Vandals fend off Nevada in Reno

Before the season the Idaho Vandals were picked to finish eighth in the WAC, and no one seemed to quibble with their placement in the preseason polls. But look what's happened since: Idaho has won four of its last five games, including a key 67-59 win at Nevada tonight. The victory, fueled by a 10-of-15 showing from the 3-point line and career-high 25 points from Jeff Ledbetter, set up the Vandals for a top-four finish depending how the last week-plus of the regular season plays out.

Read on for more.

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For the first 30 minutes, Jeff Ledbetter carried the Vandals (16-11, 8-6). He had 17 points at halftime and hit a 3 to reach 20 early in the second half. But with Ledbetter in foul trouble, UI got a pick-me-up from freshman Stephen Madison and Landon Tatum. Deremy Geiger also came up clutch with a key 3-pointer and two free throws to seal the win after Nevada's Malik Story had a 3-point attempt spin out.

The Vandals led by 11 with 2:48 left after Brandon Wiley's layup before the Wolf Pack reeled off eight straight points. UNR got within two points, 61-59, before the Vandals closed out the game with four straight free throws and a Shawn Henderson layin.

Ledbetter's monster game (25 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line) helped make up for a rough night from UI's big men. Kyle Barone had just two points and didn't make a field goal in three attempts while Luiz Toledo was 1 of 5 from the field for four points.

But the Vandals kept their season-long turnover issues to a minimum — they ended up with 14 — and made 17 of 20 free throws.

Now they are tied at 8-6 in league with Boise State, just a half-game behind second-place New Mexico State. The Vandals hold the tiebreaker over Nevada after the season sweep but they went 0-4 against BSU and NMSU.

Idaho has two WAC games left. It plays at Utah State on Saturday night before finishing up at home against Fresno State on Thursday. If UI finishes with a loss and win, it will be 9-7 and — if Nevada loses at least one of its last three — it will finish in the top four and get a first-round bye in the WAC tournament.