MOSCOW, Idaho - The Idaho men's basketball team was unable to overcome a slow first-half start, falling to Montana State 62-48 on Thursday night at the ICCU Arena.

Montana State jumped out to a 25-10 lead in the early going making eight of their first 10 shots. The Vandals struggled to find a rhythm as the Bobcats built an 18-point lead before ending the half up 41-27. 

A five-minute scoring drought started off the second half for Idaho, as MSU built a 22-point lead in the process. From there, EJ Neal scored eight straight points while Mims knocked down a three-pointer to cut Idaho's deficit down to 12. 

Idaho's aggressive defense hindered the Bobcats, only allowing them to score seven points in the last 10 minutes. Despite the effort, the lead Montana State possessed was too large to overcome. 

Top Performers

• Quinn Denker, Terren Frank and EJ Neal each pitched in eight points apiece.
• Frank also added a game-high eight rebounds in the effort. 
• Takai Hardy and Titus Yearout came off the bench to post a combined plus/minus of 11. No other Vandal ended the game in the positive. 

Noteworthy 

• The Bobcats entered the game averaging 73.3 points per game but were held to 62.
• This is Idaho's fourth game in a row grabbing at least 30 rebounds.
• Terren Frank has led the team in rebounds in the last two contests, with eight in both games.

Up Next
Idaho closes its regular season home schedule with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Montana for Senior Day on Mar. 2 at 2 p.m. PST. 

POSTGAME WITH COACH PRIBBLE

--  Read Full Article