Free throws are an overlooked component of a basketball game. Similar to how the turnover battle can dictate results, the outcome of a game is often determined by who can make their free throws in crunch time. That is exactly what happened when the Vandals (10-12, 5-4) took on Weber State (8-14, 2-6) in Ogden, Utah on Jan. 30.
The Wildcats shot a higher clip from the field and dominated the low blocks, doubling Idaho’s total paint points. The Vandals escaped with the road victory for two reasons. They made six more 3-pointers and had more made free-throws than Weber State did attempts.
Kristian Gonzalez scored 10 of his 14 points at the charity stripe, and the rest of the team went 15-16 combined at the line. Gonzalez, who averages 11.2 points per game, returned to double figures after a three-game dry spell.
Tyler Mrus was the undisputed player of the game for Idaho, scoring 21 points with six rebounds and three assists. He shot 4-7 from beyond the arc on a night when the Vandals needed him to be efficient from the field. All seven of Kyson Rose’s shot attempts were from deep, connecting on three of them and finishing with nine points. Jack Payne totaled 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Tyler Linhardt was perfect at the line and scored six of his 11 points on free throws. Linhardt has come into his own in January, scoring 11.1 points per game in his last 10 despite averaging just 5.3 before that stretch.
Long story short, the Vandals capitalized on their opportunities at the line and it paid off. It is no secret that the Vandals have struggled to win close games in the last two seasons, and games like this serve as a milestone of how far this program has come in a short time under Alex Pribble.
The Vandals are just two games shy of the .500 mark, searching for their first winning season since 2017-2018. Additionally, since that season, the most regular season wins an Idaho team recorded was 11 in 2023-2024, and the most conference wins was six in 2021-2022. With nine games remaining, this Vandals team is just one win shy of tying both these marks.
Blaise Threatt continued his success for Weber State, tallying 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Dyson Koehler, Viljami Vartiainen and Trevor Hennig joined Threatt in double-figures, but the Wildcats only had three players connect from long distance, whereas the Vandals had three players who made three or more shots from downtown.
With their fifth conference win of the season, Idaho moved above Idaho State and Northern Arizona to claim sole possession of fourth place behind Northern Colorado, Montana and Portland State.