MOSCOW, Idaho – Quinn Denker hit the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to lift the Idaho men's basketball team to an incredible 61-58 victory over Sacramento State Thursday night at the ICCU Arena to open Big Sky play.
"We talked to the guys about how difficult and how much of a challenge every night is going to be and this was a great opportunity for them to learn that firsthand," Head Coach
Alex Pribble said. "I'm very proud of the guys for digging in defensively and particularly rebounding the basketball on the defensive end. It was a huge challenge for us tonight against a very physical, experienced and well-coached team. I thought our guys rose to the challenge."
Idaho (7-6) earns its first home victory in a conference opener since 2014-15. The Vandals' defensive effort stood out holding the Hornets to 58 points - the least amount of points allowed against a Big Sky foe since 2020.
Not only did Denker lead the Vandals with 21 points, including the final dagger to clinch the victory, but he also committed zero turnovers while playing point guard in place of
D'Angelo Minnis, who sat out due to illness. The San Jose native added three rebounds and two assists while shooting 3-of-5 from three and 6-6 from the foul line.
The Vandals led by as many as 14 points in the first half before taking a 33-22 advantage into the break. Sacramento State cut its deficit to six (27-33) right out of half at the 18:42 mark. Idaho stayed strong to keep a two-possession lead until halfway through the period when the Hornets hit a three-pointer to cut it to a one-point game (45-46).
From there, Idaho boosted its lead back up to six (51-45) with just under nine minutes to go, but Sac State continued to trade blows the rest of the way with neither team getting any real separation. The Vandals made eight of their 12 free throws and forced six of the Hornets' 16 turnovers over the final nine minutes of action to keep their lead.
Sac State connected on a pair of threes to ultimately tie the game at 58-58 with 3.0 seconds remaining on the clock to set up Denker's heroic shot.
Tyler Linhardt launched a perfect impound pass up high for only
Julius Mims to catch at midcourt. Mims handed it off to Denker, who took one dribble to the right and pulled up from the Idaho Central Credit Union logo to take a fadeaway jumper that banked home as time expired.
"Coach is the master of out of timeout plays... All I did was throw up a shot," Denker joked. "To be honest, the most impressive part of the play was the pass by
Tyler Linhardt, the catch by
Julius Mims, and the screen by
Kristian Gonzalez. All I had to do was put up a shot that counted and let God take care of the rest."
Mims played a key role in the victory, finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds and two steals. The 6-9 forward had another productive night from the field, shooting 7-of-11 from the field and a perfect 3 for 3 clip from behind the arc.
Not only did Linhardt make a great pass to set up the game-winning shot, but he also contributed off the bench with nine points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists.
The final stats saw Idaho shoot an even 40 percent (21-52) from the field and an impressive 80 percent (12-15) from the foul line. The Vandals outrebounded the Hornets 33-31 and held on to the lead for over 36 minutes of action.
Up Next
Idaho will look to carry over its momentum to Saturday, as the Vandals are back in action at 2 p.m. to take on Portland State inside the ICCU Arena.
POSTGAME WITH COACH PRIBBLE
POSTGAME WITH QUINN DENKER
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