The Wildcats started 16 of 22 from the field to go up 11, absorbed a Montana run and hit three straight 3s going into the locker room to lead by seven at the half.

When junior guard Tijan Saine Jr. drove the paint for a bucket to open the second half — which gave him 1,000 career college points — Weber State led 45-36, with 30 of those points coming in the paint, was 20 of 31 from the field, and held a 20-6 advantage in points off turnovers (which favored WSU 11-3).

That’s when Montana dropped the hammer. If the hammer had a name, it was Klay Thompson.

Oh, that wasn’t Klay Thompson? The box score says it was 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman Tyler Thompson, born on the opposite end of California from the future Hall of Fame sharpshooter, but looking like him all the same.

Ryan Brennecke, Montana Athletics

Thompson hit four 3-pointers in just 2:15 of game clock to spark a lightning-strike, 20-3 rally and the homestanding Grizzlies ran away with an 81-65 victory Thursday night in Missoula.

Thompson finished with 21 points on a 7-of-9 3-point performance. Whether he got open looks (which inexplicably happened with WSU defenders getting lost on screen actions even after he heated up) or contested attempts, he was making anything Thursday.

“We got lost on the back side with Thompson … they were putting us in some tough rotation spots and we just didn’t get there,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said in a postgame radio interview. “We were a little bit slow getting out there to him.”

Weber State finished shooting 4 of its last 20 field goal attempts, too. Saine stopped the bleeding with a 3 to end a 30-8 rampage over 9:05 and keep the score at 68-58. Malek Gomma made 2 of 4 free-throw attempts and WSU put together three straight defensive stops, but couldn’t score all the same.

A 68-60 mark with 6:05 left quickly devolved and saw Thompson throw a fast-break lob off the glass to Trae Taylor for a dunk, making it 75-60 with 3:05 left and creating the last Montana highlight in a 45-22 half.

“In the first half, they were really struggling guarding us. … It was almost like a clinic the way we were playing offensively,” Duft said. “We were playing good until they made their run on offense, and then we started forcing it too early, we took too many quick shots, ball wasn’t moving quite as well. … We tried to make too many home runs in the second half.

“Once they made the run, we just got out of character. We’ve got to stay in character; we’ve got to be who we are.”

Sixth-year senior Te’Jon Sawyer totaled 13 points and five rebounds for the Griz, none bigger than right after he picked up his third foul early in the second half. UM coach Travis DeCuire kept the center in and he quickly gave his team five straight points, including an and-one off a pick-and-roll. That poured the gas on the court for Thompson to light and Montana was quickly off to the races.

Money Williams, UM’s scintillating scorer, turned in another yawner, scoring-wise, against Weber State. The guard, who has a 31-point half to his name this season, has 14 total points on 4-of-26 shooting in three career games against the Wildcats after netting seven points on a 2-of-12 mark Thursday.

But Williams helped Montana (11-9, 5-2 Big Sky) overcome its sloppy first half and turn the turnover tide, finishing with six assists and three steals to provide enough gravity for his teammates — and also hitting 1,000 career college points in the process.

“They’ve got what we call leverage players with Sawyer and Money, and you’ve got to load up on those guys,” Duft said. “If (others) are making shots on the back side, they’re really hard to guard. … “(Williams) is good and he puts you in tough rotations.”

Saine led Weber State (10-10, 4-3) with 15 points and four assists. Gomma added 11 points and four rebounds. Trevor Hennig and Viljami Vartiainen each finished with nine points; Vartiainen got free for two consecutive 3s late in the first half but otherwise, and unlike what WSU did with Thompson, Montana kept him bottled for a 3-of-10 shooting night.

Freshman shooting guard Duce Paschal, starting for injured junior Jace Whiting, scored seven points on the night, including the game’s first five. Whiting did not travel with the team and is expected to miss one month with a foot injury. If that holds, Whiting could miss up to 10 straight games and return for as few as one or two.

The Wildcats continue on the road with a Saturday night matchup at Montana State (12-8, 6-1); the Bobcats are in second place after handling Idaho State 74-62.

Elsewhere, first-place Portland State (12-5, 6-0) got in another low-scoring rock fight but survived 65-61 at Eastern Washington (4-15, 2-4). Sacramento State’s two-game win streak ended with Mikey Williams’ return to the floor and the Hornets (6-12, 2-4) took an 86-76 loss at Idaho (12-7, 4-2).

WBB: MONTANA 51, WEBER STATE 50

Weber State women’s basketball sloughed off another cold offensive performance and a deficit of 7-10 points for most of the night to come alive in the fourth quarter Thursday in Ogden, tying the game midway through the final frame but losing 51-50 in the end.

WSU is now 6-14 overall and 0-7 in Big Sky play, losing at home to Montana (5-13, 2-5) in a result that puts WSU in last place by two full games.

Trailing by 11 late in the third, Japrix Stubbs and Lanae Billy capped a 9-0 WSU run with 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter, making it 41-39. Antoniette Emma-Nnopu made a pair of free throws to tie the game 44-44 but Montana’s Avery Waddington answered with a 3-pointer and the Griz led for the final 4:08.

Emma-Nnopu scored on a pick-and-roll basket from Billy with 13.6 seconds left to make it 51-50. WSU had Montana trapped in the backcourt but the Griz narrowly avoided both a 10-second call and a bad-pass turnover with a floating pass across the midcourt stripe. Weber had too many fouls to give to force free throws and UM drained the final 4 seconds with several inbound passes.

Waddington led all scorers with 20 points.

Emma-Nnopu led WSU with 12 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Billy had 11 points and five assists.

WSU now hosts first-place Montana State (13-5, 6-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday.