In a tradition of firsts this season for the Idaho basketball program, the Vandals had their first Big Sky matchup in the ICCU Arena against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
Amongst Big Sky opponents, Southern Utah is one of the most talented. The Thunderbirds won the regular season Big Sky Championship last season and was picked as 2021-22 preseason favorites to win the conference by coaches and the media.
Coming off three straight losses on the road over Thanksgiving break, the Vandals had an opportunity to get back to their winning ways by upsetting the Thunderbirds and establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Big Sky competition.
The Vandals were not successful. But they stayed competitive to the final buzzer.
The game was back-and-forth throughout the entirety of regulation. Southern Utah started off by scoring first and taking the lead and held it throughout the entirety of the first half – leading by as many as eight and going into halftime at 36-33.
The second half saw a Vandals’ comeback against the Thunderbirds. Idaho scored two back-to-back buckets to take the lead 37-35 and expanded it to 63-57 with 10 minutes to go in the game.
This second-half lead by Idaho came off the back of a 27-point performance by senior guard Mikey Dixon. Dixon also added five rebounds, two assists and a steal for the Vandals and scored his 27 points on 55% shooting from the field.
The game also saw the continuation of the stellar defensive performances from junior guard Rashad Smith and freshman forward Tanner Christensen. In addition to providing defensive, Christensen recorded eight points and two rebounds. Smith recorded 10 points and eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Ethan Kilgore and junior guard Trevante Anderson had double-digit scoring nights for the Vandals, Anderson scored 12 points and Kilgore tallied 10. In addition to scoring, Anderson had eight rebounds, two assists and a block. Kilgore had two assists and a block of his own.
Multiple players had decent nights for the Vandals, but it was not enough to maintain a lead over the Thunderbirds.
After Idaho went up 63-57, Southern Utah went on an 18-4 run; eventually regaining the lead 75-67 with 4:20 to go in the half.
Idaho tried to fight back in the closing minutes of the game, bringing it within two points with 0:29 to go in the game, but Southern Utah was able to hold on and win.
In addition to the second-half comeback, the Vandals could not stop the 3-pointers coming from the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds made 30 shots during the game, ten of them being 3-pointers. Southern Utah made those 10 3-point shots off of 25 attempts for a 40% mark.
This second-half collapse continued a pattern by Idaho. In five out of seven Vandals’ losses this season – they’ve been outscored in the second half. The only exceptions are the losses against Cal Poly and North Dakota State. Two of those losses, one being Long Beach State and the other being Southern Utah, came after leading in the second half.
There is an argument to be made that Idaho hasn’t yet finalized what its starting lineup and rotations should be, and they did compete against the Big Sky preseason favorites. However, with a quarter of the season already played and Idaho currently having the worst win-loss percentage in the conference, the Vandals need to start turning things around if they hope to be near the top of Big Sky standings.
The Vandals will host South Dakota State University Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
Live coverage can be found on Twitter @VandalNation
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]