Montana State University
11-12,6-4Big Sky
Idaho
8-14,2-7Big Sky
Bobcats Fall to Idaho on Saturday
2/3/2024 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Vandals score 50 in the second half to pull away and hand MSU 81-75 defeat at home
BOZEMAN, Montana – Idaho shot 54 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Montana State 32-25 to earn an 81-75 win in Worthington Arena on Saturday.
Montana State took a 33-31 lead on a Tyler Patterson three-pointer 14 seconds into the second half, but the Vandals scored six of the next eight points and never trailed again. Idaho led by as many as 11 points in the second half.
"You have to tip your hat to Idaho," head coach Matt Logie said. "I thought they played with better pace for most of the game. We were sluggish to start out—didn't have the bite that we've had in previous games. It's disappointing, because I know how our group handles adversity, we've handled it very well—but you have to handle success well too to string things together and I thought we didn't get off to the start that we needed tonight, and then weren't able to catch up from there."
Idaho forward Julius Mims, a Billings product, led his team with 15 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Vandals, who shot 60 percent after the intermission. Mims helped UI outscore the Cats 42-34 in the paint.
Montana State turned the ball over only 12 times – leading to 17 Vandals' points – but two of them came in the game's first two minutes and Idaho forced another three minutes later, aiding a quick UI start. The Bobcats regrouped, and led 11-6 on a pair of Jaden Geron free throws with 12:19 to play in the first half.
As it did on after every Bobcat run, Idaho answered. The Vandals used a 12-4 run to retake the lead. The teams traded baskets for most of the rest of the half, and when Kyson Rose converted a second-chance opportunity just before the half UI took a one-point lead into the intermission.
After Idaho's spurt to open the second stanza, the Cats tied the score twice in the half's first five minutes. Short jumpers by Terren Frank and Quinn Denker and a three-pointer by D'Angelo Minnis pushed Idaho's lead back to seven, and that was still the advantage when Mims converted an alley-oop with 7:49 to play.
Brandon Walker, who scored 14 points, spurred a Bobcat rally with a spinning layup, then Robert Ford III hit a jump shot. Rose and Goracke traded three-pointers, and an Eddie Turner III free throw with 5:24 to play drew the Bobcats within one, 58-57.
That's as close as MSU would get. A dunk and a layup by Mims spurred 13-3 Idaho run to wrest control of the game away from the Bobcats. Leading 71-60 with 2:07 to play, the Vandals made 10 straight free throws to ice the win.
The Bobcats fall to 11-12 on the season and 6-4 in Big Sky play, and open a three-game road stretch at Northern Colorado on Thursday. Idaho is 8-14 overall and 2-7 in Big Sky play with the victory, and plays at Sacramento State on Thursday.
#GoCatsGo
