Idaho men unable to keep up with St. Thomas in home loss 75-67

MOSCOW, Idaho – Combining a quick pace, sharp passing and solid 3-point shooting, St. Thomas (Minnesota) kept Idaho at bay during Wednesday’s Big Sky-Summit Challenge at ICCU Arena.

The Vandals were up to the challenge, however, cutting into the Tommies’ first- and second-half leads before finally falling 75-67.

“These moments help us,” Idaho coach Alex Pribble said. “I really believe you grow through adversity.”

The Vandals reduced an 11-point Tommies advantage to 38-36 at halftime.

After getting outscored 9-2 in the first 4 minutes of the second half – what Pribble refers to as the most important part of the game – Idaho managed to cut the deficit to 57-53 with about 7 minutes to play when Julius Mims scored on a Quinn Denker lob.

“There are a lot of lessons to be taught. There was not enough focus on the defensive end,” Pribble said. “(But) we got it to two at the half. That’s a good sign for us.”

Idaho slipped to 7-8, and St. Thomas, of the Summit League, ran its win streak to five and its record to 11-5.

The Tommies shot 38 3-pointers and made 15.

The Vandals couldn’t match that, hitting 8 of 20 from beyond the arc. But they countered by taking the ball inside, outscoring St. Thomas 30-18 in the paint.

Mims was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points and rebounder with 14. He also blocked three shots. Idaho’s Terren Frank muscled through the St. Thomas defense for 16 points. Mims hit both of his 3-point attempts and Frank was 2 for 4.

Drake Dobbs led St. Thomas with 16 points. Kendall Blue added 15 points, Parker Bjorklund 12 and Carter Bjerke 10.

St. Thomas finished with 17 assists as the Tommies “sprayed the ball around” seeking 1-on-1 advantages, according to Pribble.

“We have to guard the basketball better. We have to do a better job of keeping the ball in front of us,” Pribble said.

“We all knew they were going to be shooting more 3s than 2s,” Idaho’s Titus Yearout said of the Tommies.

“Nothing they did shocked us. It was what we didn’t do,” Frank added.

Yearout, a redshirt freshman guard, had his best game as a Vandal, scoring seven points and playing more than 24 minutes, largely in relief of starter D’Angelo Minnis, who missed Idaho’s previous two games with illness.

Yearout was also involved in Idaho’s last best chance for a comeback. With the Vandals trailing 70-62 with 30 seconds to play, Yearout appeared to bat away an inbound pass to Dobbs.

The ball looked as though it caromed off Dobbs’ foot out of bounds, but after an officials’ review the ball went back to the Tommies, who successfully inbounded. Idaho was forced to foul the rest of the way, and St. Thomas hit five free throws down the stretch.