MOSCOW, Idaho - When it came down to it, the smallest guy on the floor made the biggest rebound of the game, and the University of Idaho men's basketball team escaped with a 69-66 victory to close out conference play on Thursday.

Vandal junior Deremy Geiger battled down low for a key defensive rebound with 21 seconds left and Idaho leading by one, 65-64, and then made the two ensuing free throws to give the Vandals a three-point lead over Fresno State that they wouldn't surrender in an important Western Athletic Conference win.

"You've got to give Fresno State a lot of credit. They came in an dictated the tempo right from the start," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We found a way to win tonight when we didn't have our 'A' game, and I couldn't be happier for our guys."

The victory moves the Vandals to 17-12 overall and 9-7 in WAC play, and clinches Idaho at least the fourth seed, and the first-round bye that comes with it. The Vandals can still earn as high as a three seed pending Saturday's results. Fresno State slips to 13-16 overall, 5-10 in the WAC and into a seventh-place tie with San Jose State.

The win also assures that Idaho will finish no worse than a third-place tie in the WAC, which marks the second time in three seasons under Verlin that the Vandals have finished as high in conference play.

It wasn't all fun and games from the beginning, though, as the Bulldogs jumped all over Idaho from the start. The Vandals turned the ball over on two of their first three possessions and missed four of their first five shots, while Fresno State sprinted out to a 14-3 lead at the 13:53 mark of the first.

"In the first half, they missed 12 shots and got five of them back (on offensive rebounds), so obviously, we didn't defend them as well as we'd like to," Verlin said. "I thought our guys did a great job of not folding. This team has been tough all year long, and they never got rattled, and they battled their way back."

The Bulldogs extended their lead to as many as 13 points at 22-9 with 10:49 left in the opening period, but Idaho outscored Fresno State, 21-12, over the remainder of the first half, then closed the gap in the early stages of the second period.

"Defensively, we were just a little quicker on our rotations in the second half," Verlin said. "We were a little more active and I thought our ball pressure was a little better.

"I thought our guys were just moving too fast (in the first half) - didn't have enough patience."

Fresno State shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the first half, but hit just a 43.3 percent clip in the second. Idaho was a consistent 52 percent in the first and 50 percent in the second for a 51.1 overall percentage. The free throw line was the difference for Idaho, as the Vandals hit 80 percent of their 20 attempts, while FS hit 40 percent of its 10 attempts, resulting in a 12-point Idaho edge from the line.

Sophomore Kyle Barone broke out of a mini-funk of his own to hit nine of his 12 attempts and lead all scorers with 19 points. He had been held below five points in three of Idaho's last four games and had shot just 9-of-19 (.473) during that time.

Senior Shawn Henderson dropped in nine points, while Luiz Toledo, Brandon Wiley and Jeff Ledbetter put in nine points apiece. Junior guard Landon Tatum had five assists and zero turnovers, with one block and one steal on the evening. Tatum now has 11 assists and no turnovers in his last two games.

Nedeljko Golubovic led Fresno State with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including six rebounds, while Greg Smith added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs. Freshman Kevin Olekaibe, the team's leading scorer at 12.0 per game, had just five points on 2-of-5 shooting in the game.

Idaho is the first WAC team to wrap up conference play, and now the Vandals will take a quick non-conference dip on Saturday against Seattle University, which is 11-18 overall. The game will be Idaho's chance at redemption after the team dropped a 66-56 game at Seattle earlier this year.

Saturday will also be the final home game for four Vandal seniors - Ledbetter, Henderson, Wiley and Travis Blackstock. They will be honored during a pregame ceremony and the game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. at the Cowan Spectrum.