SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Idaho men's basketball team fell to Sacramento State, 83-51, on Thursday night at The Nest.

"We simply did not answer the bell tonight from a defensive standpoint," Head coach Zac Claus said. "We let them move and go wherever they wanted to. You add in some timely three-point shooting by their offense where they hit a couple to propel them. With them scoring, it allowed to slow us down and enabled us to have to take our time and we simply couldn't get in a rhythm." 

Senior Mikey Dixon was the lone scorer in double figures for Idaho with 13 points while Tanner Christensen tallied eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The Vandals kept within two possessions for the majority of the first half, until Sac State found a little breathing room to make it 29-22 with 3:01 remaining in the half. Idaho pulled within four but the Hornets would knock down a jumper in paint and 3-pointer to push their lead to 34-25 at the break. 

Sac State went on a 13-0 run to open the second half to grab a 47-25 lead with over 16 minutes left to play. Idaho was unable to find any kind of momentum the rest of the way, as the Hornets snapped the Vandals' three-game winning streak with an 83-51 victory.

Turnovers proved to be costly for the Idaho offense as the Hornets turned 16 takeaways into 24 points to build their lead.

The Vandals shot 33 percent from the field while Sac State shot 57 percent, including a 9 for 19 effort from beyond the arc.

NEXT UP: The Vandals travel to Greeley to face Northern Colorado in the final road regular-season game for Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 26. The matchup gets underway at 5 p.m. PT.

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