Idaho Vandals defeat Southern Utah to take fourth seed in Big Sky tourney

Sat., March 4, 2017

Associated Press

Victor Sanders and Arkadiy Mkrtychyan combined to score 43 points and Idaho clinched a first-round bye in the Big Sky Conference by beating Southern Utah, 84-75 in the regular season finale Saturday.

The victory wraps up a third-place finish for the Vandals, behind North Dakota and Eastern Washington. Idaho plays the winner of a game between the conference No. 6 and No. 11 seed in a quarterfinal game Thursday in Reno, Nevada.

Sanders knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead Idaho (17-12, 12-6). Mkrtychyan shot 8 of 12 from the field, grabbed eight boards and finished with 21 points. Overall the Vandals shot 26 of 58 from the field (44.8 percent), including 10 of 28 from 3-point range, and converted 22 of 30 from the free throw line.

Randy Onwuasor scored 17 points to lead the Thunderbirds (5-26, 3-15), who finish last in the conference.

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