Sophomore guard Victor Sanders followed up a career night Thursday with 29 points Saturday evening against Southern Utah.
Despite the sophomore shooting 50 percent from 3-point range, Idaho fell to Southern Utah 85-83 after a tense overtime matchup.
“Well obviously we’re very disappointed,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “I thought Southern Utah dictated the tempo of the game. I thought they played harder than we did.”
Southern Utah (5-11 overall, 2-3 Big Sky Conference) began the game with a shooting streak. The Thunderbirds shot 57.1 percent from the field and converted 4 of 7 shots behind the arc during the first twenty minutes of play.
Victor Sanders led Idaho with 12 points in the first half, while senior forward Nahshon George collected 4 rebounds and provided another 5 points on offense.
The Vandals (11-7 overall, 3-2 Big Sky Conference) made 9 of 22 shots from the field and converted two treys during the first half.
The Thunderbirds relied on 8 points from junior guard Trey Kennedy to grab an early 36-33 lead over the Vandals as the two teams entered halftime.
The Big Sky opponents traded baskets throughout the second half, resulting in a tight matchup that went down to the final minutes.
Southern Utah took a 3-point lead when Kennedy hit a mid-range jumper with 35 seconds left in the second half to put the Thunderbirds up 70-67.
Sanders attempted a late 3-pointer for Idaho, but was fouled during the shot with 20 seconds left in regulation. The junior converted all three free throws to knot the game at 70-70.
After last-second shots from Kennedy and junior guard Race Parsons missed the hoop, the two teams entered a five-minute overtime period.
The Vandals began overtime on a 6-0 run after a 3-point play by junior point guard Pat Ingram and a trey from Sanders.
The Thunderbirds responded with a run of their own, scoring 13 points and holding the Vandals to just one free throw during the next three minutes to take a 83-77 lead with just over 30 seconds left to play.
Senior guard Chris Sarbaugh responded with a 3-point play to cut the Thunderbird lead to 83-80 with 16.7 seconds left.
A foul by Idaho sent Kennedy to the free throw line, and the junior hit both attempts to stretch the Thunderbirds lead to 85-80.
Ingram answered for Idaho with a quick layup to cut the lead to 85-82 in the waning seconds of the matchup.
A full-court press by the Vandals forced a Southern Utah turnover during the following inbounds play, giving Idaho possession of the ball with 5.0 seconds to play.
Sophomore guard Chad Sherwood attempted a buzzer-beater 3-pointer, but was fouled by junior guard Juwan Major of Southern Utah to force three free throws with 0.1 seconds left.
Sherwood made just one of the free throws, and the game ended in the 85-83 victory for the Thunderbirds.
“For whatever reason, they came in with a little more of a chip on their shoulder,” Verlin said.
Sanders finished with 29 points for the Vandals, while sophomore forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan was the next leading scorer for Idaho with 12.
Idaho is scheduled to face Montana Thursday at 6:05 p.m. in the Dahlberg Arena.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom