Sacramento State eliminates Idaho from Big Sky Tournament, Vandals remain hopeful for future

BOISE – If you throw the ball anywhere up in the solar system, chances are Julius Mims can go get it.

But even rocket ships like Idaho’s junior forward have to come back to earth – and Saturday night turned into a collective crash landing for the Vandals at the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Despite Mims’ high flying, the Vandals fell 72-64 in the opening round to 10th-seeded Sacramento State, a team they’d beaten twice during the regular season. And it kept the Vandals winless on the Idaho Central Arena floor since the tournament relocated here in 2019.

“I’m pretty disappointed,” Mims said. “But I’ve got next year. Next year, we’re going to light it up.”

As upbeat as the Vandals sounded in the wake of their season coming to an end, you’d never know the school concluded its sixth straight year of 21 or more losses. Even the lone senior – point guard D’Angelo Minnis – seemed ready to sign on for another go-round.

“There is a super bright future for Idaho,” Minnis said. “I promise you’re going to see a lot of wins out there on that court.”

In fact, the 11 wins this year were more than in any Idaho season since 2018, and with a completely revamped lineup under new coach Alex Pribble. And with only Minnis out of eligibility, it’s hard to discount the optimism.

Then again, the Vandals were optimistic about making a little noise in Boise this week, and that didn’t happen – and their struggles were obvious early. They missed five of their first six shots and committed three turnovers before the first media timeout.

Though the game never got away from Idaho, the Hornets were largely in control, feeding off a strong finish – two wins in the past three games – to the regular season. Even the injury loss of leading scorer and rebounder Duncan Powell hasn’t slowed the Hornets, who lost 11 straight through the heart of conference play.

They harried UI scoring leader Quinn Denker into a 1-of-12 shooting night before he scrambled to make four field goals in the final minute. They eventually wore out the Vandals on the glass, and kept them off the foul line – Sacramento State held a 22-6 edge in free throws, due mostly to a more aggressive attack.

About the only thing the Hornets couldn’t do was ground Mims.

The North Idaho College transfer – a high school state champion high jumper in Montana – was an above-the-rim sensation, soaring over the Hornets for six dunks, five of them on alley-oop passes en route to 20 points. The Hornets had some luck deflecting lobs to Mims in the early going, until Minnis and Denker took better care on ball screens to find their target in the rafters.

“He’s a special guy,” Pribble said. “It’s taken awhile for these guys to learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses, and that’s been a big part of the process here. In our wins, these guys have found out what makes each other click, they how to complement each other and make each other better on the court.

“It’s fun to have Juice rolling to the rim like that, and having dynamic guards like D’Angelo making plays like that.”

But Mims’ last dunk, with 5:45 to play to pull Idaho back within four points at 54-50, was kind of the last gasp. Despite Sac committing back to back turnovers, the Vandals missed three 3-pointers on subsequent trips down the floor, allowing Hornets big man Akol Mawein to stretch the lead out at the foul line. He led the Hornets with 25 points.

Now the Hornets face the ultimate challenge – regular season champion Eastern Washington in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

“We’ve played our best basketball these last two weeks,” said coach David Patrick. “It should be interesting.”

For the Vandals, the next step is holding on to what they’ve built and finding some talent that can elevate the program.

“It’s about fit – where are you going to be the best version of yourself,” Pribble said. “I know we’ve built a strong core here and I expect the majority of that core to return. I think these guys have had a great experience and love each other and believe in what we’re doing.”