FRESNO, Calif. - The University of Idaho men's basketball team suffered its worst loss since the 2000-01 season Monday evening in an 89-54 drubbing by Fresno State at the Save Mart Center.  The 35 point loss is the largest margin of defeat for a Vandal team since an 80-41 loss at St. Louis on Dec. 2, 2000.  Idaho drops to 3-15 on the season, 0-7 in the WAC and is off to its worst conference start in school history.

"I'm almost in a state of shock that they can shoot the ball that well," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "Wow.  That's all I can say."

The Vandal offense got on track early in the first half and the team was able to establish an 8-5 lead with 17:46 remaining.  Fresno State answered with three consecutive 3-pointers to take a 14-8 lead.  A Mike Kale layin at the 13:27 mark cut the lead to three at 16-13, but the Vandals ran out of steam from there as the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to push their lead to 14 at 27-13.  Desmond Nwoke ended Idaho???s cold spell at the 9:11 mark with a tip-in on a missed Keoni Watson layin, but the Bulldog offense exploded with an 18-8 run to close out the half and Fresno State took a 45-23 lead into halftime.

"We started the game the right way," Perry said. "It was unbelievable how skilled their big three were tonight."

Idaho's transition defense struggled throughout the first half and the Vandals were burned for 14 fast break points. Ja'Vance Coleman knocked down 6-of-8 3-pointers in the first half to lead the Bulldog attack and had 18 points at the break.  Fresno State shot a ridiculous 11-of-19 (58-percent) from the three point line in the first half and held a 22-15 rebounding edge.  The Vandals were 10-of-31 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the three point line.

Fresno State opened the second half with a 19-2 run to increase its lead to 37 points at 64-27 and didn't let up leading by as many as 44 on its way to the 89-54 win.  

"Their skill level looked like an NBA skill level in terms of executing their offense," Perry said. "Coleman is as good of a player as I've seen this year.  He is unbelievable."

Tanoris Shepard led the Vandals with 11 points and eight rebounds.  Brett Ledbetter added 10 points for Idaho.  The Bulldogs were led by Coleman with 22 points in 25 minutes of play while Quinton Hosley and Dwight O'Neil added 14 points apiece.

Idaho shot 34-percent (20-59) from the floor for the game and 40-percent from the3-point line.  Fresno State's offensive show ended with 31-of-58 shooting from the floor, including 14-of-28 from the 3-point line.  The Bulldogs also out-rebounded the Vandals 41 to 26.

"We have to regroup and go to Hawai'i against a tough front line," Perry said.

Idaho (3-15, 0-7 WAC) travels to Hawai'i on Thurs. to face the Rainbow Warriors at 9:05 p.m. PT.