OGDEN -- Through Weber State's preseason and the beginning of Big Sky Conference play, this much is clear: Dynamite Damian Lillard can go off at any moment.
The Wildcats' explosive point guard averaged 34 points, six rebounds and five assists on WSU's first league road trip last week to earn his fourth Big Sky player of the week award in six weeks and his first Oscar Robertson national player of the week honor from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
The junior from Oakland, Calif., leads the nation in scoring (26.3 points per game) -- and he's about to get some reinforcements, though how soon is still up in the air.
While Weber State (12-3, 4-0) has been playing shorthanded since early December with senior forward Kyle Bullinger and junior forward Frank "Mook" Otis out with injuries, both are practicing and getting closer to game-ready, which will give the Wildcats some more size and rebounding in the front court just as backup center James Hajek (dislocated knee) goes out for four to six weeks. Otis could play as soon as tonight and the Wildcats hope Bullinger could see limited action Saturday.
This week would be a good time for it, with the Big Sky's two closest teams in the standings behind Weber State coming to town.
Montana State (7-7, 2-1 Big Sky) is on tap for a 7 p.m. tipoff tonight at the Dee Events Center, with Montana (10-5, 3-0) on deck as WSU starts a three-game homestand.
The Wildcats are 8-0 at home for the first time since 2002-03 and will try to capitalize on the momentum they gained with wins at Eastern Washington and Portland State.
"Our kids fought like crazy and stuck together and found a way,"
Weber State coach Randy Rahe said. "(Road wins) are big. You try to hold down your homecourt and steal whatever you can on the road and our kids were able to steal a couple last weekend. Anytime you win a road game it gives the kids confidence and gives them the sense that if we have the right mindset and we're tough enough and together enough, we can be successful."
With Bullinger and Otis out of the lineup, the Wildcats were down to eight men on the bench, Rahe said, and they'll need to keep a razor focus to take advantage of their 4-0 league start.
"If we're not on edge, our margin of error is not very big," he said. "So we'd better have edge and be hungry and determined."
Lillard was plenty sharp in scoring 30 at Eastern Washington and 38 points in a come-from-behind road win at Portland State last Saturday, his career-high in regulation (he scored 41 in overtime Dec. 3 against San Jose State).
Back-to-back 30-point nights on the road for Lillard didn't shock Rahe.
"I hate to say it doesn't surprise me," Rahe said. "I am never going to take him for granted. He works so hard at everything he does to have performances like that."
His backcourt mate, junior Scott Bamforth, has been dangerous as well, averaging 20 ppg in Weber State's first four Big Sky games and 15.6 ppg for the year.
Lillard credited team togetherness with WSU's perfect start in league play.
"We could have left that road trip and come home 2-2, but the main key was us just sticking together and fighting," he said. "The first night we came out fighting and pulled it out. The second night, it didn't go so smooth for us in the beginning; we just had to be resilient, weather the storm, keep ourselves in the game and we were able to do it."
Montana State is going through a storm of its own with Wednesday's announcement that junior guard Jamie Stewart, who started seven games this year but has not been with the team since playing only nine minutes Dec. 28, is officially off the roster.
Junior guards Xavier Blount (11.7 ppg) and Christian Moon (11.6 ppg) are the Bobcats' top scorers, with Moon averaging 19.7 ppg in their three league games.
"They're a very similar team to Eastern Washington in the fact that they're extremely athletic at five positions," Rahe said. "Their guards are very explosive. Their guards can shoot it, they can drive it, they're multidimensional. Their bigs chase rebounds like crazy by using their athleticism and that's the challenge of it."
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