Vandals come back at Idaho State

POCATELLO — Connor Hill scored 20 points and Stephen Madison added 19 points as Idaho defeated Idaho State 75-69 on Saturday.
Hill had 12 of his points on four straight 3-pointers as the Vandals (10-16) of the Western Athletic Conference took control of the game with a 16-5 run.
That burst erased a 36-32 lead for the Bengals (5-21) of the Big Sky Conference.
Idaho led 61-59 after a 3-point basket by Idaho State’s Melvin Morgan with 5:11 remaining in the game. Andre Hatchett’s free throw with 4:31 to go got the Bengals within a point, but …

POCATELLO — Connor Hill scored 20 points and Stephen Madison added 19 points as Idaho defeated Idaho State 75-69 on Saturday.

Hill had 12 of his points on four straight 3-pointers as the Vandals (10-16) of the Western Athletic Conference took control of the game with a 16-5 run.

That burst erased a 36-32 lead for the Bengals (5-21) of the Big Sky Conference.

Idaho led 61-59 after a 3-point basket by Idaho State’s Melvin Morgan with 5:11 remaining in the game. Andre Hatchett’s free throw with 4:31 to go got the Bengals within a point, but Hatchett missed three free throws over the next minute.

Idaho only had one basket over the final 5:27 but connected on 12 of 13 free throws.

Kyle Barone, the Vandals’ top scorer this season, added 12 points and Mike McChristian scored 10 for Idaho.

Chris Hansen led Idaho State (5-21) with 19 points. Tomas Sanchez added 18 points and Morgan scored 10.

Idaho led for most of the first half, but the Bengals scored the last nine points of the half to lead 29-28 at the break.

The win was Idaho’s first in Pocatello since 1996. The game was part of the BracketBusters series, but the 101st between the schools.

The Vandals will rejoin the Bengals in the Big Sky Conference in 2014 for all sports except football, where they will be independent.