OGDEN, Utah (AP) -Steve Panos scored a career-high 29 points as Weber State defeated Northern Colorado 81-76 on Saturday to earn a two-game cushion atop the Big Sky Conference.
Nick Hansen scored 18 points, shooting a perfect 6 of 6 from 3-point range for WSU (17-8, 11-2) while Damian Lillard added 14.
Hansen's sixth 3-pointer started an 8-0 run for the Wildcats, giving them a 62-52 lead with 10:45 left.
The Bears (20-6, 9-4) hit five free throws to cut that lead in half, and then eventually pulled to 73-72 with 1:21 left after back-to-back 3-pointers from Will Figures.
Figures led UNC with 33 points while Mike Proctor had 10.
After that, Panos completed a three-point play and WSU made 5-of-6 free throws to seal the win.
