BOISE, Idaho - Idaho men's basketball concluded their 2023-24 season at Idaho Central Arena Saturday night. The Vandals fell in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament to the Sacramento State Hornets, 72-64.
Idaho trailed for over 35 minutes and suffered foul trouble as the Hornets took advantage of their opportunities shooting 22-of-25 from the foul line.
Junior forward
Julius Mims dominated the first half for the Vandals with a perfect 5-5 clip for 12 points while adding five rebounds. Idaho's ball movement proved to be crucial tallying assists on eight of their 10 field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
The Hornets suffered a cold streak sinking just two of their final 10 attempts heading into the break but withheld a 32-29 lead.
Idaho blazed out of the break drilling four of their first seven attempts.
Tyler Linhardt's first points came from a corner three forcing a Sacramento timeout to take their first lead (38-37) since scoring the first bucket of the game. The Hornets would respond behind a Zee Hamoda three and never seceded the lead again.
The two teams fared similarly from the field as Idaho shot 43 percent (24-56) to Sac State's 44 percent (22-50).
The difference would come from the charity stripe as Sacramento State scored 17 of their second-half points on free throws while Idaho scored two. Forward Akol Mawein scored a game-high 25 and freshman guard Bailey Nunn added 14 off of the bench.
Top Performers
- Julius Mims led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds. He also got it done on the defensive end, adding two blocks and two steals.
- Quinn Denker recorded 14 points and four assists.
- D'Angelo Minnis scored nine with a team-high three three-pointers in his final game as a Vandal.
Noteworthy
- This marks the third time Mims has scored 20-plus points and 18th time scoring in double figures.
- Mims has totaled 48 blocks on the season after his two rejections against the Hornets. The junior forward passed Djim Bandoumel (47, 2011-12) for the sixth most from a Vandal in a single season.
- Mims' 81.8 percent shooting mark is tied for the seventh-highest single-game percentage in Big Sky Tournament history.
- Denker appeared in all 40 minutes of action for the Vandals. The junior played at least 40 minutes in three games this season.
- The Vandals sank all of their free throw attempts (6-6) for the third time this year.
- Idaho scored 30 of their points from beyond the arc. The Vandals tallied eight games with at least 10 three-pointers made this year.
POSTGAME WITH COACH PRIBBLE
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