What Idaho wouldn’t give for a few more seconds against the University of Nevada Thursday night.

The Vandals, down 18 early in the second half, put together a sizzling second-half rally before losing 68-64 to the Wolf Pack in a Big West men’s basketball game at Reno’s Lawlor Events Center.

Avery Curry scored 19 points and Cameron Banks 16 for the Vandals, but it was center Mao Tosi who led Idaho’s rally.

“It was better than the alternative,” said Idaho coach Dave Farrar of the late run that brought UI close. “But, again, I’m a little bit more irritated and critical of the fact that we needed one to that degree.”

Idaho (9-6, 3-2 Big West Conference) scored the last 11 points of the game as Nevada failed to score in the final 5 minutes.

Jimmy Carroll scored 18 points and Marvin Wilson 11 for Nevada (8-6, 4-1), which took sole possession of second place in the Eastern Division.

The Vandals play Eastern Division leader Utah State (14-4, 5-0) at Logan, Utah, on Saturday.

Tosi’s free throw with 55 seconds remaining pulled Idaho to within 68-64, but Idaho missed twice on its next possession.

Nevada 68, Idaho 64

Idaho (11-7) - Banks 7-11 0-0 16, Tosi 3-3 1-3 7, Byrne 1-3 0-0 2, Curry 7-21 4-5 19, Toal 2-4 1-2 7, Baumann 1-4 0-0 3, Gray 4-11 0-1 8, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 1-1 0-0 2, Hampton 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 26-58 6-13 64.

Nevada (8-6) - Morgan 2-5 6-7 10, Culberton 3-11 3-5 9, Wilson 5-5 1-1 11, Carroll 7-11 0-2 18, Kennedy 2-5 0-0 6, Murray 1-3 0-0 2, Zapata 0-1 0-1 0, Allen 3-6 4-5 10, Bonner 1-2 0-0 2, Pienkoski 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 14-21 68.

Halftime-Nevada 44, Idaho 32. 3-Point goals-Idaho 6-14 (Banks 2-3, Toal 2-3, Baumann 1-3, Curry 1-5), Nevada 6-13 (Carroll 4-6, Kennedy 2-3, Culbertson 0-1, Murray 0-1, Allen 0-2). Fouled out-Morgan. Rebounds-Idaho 35 (Tosi 11), Nevada 35 (Culbertson 8). Assists-Idaho 17 (Curry 8), Nevada 15 (Morgan, Kennedy 4). Total Fouls-Idaho 21, Nevada 16. A-6,177.

, DataTimes