Vandals battle through illness to take down Sacramento State 86-76: ‘I’m ready for bed’

MOSCOW, Idaho – A comfortable 15-point halftime lead dwindled to three points midway through the second half before an ailing Idaho put on another burst and sealed an 86-76 victory against Sacramento State on Thursday.

Idaho (12-7, 4-2 Big Sky) was the better side throughout, but still found it hard to shake off the Hornets (6-12, 2-4) .

The Vandals played with a short bench as both Trevon Blassingame and Jackson Rasmussen were out with flu and the majority of players who got into the game were not at full strength.

“Eight of us are sick,” said Jack Payne, who nonetheless played 38 minutes and gave the Vandals a dozen points, a dozen rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.

Idaho coach Alex Pribble in particular pointed to the contributions of seldom-used reserves Seth Joba and Aiden Sevilla. Joba provided rim protection and physical play to go with his nine points and five rebounds, according to Pribble.

“(Sevilla) was fantastic. When his name was called, he gave us a spark off the bench,” Pribble said.

A spark, indeed. As the Vandals were building their first-half lead, Sevilla scored on a drive. On the next possession he hit the floor to secure a loose ball for Idaho, and shortly after he drilled a 3-pointer. In the final 4:30 of the second quarter, the score went from 37-32 to 53-38 . For the game, Sevilla scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, dealt three assists and made a steal.

Yet the Vandals pretty nearly had to do it all again in the second half. Sacramento State had been plagued by poor shooting in the first half, 14 of 37 from the floor, including 3 of 10 from the arc. The Hornets nearly wore the paint off the front of the rim leaving short shots there. But in the final period, it was Idaho that went cold. The Vandals were turned away without a point on their first seven trips down the floor. With 12 minutes to play, Sacramento State had closed the lead to 62-59, before Idaho sprinted to a 73-61 advantage over the next three minutes.

“We knew we could beat those guys down and they would break at some point,” Payne said.

However badly they were struggling physically – and they were struggling according to Kolton Mitchell, who said in a subdued locker room after the win, “I’m ready for bed.”

Pribble gave a nod to the team’s go-to guys coming through . Biko Johnson led Idaho with 20 points, Isaiah Brickner followed with 19 and Mitchell 17.

The Hornets’ Mark Lavrenov led all scorers with 26 points. Mikey Williams and Prophet Johnson followed with 14 apiece, and Amin Madi added 10.

Pribble characterized the Hornets as “a team that is extremely skilled, but their shot selection is not always that great.”

He praised Idaho’s defensive effort to keep Sacramento State at an unremarkable 39.4% shooting for the game, 28 of 71, and just 3 of 14 on 3-pointers. The Hornets were a perfect 17 of 17 at the free throw line, however.

“We can win games with our defense,” Pribble said, while acknowleding he’d prefer the Vandals to decisively close out games.

“That’s still a lesson we are learning. We’re not there yet. That’s part of the journey,” Pribble said.

The Vandals entertain league-leading Portland State (13-5, 7-0) Saturday. Pribble said he did not yet know how many of his players would be fully recovered by then.

Women

Idaho 62, Sacramento State 55: The Vandals struggled through an inefficient shooting night, but leaned on free throws and rebounding to build a lead, then withstood a late rally from Hornets for a road win.

The Vandals won on in a Big Sky matchup at Hornet Pavilion despite shooting a season-low 27.7% from the field.

Idaho (14-5, 5-1 Big Sky) used a small surge to take an 11-point lead in the second quarter and preserved a lead of at least seven points until the Hornets (9-10, 3-3) closed the gap to three points with under three minutes left in the game, but the Vandals held Sacramento State to one made field goal the rest of the way.

The Vandals shot 18 of 65 from the field and 5 of 19 on 3s, but went 21 of 32 from the foul line and outrebounded the Hornets 59-35 (26-10 offensively).

Guards Hope Hassmann (11 points) and Ana Pinheiro (10), and post Lorena Barbosa (10) led Idaho.