MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho men's basketball team showed a lot of improvement Saturday afternoon but came up short against Louisiana Tech, 66-61, at the Cowan Spectrum.  The Vandals fall to 3-9 on the season, 0-2 in the WAC.

"I was proud of our effort.  We put ourselves in a position to win this thing and we didn't get it done so the loss is very disappointing," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "I was proud of the way the kids competed and proud as you can be of a loss."

The difference in the game was offensive rebounds and second chance points.  Louisiana Tech recorded 19 offensive rebounds compared to eight for Idaho and the Bulldogs cashed in with 17 second chance points.

Louisiana Tech established a 7-2 lead in the first half and it seemed that the 1,062 fans in attendance were going to see a repeat of Idaho's loss on Thursday to New Mexico State.  The Vandals were able to find their rhythm and tied the game at 13 with 11:48 left in the half but the Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to take a seven point lead at 22-15. 

Idaho broke its three minute scoring drought at the 5:16 mark with a jumper by Mike Kale but Louisiana Tech was able to push its lead to eight at the half, 32-24.

The Vandals were 10-of-22 (46 percent) from the floor in the first half while holding the Bulldogs to 39 percent shooting (10-of-26).  The Bulldogs held a 19-12 rebounding edge at the break.

Idaho used an 8-2 run to open the second half and cut the lead to two points with 18 minutes left in the game and eventually cut it to one at 39-38 with 16:28 remaining.  A steal by Igor Vrzina followed by a Desmond Nwoke lay-up gave Idaho its first lead of the game at 49-47 with 8:22 left.

The Vandals weren't able to hold on to the lead for long as Michael Wilds hit a three-pointer on the Bulldogs next possession to put Louisiana Tech back on top.  A jumper from Paul Millsap pushed the Bulldogs lead to five with 3:52 remaining. 

A dunk from Nwoke cut the lead to three points at 60-57 with 52 seconds left and the Vandals were forced to foul.  Daevon Haskins missed the front end of a one-and-one and Keoni Watson grabbed the defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor.  The Bulldog defense quickly recovered and Watson's contested three point shot fell short.

The Vandals fouled Marcus Elliott and he hit both free throws for Louisiana Tech to push the lead back to five.  A turnover by the Vandals on their next possession led to two more free throws for the Bulldogs.  Louisiana Tech hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

"I'm extremely happy about walking out of here with a win," Louisiana Tech head coach Keith Richard said. "I knew we would get Idaho's best effort, not wanting to lose two at home to start WAC play.  We didn't play pretty but we got the job done."

Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap led all players with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting.  He also added 15 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, four blocks and two steals.

"His offensive rebounds were the biggest difference in the game," Idaho's Mike Kale said of Millsap.  He's a phenomenal athlete and I wish we did a better job on him.  We wanted to tire Millsap out, but that guy is a beast."

The Vandals were 24-of-49 (49 percent) from the floor for the night while the Bulldogs were 22-of-56 (39 percent).  Louisiana Tech out-rebounded Idaho 37 to 27.

"To have the game right there and have a chance to win it, We're making progress," Perry said.

Tanoris Shepard led Idaho with 11 points while Keoni Watson, David Dubois and Mike Kale all added 10 points.  Watson led the team with a career high 10 rebounds.

"Every night these kids lay it out.  They are determined," Perry said. "We've made a lot of progress from the New Mexico State game.  If we get tonight's game on the court Thursday I really believe we would have won."

Idaho (3-9, 0-2 WAC) will travel to Reno, Nev. to face the Nevada Wolf Pack on Thursday, Jan. 12.  Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.

"I honestly haven't seen a team start this bad and come closer together," Kale said. "We have a few pieces of the puzzle and probably need a few more but we have the makings of a team that can be very good down the road."