POCATELLO, Idaho -- Idaho State answered the Wildcats' final charge with a lightning bolt.
Kenny McGowen buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Idaho State a 64-62 win at Holt Arena on Saturday, burying Weber State's 10-game winning streak with it.
With the Wildcats up by one after fighting to retake the lead for the first time since early in the game, McGowen slipped into the right corner as Weber State defenders converged on Chase Grabau with time running out. Grabau got the ball to him just in time and McGowen's shot swished through, ending Idaho State's seven-game losing spell against Weber State (16-4, 8-1 Big Sky) and handing the Wildcats their first Big Sky loss of the season.
Montana, which plays at Portland State today, has a chance to join Weber State at 8-1 in the league with a win.
McGowen was 4-for-9 from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 19 points, while Andre Hachett added 12 and Grabau, who had 31 against WSU on Dec. 31, added 10 for Idaho State (7-14, 5-4), which won for the fourth time in its last five games.
Weber State guard Scott Bamforth finished with a team-high 17 points, including a pair of free throws inside the two-minute mark that gave the Wildcats a 62-61 lead after McGowen's 3.
Junior point guard Damian Lillard had 15 points and moved past Jimmy Degraffenreid to become the second-leading scorer in Weber State history behind Bruce Collins (1976-80).
Senior forward Kyle Bullinger scored a season-high 12 points off the bench, breaking a 0-for-10 shooting drought that lasted the first four games after his return from a dislocated elbow that cost him nine games.
Bullinger collected an and-1 early in the first half, but when Lillard picked up a pair of quick fouls with six minutes remaining in the game, Bullinger came in to nail a 3 to make it 56-55, giving Weber State its first lead since 10- 7.
The Wildcats took several charges on defense in the first half, but couldn't find their range on offense.
Weber State went 12-of-19 from the charity stripe after entering the game as the top as the top free throw shooting team in the country.
"Those are tough ones to lose, but sometimes it happens. It's basketball. I give Idaho State a lot of credit. They came in and battled really hard," Weber State coach Randy Rahe said.
"They've been playing really good basketball. We knew it was going to be a dogfight."
Bullinger said he was convinced it would be despite Idaho State's record.
"We never take these guys lightly," Bullinger said. "Every time I've been up here, I've probably played an extra game and a half in overtime. There's no taking these guys lightly. We knew it was going to be a dogfight."
Weber State beat Idaho State 95-93 in triple overtime two years ago at Holt Arena, but overtime wasn't in the cards Thursday.
"What we can take out of this is that anybody in this league can beat anybody on a given night," Bullinger said. "I'm not saying Idaho State's just anybody, they've had a heck of a season so far. If you don't show up mentally correct, if you don't execute, if you don't make your free throws, there's a chance you're going to get snakebitten. And that happened to us tonight."
Neither team shot well from beyond the arc in the first half, with Idaho State hitting 2 of 9 and Weber State hitting only 2 of 10 and 36.0 percent overall.
The Bengals led 29-25 at the break while outrebounding the 'Cats 19-14.
WSU and ISU each warmed up in the second half, shooting 42.0 and 45.8 percent, respectively, for the game.
Weber State returns home next Thursday to face Portland State at the Dee Events Center.
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