Turnovers proved costly Saturday as the men’s basketball team lost its second straight conference game, falling 63-74 at Weber State.

John Dickson led the Hornets with 20 points, but also had three of the team’s 14 turnovers. The Hornets trailed 10 points at the half – a period that saw them give the ball away 10 times.

Head Coach Brian Katz said Sac State was its “own worst enemy” when it came to turnovers in the first half. He said most of the giveaways were on mental errors by the Hornets as opposed to strong defense by Weber State.

After halftime Sac State was never down by less than six. Wildcats point guard and reigning Big Sky player of the week Damian Lillard led all scorers with 22 points in addition to nine rebounds, also a game high.

But Katz saw a few bright spots in an otherwise dull day for Hornets basketball. Sac State out-rebounded the conference-leading Wildcats 39 to 27 just two days after the Hornets were bested in this category by Northern Arizona.

“We’ve been a pretty good rebounding team,” Katz said. “[Weber State is] always a real big and physical and aggressive team. It’s something to take note of. I like this bouncing back after being out-rebounded by Northern Arizona.”

Joe Eberhard notched 15 points and seven boards of his own. He shared the team lead in rebounds with Heath Hoffman, who had 12 points despite shooting just 3-10 from the field. Hoffman entered play tied for second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, and went 2-for-6 from downtown in the contest.

Katz said although there are no moral victories, he’s pleased with the toughness his team showed against the top team in the conference.

“I’m not happy about losing a game,” he said. “But I’m pretty happy with our effort and the potential that we showed against a very good team.”

Sac State now returns home to host the defending Big Sky champion Northern Colorado Bears Jan. 7.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected].