Weber State Weber State/Utah Utah Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Boyette scored 27 points as Weber State beat No. 22 Utah 79-77 on Saturday night and snapped the nation's longest homecourt winning streak at 54 games.

Utah hadn't lost at home since Dec. 31, 1996, when Duncan's Wake Forest team came into the Huntsman Center and beat the Utes, who were led at the time by Keith Van Horn.

"We're the first one to come in here and get the job done since Tim Duncan. That just shows what a huge win this was for us," said Boyette, who made 10-of-16 shots and added five assists.

Before celebrating at midcourt, the Wildcats (4-3) watched Jeff Johnsen miss a leaner in the lane just before the buzzer that would have capped a furious Utah comeback and tied it.

"That last shot really scared us," Boyette said. "I was just praying it would come off that rim."

Utah (4-4) has lost three straight non-conference games for the first time since 1989. Utah lost its previous two to Southern California and Utah State.

Boyette was playing only his second game as a Wildcat after serving a five-game NCAA-imposed suspension for playing in a city recreation league after transferring from Salt Lake Community College.

"He really came in handy tonight," Weber State coach Joe Cravens said. "I knew we'd be better when he joined us, but I didn't know we'd be as good as we were tonight."

Boyette came off the bench to relieve the foul-plagued Stevie Morrison, and left the Utes scratching their heads.

"We had no answer for Boyette," said Utah acting coach Dick Hunsaker, who is leading the team while Rick Majerus recovers from knee surgery.

It could have been that the Utes didn't know about Boyette.

"They really didn't have a chance to scout me, so I knew I had a chance to surprise them," Boyette said.

Once Boyette found his range he said Cravens told him, "Just keep playing your game because they can't stop you."

Boyette hit a bank shot and Stephan Bachmann made a turnaround jumper to give Weber State a 78-71 lead with 2:25 to play, but the Wildcats missed 3-of-4 free throws and didn't make another field goal.

"We piddled around and almost gave Utah the game at the end, but this was a very untypical game for Utah and we took advantage of it," said Cravens, who served as acting coach at Utah in 1989-90 when Majerus underwent heart surgery.

"Weber State was more aggressive and much more determined than we were," Hunsaker said after talking to his team for more than an hour in the locker room.

With Utah trailing 79-75, Chris Burgess made a layup, and Johnsen followed with a steal. Kevin Bradley, who missed twice in the closing seconds of Wednesday's 58-57 loss at Utah State, then missed a driving shot as the clock ran down.

The Utes, who fell to 2-4 against Division I opponents, got a final possession when the Wildcats knocked the ball out of bounds with 4.2 seconds left, setting up Johnsen's last shot.

The Utes had never lost three consecutive non-conference games during the 11-year tenure of Majerus, who is away from the team until January while rehabilitating.

Burgess and Phil Cullen each scored 15 for the Utes, who had not lost to Weber State at home since 1978, a span of nine games.

Jake Shoff had 13 points and Damon King added 11 for the Wildcats, who didn't score a field goal for more than six minutes during the second half but made 12 straight free throws to maintain the lead.

Shoff made two foul shots with 7:19 to play, lifting Weber State to a 67 58 lead. Weber State scored the first eight points of the second half and held its largest lead at 45-35 with 17:38 remaining.

Weber State led 37-35 at halftime.

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Mens College Basketball Scoreboard

Weber State Clubhouse

Utah Clubhouse