Tyler Linhardt make timely plays as Idaho comes back to beat Sacramento State 78-76

MOSCOW, Idaho – Tyler Linhardt had to do emergency duty as a post defender against Sacramento State’s Chudi Dioramma for much of Idaho’s game against the Hornets on Saturday.

It was a mismatch until their battle counted most.

With barely 20 seconds remaining and the Vandals trailing by one point, the 6-foot-10 Dioramma plucked a rebound over 6-7 Linhardt, and Linhardt grabbed an arm and took both of them to the floor.

The Hornets took advantage of the foul to try to set up Emil Skytta for a 3-pointer at the top of the lane with 13.6 seconds to play to seal a victory. His shot was short, and this time Linhardt had inside position on Dioramma. Linhardt won that rebound, and Dioramma fouled him over the back then hopped in frustration at his miscue.

The Vandals were in the bonus, and Linehardt crawled the first of his two free throws over the rim and hit the second. He made sure Idaho’s sudden lead held up, rebounding another Hornets miss with 3.2 seconds remaining and was fouled intentionally. He hit an additional free throw to allow the Vandals to escape with a 78-76 win as Sacramento State’s Leo Ricketts’ half court heave at the buzzer fell well short.

“Looking at this through the lens of our program and what we are trying to build, this was very important for us,” Idaho coach Alex Pribble said . “You are not always going to win clean. You are not always going to win pretty. Sometimes you have got to win ugly.”

The Vandals improved to 11-14 overall and 6-6 in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets fell to 6-18 and 2-9.

Jack Payne (6-6) and Takai Hardy (6-7) also took rotations as post defenders, and Pribble said all three rose to the challenge.

“Are they tough enough to get stops and rebound?” he asked . “These are guards or forwards and they were asked to battle an opposing center and give up 40 or 50 pounds. This was huge for Tyler Linhardt.”

Idaho was forced to go with a smaller lineup after 6-9 starter Julius Mims picked up a pair of fouls before the game was two minutes old. Mims re-entered with 2:34 left in the first half and 16 seconds later had his third foul.

About six minutes into the second half Mims left the court with what Pribble said is an injury above the shoulder. How seriously he is hurt is not determined, but Mims was at least done for the day.

Idaho’s other 6-9 post defender, Kyson Rose, injured an ankle in the pregame shootaround and did not suit up.

But while Dioramma scored 19 points on 9-for-9 shooting from the field and grabbed six rebounds, the Vandals held the Hornets’ other 6-10 big man, Jacob Holt, to four points and four rebounds.

Payne and Linhardt were even more productive. Payne led all scorers with 21 points, and Linhardt had 16. They each grabbed six rebounds. Tyler Mrus connected on 5 of 12 3-point attempts and added a pair of free throws to give the Vandals 17 points. Kolton Mitchell added 10.

“When we do put a smaller lineup out there, we put out a more skilled lineup,” Pribble said.

Julian Vaughns matched Dioramma with 19 points, and Lachlan Brewer scored 13 for the Hornets.

While the Hornets outscored the Vandals 46-18 in the paint, Idaho was efficient on free throws, hitting 32 of 41.

Pribble was called for a technical in the second half.

“Sometimes you’ve got to get a technical foul to get a couple of free throws,” he said.

Women

Sacramento State 56, Idaho 53: The Vandals (16-7, 8-4 Big Sky) did not score for the final 2:48, surrendering an 8-0 run in a loss to the Hornets (11-13, 4-7) in Sacramento, California.

The Hornets’ Jaydia Martin, who had a team-high 18 points, scored a go-ahead jumper with 17 seconds left.

Hope Hassmann led Idaho with 19 points, making 7 of 7 from the field. Jennifer Aadland added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The rest of the Vandals were 6 of 30 from the field.