Sightseeing, yoga on the beach and some general recuperation led WSU into Sunday night’s matchup with the unbeaten Warriors and, even though their familiar big man Tanner Christensen was 8 of 8 for 20 points in the first half, it didn’t seem to matter.

The Wildcats were aggressive and controlling defensively, keeping Hawaii from doing much of anything for 30 minutes if they couldn’t get Christensen a clean post-up.

But a cold-shooting streak from Weber State and a free-throw parade for Hawaii helped the home team force overtime where the Warriors eventually won 73-68.

Blaise Threatt was a force on both ends, scoring a career-high 27 points while adding nine rebounds, three assists and five steals. Miguel Tomley scored 12 points and grabbed two steals. Dyson Koehler had five points, nine rebounds and two steals.

The Wildcats led 38-31 at halftime and increased that to 43-33 early in the second half, though it could have been more. The trio of Tomley, Koehler and Viljami Vartiainen combined to shoot 3 of 16 from the 3-point line, and each missed an opportunity to balloon that lead.

While WSU controlled matters on both ends in the first half while shooting 14 of 20 on two-pointers, Hawaii matched the defensive intensity in the second half to slow the Wildcats. Despite that, WSU finished with 29 fouls and shot 20 free throws compared to 18 fouls and 40 free throws for Hawaii.

The game had 10 ties and 13 lead changes, with most coming in the final six minutes in regulation and in overtime. The teams traded baskets down the stretch before, with WSU leading 56-55, WSU compelled Christensen to pass out of the post with one minute left.

Koehler blocked the ensuing 3-point shot to preserve Weber’s lead, then rebounded a Vartiainen 3-point miss through contact. That contact knocked him to the ground with no call, and he threw the ball away trying to avoid a travel.

Even still, WSU got one more stop when defending a driving Tom Beattie crossing the paint; Beattie’s angle was too sharp and he fell with the ball, giving possession to WSU with 29 seconds left.

Despite Hawaii having to foul to extend the game, WSU couldn’t put it away. Tomley made just one of two free-throws to go up 57-55. (Both teams ultimately shot rather poorly at the charity stripe: WSU was 12 of 20, Hawaii 26 of 40.)

Christensen, who previously played against WSU with Idaho and Utah Tech, only scored five points after halftime, but he had the biggest make down the stretch. Hawaii finally worked a clean post-up for the 6-foot-10 big man and he converted, ultimately shooting 10 of 11 when he scored over Vasilije Vucinic with seven seconds left.

Threatt missed a tough runner at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

Because fouls carry over from regulation, Hawaii shot a whopping 18 free throws in overtime. Two of those came with 1:55 left when WSU head coach Eric Duft was issued a technical foul, making his displeasure known after a sequence where Threatt was hit on the arm during a layup with no call, then Hawaii was awarded free throws on its next drive.

Two technical makes helped Hawaii’s lead grow to 68-60. WSU got enough free-throw misses from Hawaii to remain close but an 0-for-2 charity trip from Nigel Burris and a Tomley field goal miss meant WSU couldn’t get it closer than 70-66 with 15 seconds left.

After returning home from three straight road games, Weber State (1-3) next hosts highly rated UC Irvine (4-0) on Friday at the Dee Events Center. The Anteaters have defeated Loyola Marymount (by 15) and Northern Iowa (20) on the road, and beat Pepperdine at home by 18.