Upgraded to ESPN2 earlier in the day, Monday night’s regular-season finale with Weber State visiting Montana State was a nice introduction for many across the country to see Dillon Jones.

Jones acquitted himself quite well, shining for much of the contest. But the Wildcats otherwise fell flat, barely registering an offense over the final 10 minutes in a 76-64 defeat to the Bobcats that sets up a rematch between the two teams one week from now in Boise.

With the No. 2 seed and its tournament advantages on the line, Weber State instead falls to the No. 4 seed, facing No. 5 Montana State at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 11.

“They had a great crowd on senior night, they’re ready to roll and … they just outplayed us,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “They were faster and more athletic than us tonight. We tried to change some things up scheme-wise but if you don’t move fast enough, it doesn’t really matter.

“Just overall not good enough tonight in pretty much every area.”

Jones finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists for Weber State (20-11, 11-7 Big Sky). Steven Verplancken Jr. added 12 points, scoring nine in the first half, and Blaise Threatt scored 10.

Montana State (14-17, 9-9) got another unexpected 15 points from John Olmsted, who added five rebounds and five assists. Brian Goracke scored 13 points, and Tyler Patterson and Robert Ford III each pitched in 12.

The Bobcats shot 13 of 27 from distance — an unbeatable mark for Weber State, which managed just 4 of 17.

WSU lost the contest in a few ways. The first was by committing four turnovers in the first four minutes and falling behind 7-1. Once that resolved, WSU mostly played winning hoops — except when missing seven shots at the rim, six of those taken by Blaise Threatt.

After a 32-32 halftime knot, Weber State finally seemed to find its groove and pull away with a 13-5 run that saw Jones slice and dice to the hoop, Viljami Vartiainen knock down a straightaway 3, and Jones splash in a stepback jumper over the taller Olmsted after a series of crossover dribbles.

That put WSU up 56-48 with 10:10 left and Jones was 9 of 12 from the field with 24 points.

The Wildcats scored just eight more points the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Olmsted again started to light up the scoreboard. The rarely used reserve center who transferred from Arizona State scored 15 points Thursday at Eastern Washington after starting forward Brandon Walker was ejected for slapping Casey Jones.

Monday, the 2.2-points-per-game scorer checked in just at the end of WSU’s final run of offense, and the Wildcats could not stop him. Olmsted scored 13 straight MSU points on two dunks, two layups and two free throws — then, inexplicably, the 6-foot-10 player who was 1 of 7 from the 3-point line for his entire five-year college career splashed home a triple.

“His 3 tonight was huge. (Alex Tew) did what he was supposed to do on that, he closed out short, and (Olmsted) just made it,” Duft said.

Eddie Turner III followed with a 3 of his own to cap a 14-0 run for Montana State and, with the air out of their sails, the seemingly dead-legged Wildcats had no answer.

WBB: MSU 67, WSU 65

On senior night, Weber State women’s basketball dropped its seventh straight game in a heartbreaker, finishing league play with a 4-14 record.

Trailing 55-43 after three quarters, Weber State (7-24) won the fourth quarter 22-12. Laura Taylor scored on a steal and bucket with 10 seconds left to make it 67-65. After a Jadyn Matthews steal got WSU the ball back, Kendra Parra missed a jumper with two seconds left and Montana State survived.

Taylor, Matthews, Daryn Hickok, Vicky Parra and Sierra Davis were the seniors honored.

Taylor, Parra and Taylor Smith each scored 12 points for WSU. Hickok added 10 points and Kennedy Eskelson nine.

WSU will play Saturday in Boise in the conference tournament’s first day.

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