OGDEN -- An in-state rivalry win to cap the preseason has Weber State coach Randy Rahe pleased with the progress of his team to this point.
"I like where we're at. ... We've had to make adjustments with injuries and our guys have done nothing but put their nose to the grindstone and try to figure out how to get better," Rahe said after Weber State's 80-51 win over Utah on Thursday at the Dee Events Center. "I really like our attitude."
It was easy for Weber State (8-3) to have a great attitude about handing Utah (3-8) its largest loss in the 40 games between the two in-state rivals.
Damian Lillard tossed in 22 points and dished five assists and Scott Bamforth, Kyle Tresnak and James Hajek each added 10 points as the Wildcats also held the Utes to their lowest scoring output of the series.
"Guys are willing to do whatever it takes to get the team better," Rahe said. "We've got to get a lot better in some defensive areas: Our second-half defense must improve, our second-half rebounding must improve, but we're a lot closer than I imagined we would be with these injuries that happened a couple of weeks ago" when the Wildcats lost starting forwards Kyle Bullinger and Frank "Mook" Otis.
Utah had won nine of the previous 10 meetings between the two schools, but it only took Weber State the first half to put itself in a position to coast to a victory in its final in-state contest of the year and last game before Big Sky play begins Dec. 29 at home against Idaho State.
The Wildcats went 3-1 against their state rivals by earning wins over Utah State, Southern Utah and Utah and losing to BYU.
The Utes lead the all-time series against the Wildcats by a margin of 26-14, but WSU is 11-9 in games played in Ogden, which may be one reason Utah decided it won't be returning to the Dee Events Center after this season.
There is also no agreement at this point between Weber State and Utah to play in the future at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
"I hope it's not the last time we play," Rahe said, though he knows the Utes' scheduling philosophy has changed since the U of U moved on to the Pac-12 Conference. "I wish it wouldn't. These are great games for us, for our fans, for our program and we want to play them. We've been playing them for I don't know how many years so we'd like to continue playing them, but it's not our decision. Hey, it's their athletic program, they have the right to do what they want to do and we're going to respect that."
Lillard, who moved into seventh place on Weber State's all-time scoring list Monday, scored more than 20 points for the eighth time in 11 games. The junior from Oakland, Calif., now averages 25.4 points per game, tied with Creighton's Doug McDermott for first in the nation.
Lillard didn't need to do it all Thursday as WSU outscored the U of U 23-13 in points off the bench.
Redshirt freshman forward Hajek scored six straight points off the bench to give Weber State the lead and spark a 19-4 run capped by back-to-back Gelaun Wheelwright 3-pointers.
"(My defender) was giving me that left shoulder. Coach tells me to be aggressive and have confidence so I just went out there and put it up and made it a few times," Hajek said.
Hajek started off with a tip-in and got the Wildcats rolling with another couple of quick baskets.
"Any time you go out there and get a basket early on, that kind of helps your confidence and gets you in the flow of the game," he said.
Lillard buried a trey at the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 20-point lead at halftime, 41-21.
"We just wanted to keep pressure on them, offensively and defensively, try to keep them on their heels and attack the rim," Lillard said. "Let them know that we were here for a fight and let them know that we were going to be physical and attack them."
Weber State started the game as the fourth-best free throw shooting team in Division I and had its best performance from the line this year, making 12 of 13. The Wildcats also shot 53.7 percent from the field and held the Utes to just 3 of 15 from 3-point range (20 percent).
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