Idaho (10-6, 4-1 WAC) made the little plays count late in the game when a furious Nevada (4-13, 1-3 WAC) rally had brought the Pack within one points at 62-61. Idaho led by as many as 10 points in the second half.

Despite holding second-half leads of as many as 10 and nine points on separate occasions, Idaho wasn't quite able to put the Wolf Pack away, and after a 12-2 Nevada run, the Pack took a 59-58 lead with 3:12 left in the game.

Idaho answered right back with a Kyle Barone layup to take back the lead at 2:50, then junior forward Luiz Toledo made his mark. Toledo opened the game with back-to-back dunks, then closed it out with a pair of crucial offensive rebounds.

With Idaho clinging to a 62-61 lead at 1:20, Shawn Henderson missed a free throw, but Toledo grabbed a big offensive board to restart the shot clock and add a new possession. When junior guard Deremy Geiger air-balled a contested 3-pointer 30 seconds later, it was Toledo who dove out of bounds, turned and tipped the rebound back to Barone for an open lay-up, plus a foul for a 3-point play that put the Vandals back up by four at 65-61.

"Something we've talked a lot about is making winning plays, and tonight we made some winning plays down the stretch," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "That's what you have to do to pull out a close one."

Idaho made five of its final six free throws and mixed in a fast-break dunk by Barone to maintain the three-point margin, and when Malik Story's 3-pointer with nine seconds left went awry, Barone grabbed the board to seal the Idaho's program-best fourth-straight WAC win.

The victory also gives Idaho its best start since joining the WAC, and its best conference start since the 1993-94 Vandals started Big Sky Conference play 5-1.

Junior guard Deremy Geiger led all Idaho scorers with 18 points, along with four assists and one rebound. Senior Jeff Ledbetter put together another solid performance with 17 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. Kyle Barone's 13-point, seven-rebound, three-block night and Toledo's 11-point, six-rebound effort rounded out Idaho's double-digit scorers.

The Wolf Pack's Deonte Burton had the top game of his young career, as the freshman scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead all scorers. Junior forward Olek Czyz, who entered the game averaging a WAC-best 24.7 points in conference games, put in 14 points with 10 rebounds and five assists.

As a team, Idaho shot 25-of-57 (43.9) from the field and 6-of-17 (.353) from 3-point range. The Wolf Pack went 25-of-56 (.446) overall and 9-of-21 (.429) from 3-point range, but the big difference came at the free throw line, where Idaho outscored Nevada, 16-8.

The game was televised nationally on ESPN2 and saw Idaho's largest home crowd of the year at 1,550.

"That's a big thing," Geiger said of the atmosphere. "The crowd got real loud tonight - the fans that were in there were great. That's exactly what we need throughout conference."

The Vandals also came within a hair of its fourth 20-assist effort of the season, as they dished out 19, while turning it over nine times. Nevada had 11 assists and 12 turnovers on the night. Both teams scored 13 points off turnovers, but the Vandals outscored the Pack 8-2 on the fast break.

The game featured just four lead changes and four ties, but it was a skin-tight affair from the very beginning. Idaho opened the game on an 11-4 run, only to see Nevada roar right back and tie it up at 13-13 three minutes later. Idaho responded with eight unanswered to go up 21-13, but then the Wolf Pack rattled off a 12-0 run and took a 25-21 lead - its biggest of the evening - at 3:51 of the first.

Yet another scoring run, this time a 7-0 Vandal stretch, put the home team ahead, 28-25. The teams exchanged baskets over the final 1:52 of the first half and Idaho took a 30-28 lead into the break.

"We're really proud of what we've accomplished so far, but we're staying hungry," Ledbetter said. "We're going to come in and get to work tomorrow and get ready for the next one.

"That's a big key with this team - we stay hungry."

Next up for Idaho will be a dip out of conference play when the Vandals head to California for a non-conference road game at Cal State Bakersfield, which is 8-8, on Saturday at 7 p.m. They'll follow that up with a trip to WAC foe Fresno State on Monday at 7 p.m.