Barone’s 26 points lead Idaho over Texas State

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Kyle Barone scored 26 points to lead three 20-point Vandal scorers as Idaho snapped a five-game Western Athletic Conference basketball losing streak with a 90-81 win at Texas State on Saturday.

“It was a big win for us,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We control our own destiny, if we can beat Seattle U at home on Senior Night, that will allow us to be the six seed and go into the WAC tournament with a little momentum, having won three of our last four games.”

Barone hit 12 of 17 shots and added 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Connor Hill made 5-of-7 3-pointers to match his career-high of 22 points and Stephen Madison went 5 of 9 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line to finish with 20. Mansa Habeeb added 13 points for Idaho, while Mike McChristian finished with seven points, six rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Idaho (11-17, 6-11) shot 56 percent from the field and was 24 of 31 at the free-throw line to gain a split in the season series. Texas State won the first game 78-73 on Jan. 19.

Matt Staff led the Bobcats (9-20, 4-12) with 22 points. Joel Wright and Vonn Jones each scored 12. Wright, the WAC’s leading scorer, was in foul trouble for most of the game. He picked up two fouls early in the first half, a technical in the second, and fouled out after playing 19 minutes.

“We did a pretty good job on Wright,” Verlin said. “We left him free a couple times there but we made some other guys shoot it.”