Thompson, Vandals Hold Off Idaho State
Troy Thompson finished with game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Idaho to a 69-64 victory over Idaho State on Wednesday night in Moscow, Idaho.
The Vandals (1-1) jumped to an eight-point lead midway through the first half, but the Bengals (0-1) closed to within 30-27 at the half. Idaho State led on two occasions in the second half before Idaho took the lead for good in the final minutes.
Derrick Elliott sealed the victory by collecting his seventh steal with 6 seconds remaining. He then made two free throws to ice it.
Elliott finished with 12 points for the Vandals. Jason Jackman added 11. Rob Preston and Nate Green each scored 14 points for the Bengals.
Idaho 69, Idaho State 64
IDAHO ST. (0-1) - Brown 0-1 1-3 1, Bell 2-8 0-0 6, Fondren 3-5 1-1 7, Culbreath 1-1 0-0 3, Harvwell 2-3 1-3 5, Sant 1-2 0-0 3, Hickman 4-8 3-5 11, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Preston 5-8 4-5 14, Green 7-9 0-0 14, Tarver 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 10-17 64.
IDAHO (1-1) - Baumann 1-6 0-0 2, Elliott 2-8 6-6 12, Rose 3-8 0-1 9, Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Turner 3-9 1-2 7, Thompson 8-13 2-3 18, Wendt 0-1 0-0 0, Wallace 1-4 0-0 2, Byrne 4-6 0-0 8, Jackman 3-8 5-6 11. Totals 25-62 14-18 69.
Halftime-Idaho 30, Idaho St. 27. 3-Point goals-Idaho St. 4-12 (Bell 2-5, Fondren 0-1, Culbreath 1-1, Harwell 0-1, Sant 1-2, Preston 0-2), Idaho 5-14 (Baumann 0-3, Elliott 2-6, Rose 3-4, Wendt 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Idaho St. 33 (Hickman, Green 7), Idaho 34 (Thompson 10). Assists-Idaho St. 9 (Green 4), Idaho 15 (Elliott 4). Total fouls-Idaho St. 20, Idaho 20. A-NA.
Top Boise player suspended
Senior guard Joe Wyatt, the leading scorer on last season’s Boise State basketball team, has been suspended for three games for breaking team rules.
Wyatt will miss the Pepperdine home game on Saturday and road games Monday at Idaho State and Dec. 7 at Weber State.
The school announced the suspension in a news release Thanksgiving Day. It said Boise State coach Rod Jensen and athletic director Gene Bleymaier would have no further comment.
Wyatt is from Los Angeles. He started in Boise’s season opener last week against Washington State and scored 17 points. Last season, his 11.7 point average was high on the team and he earned Newcomer of the Year in the Big Sky Conference.