Weber State basketball: Hennig leads, Saine finishes as WSU outlasts MSU in OT
MBB final: Weber State 82, Montana State 79 (OT)
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- Weber State guard Trevor Hennig, left, attempts a jump shot over Montana State’s Howie Keene (2) in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris throws down a dunk in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Edwin Suarez Jr. (0) rises to shoot against Montana State’s Jed Miller, right, in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Nigel Burris (5) lays in a basket over Montana State’s Jed Miller (24) and Seth Amunrud (12) in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State center Malek Gomma, center, puts in a basket after a whistle in a Big Sky Conference game against Montana State on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — After missing five of the last six games, Trevor Hennig scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in regulation, Tijan Saine led the way in overtime, and Weber State men’s basketball got past Montana State 82-79 in a home contest Thursday night at the Dee Events Center.
The Wildcats got back in the win column in a night where both second-place MSU and third-place Montana lost, and the game could have hardly been closer: 19 lead changes, 13 ties, WSU led for 19:23, MSU led for 18:09, and the game was tied for 7:28.
“Rebounding, and we were tough,” senior Nigel Burris said was the difference in the game. “And No. 6 here made some shots,” he added, nodding to Hennig beside him at the postgame press conference.
Montana State (15-12, 9-5 Big Sky) capped a 10-0 run with a Christian King 3-pointer to lead 25-17, its largest advantage of the game, with 7:33 left in the first half.
Hennig scored the next eight points for Weber State (14-14, 8-7), keying a 13-4 response that brought it to 29-28 at halftime and gave WSU a 30-29 lead to begin the second half.
After freshman ArDarius Grayson picked a backcourt steal for a layup, Burris swished a 3-pointer to give WSU a 51-45 lead with 9:32 left, its largest lead of the game.
MSU guard Jeremiah Davis made a corner 3 in transition with 7:25 left to make WSU’s lead 54-52 and begin a stretch where the Bobcats scored on seven consecutive possessions for 16 points.
The lead changed five times in the final 3:30 and Hennig dropped in a tough runner for a 66-65 lead. Jed Miller’s pull-up put MSU ahead 67-66 with 1:10 remaining and Hennig made one free throw for a 67-67 knot with 43.1 left. Burris blocked a shot and stripped a steal in the same possession to give Weber a chance at a game-winner but Hennig missed two shots in the final 10 seconds.
Saine finished 5 of 16 from the field but scored eight of his 14 points in overtime and dished two of his five assists, both on rolls to Edwin Suarez Jr., in the extra frame. The second assist to Saurez was an and-one, erasing a 74-71 MSU lead after a Miller 3 and replacing it with a 76-74 Weber lead with 1:36 left.
Hennig added seven rebounds, including an offensive board to gather a Grayson missed free throw with 26.6 seconds left, leading to a pair of Saine free throws for an 80-76 lead with 22.3 remaining, all but icing the game.
Burris had 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Viljami Vartiainen scored 12 points, Suarez totaled 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Malek Gomma hauled in six offensive rebounds and nine total.
WSU outrebounded MSU 16-6 on the offensive glass for a 14-5 advantage in second chances, and outscored the Bobcats 48-36 in the paint.
Davis and Patrick McMahon each scored 17 points for Montana State. Jaden Steppe scored 15 points and King added 12.
Elsewhere, Eastern Washington beat Sacramento State on the road. Montana, who comes to Ogden on Saturday, lost at Idaho State for the second straight season and has lost four of its last five while ISU ended a nine-game losing streak. Gus Etchison had a career-high 29 points in a career-high 27 minutes for the Bengals.
Those results give Portland State (18-7, 12-2), who dispatched Idaho at home, a three-game lead in first place with four remaining. Only two games separate Montana State in second and Northern Colorado in sixth; Weber State is currently fifth, a half-game behind both Montana and EWU.
HENNIG SHOWS UP
Hennig missed four straight games with the flu, played last week at Idaho but did not play at Eastern Washington. He shot 7 of 10 from inside the arc and added seven rebounds, playing to a plus-five in plus-minus.
“It felt good just to get my legs kind of back under me,” Hennig. “I was just battling, to be honest, just trying to get back. It feels great. Anything I can do to help the team win.”
“He came in the clutch,” Burris said. “I told him don’t settle for that mid-range, get to the hole … he played really well tonight.”
Though he’d been sick, Hennig’s zero minutes at EWU were due to a DNP, coach’s decision.
“It was just something we handled,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “He scored some really big baskets for us tonight, no question. But Trevor might have been the best ball-screen, on-ball defender we had tonight … I thought he was terrific tonight, getting over ball screens, cutting guys off … when he plays like that, he gets seven rebounds tonight, and he’s doing the other things …
“Is he going to get rebounds, is he going to get deflections, is he going to guard the ball? If he does those things, he’s a good player.”
SAINE THE FINISHER
Saine shot 3 of 15 in regulation and, despite being one of the best foul-drawing players in the Big Sky, attempted zero free throws in regulation.
But come overtime, he scored on consecutive drives to turn away an early MSU lead and went 4 of 4 at the foul line. He also totaled five assists to one turnover.
“We’re going to rock with him,” Hennig said about Saine. “He’s our guy, he’s our leader. We turn to him. And he proved it. He’s going to keep winning us games.”
“We believe in him and I thought he did a good job of not letting the previous 40 minutes affect how he was going to play down the stretch,” Duft said. “He made some big plays for us.”
WBB: MSU 81, WSU 36
Weber State women’s basketball, having bused to Bozeman after a flight cancellation, got on the wrong side of a 33-4 second quarter, and trailed 52-16 at halftime with 21 turnovers, on the way to a crushing loss to second-place Montana State.
WSU (8-20, 2-13) finished with 32 turnovers and shot 12 of 47 (25.5%) for the game. Hannah Robbins scored 10 points to lead Weber against her old team. Antoniette Emma-Nnopu added five points and eight rebounds, making her only field goal attempt.
Taylee Chirrick led MSU (19-6, 12-2) with 20 points.
