Ninth-seeded Sacramento State Hornets defeated the Vandals 72-64, ending the Vandals’ season. The Hornets, behind 17 made free throws in the second half, pulled away from the Vandals.
After a back-and-forth start, Sacramento State jumped out to a 28-20 lead with just under seven minutes to play. The Vandals stormed back and went on a 6-0 run to cut the game to 28-26. But freshman Bailey Nunn came off a ball screen and swished a jumper to put the Hornets up 32-29. A heave from Idaho fell short, and the Vandals took a three-point deficit into halftime.
The Hornets regained control of the game and went up 37-31 until the Vandals got a spurt of energy and took their first lead of the second half and the first lead since the first possession of the game. Redshirt freshman Tyler Lindhart capped a Vandals 7-0 run with a corner three-pointer to give them a 38-37 lead.
Both teams went back and forth again until the Hornets’ 6-0 run gave them a 62-52 lead with under three minutes to go. The Hornets were too much for the Vandals to handle in the closing minutes and snuffed out their playoff hopes.
Both teams struggled to shoot. Idaho finished the game 24-for-56 from the field, 10-for-31 from beyond the arc, and 6-for-6 from the line. Sacramento State finished the game shooting 22-for-50 from the field, 6-for-22 from beyond the arc, and 22-25 from the free-throw line (17 of the 22 free-throws came in the second half).
Idaho struggled offensively all night , but their lone star was junior forward Juice Mims. Mims finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, keeping the Vandals in the game. Junior guard Quinn Denker added 14 points, but he struggled shooting the ball, going 5-for-16 from the field.
In his final game in a Vandal uniform, senior guard D’Angelo Minnis finished with nine points and a team-high five assists. For the Hornets, senior forward Akol Mawein led all scorers with 25 points. Nine of his 25 came from the free-throw line.
Nunn added 14 of his own to help the Hornets advance to the next round. Head Coach Alex Pribble spoke postgame about the loss.
“We preach process over products, and it’s been a day one thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of pain in our stomach. There’s a lot of pain right now. There was a lot of belief in that locker, so you lose the game, you walk back in there and these guys show a lot of emotion because we believe we could have gotten that first win for Idaho in Boise.”
Pribble spoke about the impact that Minnis had forthe Vandals this season.
“I just want to make sure it’s known just how great of an impact D’Angelo had on this program this year,” he said. “Only having one senior on the roster and for that senior to work as hard as D’Angelo did every day and commit to the process as much as he did every day, despite some injuries, he stayed focused on finding ways to make the guys around them better. That’s true leadership, sSo we want to thank D’Angelo, for the time and the sacrifice he put in.”
Minnis had some time to reflect on his time as a Vandal.
“It’s the end of my college career, and we wanted this one pretty bad,” he said. “We believe we can do it, but all in all, just reflecting on the year, we accomplished a lot, and I couldn’t be more proud of my team, my coaching staff, and, honestly, myself for everything that we could do.”
“This one will sting a little bit, but it has a bright future. I’m proud of what we did this year.”
With Minnis on his way out, Mims will be asked to be a massive part of the Vandals’ run next season. Mims is excited and looking ahead to the future.
“It’s been an amazing year for us. I’m disappointed we couldn’t get it done, but I got next year, so next year, we’ll ride it out.”
The Vandals, who ended the season 11-21 (5-14), will be looking to build on the growing pains and lessons from year one of the Pribble era next season.
Idaho had an up-and-down season, but it fought through injuries, inconsistent play, and youthfulness to battle back and fight until the final whistle of the season and be a team that is heading in the right direction.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]