."
Lillard said the Wildcats sat in the locker room in disbelief after the Idaho game loss after coming from behind only to lose at the buzzer.
"The very next day, we made up our mind that we were going to come out and be more focused in practice, try to get better and fix everything that went wrong; our energy, our minds," he said. "That's what it began with, our minds, and tonight we wanted to come out and get back on track, get back to everything we were doing when we got on our winning streak."
* WSU NOTES: Redshirt freshman center James Hajek will be out for the season after reinjuring his dislocated knee in practice this week, Rahe said Thursday.
* EASTERN WASHINGTON 74, NORTHERN ARIZONA 68: At Flagstaff, Ariz., Collin Chiverton's 13 points paced four Eastern Washington players in double figures as the Eagles rallied to a win over Northern Arizona.
Cliff Ederaine added 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Eagles (11-12 overall, 5-5 Big Sky), who won in Flagstaff for the first time in eight years.
Ephraim Ekanem led the Lumberjacks (5-18, 1-10) with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Northern Arizona led 32-29 at halftime and quickly went up by nine early in the second half, but the Lumberjacks went without a field goal for 61âÑ2-minutes midway through the second half, turning a four-point lead into a six-point deficit with seven minutes remaining.
* SACRAMENTO STATE 73, NORTHERN COLORADO 62: At Greeley, Colo., Dylan Garrity scored 16 points and Joe Eberhard added 14 as Sacramento State turned away Northern Colorado.
Sacramento State (7-14, 2-8 Big Sky) hit 17 of 22 free throws, compared to just 11 of 28 for Northern Colorado (7-14, 4-6). Garrity made all eight of his attempts from the foul line.
Sacramento State also had a 37-30 rebounding advantage, with Josh McCarver leading the way with nine.
Tevin Svihovec scored 19 points to lead Northern Colorado, and Connor Osborne scored 11.
Northern Colorado entered the contest with a 9-2 record against Sacramento State, its best record in conference play.
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