Damian Lillard Pours It On Against San Jose State

On Saturday night in Ogden we saw one of the best performances of the young college basketball season. Damian Lillard of Weber State dropped 41 points, had 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in Weber State's 91-89 Double OT victory. That paragraph only barely does Lillard's performance justice.

In regulation with the Wildcats down by 3, it was Lillard who buried a three pointer with under 10 seconds to send it into OT. Then in the first OT:

In the first overtime Lillard scored eight of WSU's nine points including another three-pointer that tied the game at 71. Then with the Wildcats down four with 2:00 to play, Lillard scored five quick points. He first hit a floater in the lane, then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and scored, and was fouled on play and hit a free throw to give the Wildcats a one-point lead.

In double OT, he was even better. He scored 9 of Weber State's 13 points, including the game-winner. With about 10 seconds to play, the Wildcats trailed by 3. He drove to the lane, scored a basket and was fouled, completing the three-point play to give Weber State the lead and ultimately the win.

"I didn't really feel like I couldn't let the team lose," Lillard said. "I felt like we couldn't let ourselves lose on our home floor. I think that's what it was more about than me not letting them lose. I'm the leader of the team. I felt like I should be the first one to step up and say 'I'll do it,' and tonight I did."

This follows Lillard's 36 point performance against St. Mary's, and has upped his already nation-leading scoring average to 28.2 PPG. He is the best player in the conference and he showed it on Saturday, with a performance that Weber State fans are going to remember for a very long time.

[Editor's Note: Later in the week, two posts about the game... a look at the injury to All-Conference forward Kyle Bullinger, and a look at if the Wildcats have become too dependent on the scoring of Lillard.]

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