After a long review, the officials determined that the ball went out of bounds prior to the end of regulation, so they added two-tenths of a second to the clock. With Washington State (0-1) trailing by two, their only chance to try to send the game to overtime was to attempt a lob towards the rim.
Adria Rodriguez threw the lob up for Emmanuel Ugbo, but Ugbo’s attempt at a tip-in bounced off the side of the rim, and the Idaho Vandals (1-0) secured their first victory over WSU in eight years. This was just the ninth home-opener loss in Cougar program history.
“Couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” said head coach Alex Pribble. “We have a word on the board every single day when we walk in the locker room, top right-hand corner. It says ‘together every day.’ That’skind of what this program is built on. Competing together.”
This was the second time in three years that Idaho has opened the regular season against WSU. Last season, WSU beat Idaho 90-67 in a mid-November showdown in Pullman. Just hours after Idaho’s women’s team mounted a comeback to take down the Cougars in the Beasley Coliseum, the men’s team had the same outcome: a two-point victory over their cross-border rivals.
This was the first time since 1981 that both Vandal teams have beaten the Cougars in Pullman.
The Vandals led for the entirety of the game, making several scoring runs in the first half to take a nine-point lead into the break. A big part of the early success was the performance of Jack Payne, whose timely three-point shooting prevented WSU from getting into a rhythm.
He drilled a three coming out of a media timeout, another on the last possession of the first half and once again in the first minute of the second half. He finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
One reason why Idaho is anticipated to be one of the best teams in the Big Sky Conference this season is because of the number of minutes they are returning. They lead the conference with nine returning players this season and they also have the preseason Big Sky freshman of the year, Jackson Rasmussen.
“Jackson Rasmussen does not look like a freshman out there,” Pribble said. “He’s a rock, he’s consistent. He’s going to have a big year for us.”
The returners played a big role in the opener as the team’s three leading scorers from last season, Payne, Kolton Mitchell and Kristian Gonzalez, combined for 36 points. Rasmussen was extremely efficient on both sides of the ball, finishing with 12 points, two assists and two rebounds. He and Biko Johnson, the transfer from Fort Lewis College, were the only two players on either team to log over 30 minutes in this game; the two of them sat for a combined nine minutes and 34 seconds.
Idaho tightened its bench for this game, playing with an eight-man rotation. Despite this, the biggest strength Idaho utilized against WSU was its depth. Six Idaho players scored 11 or more points. Pribble noted that there are several players on the team who didn’t play against the Cougars who will make a significant impact this season.
“Different guys can step up at different times,” Pribble said. “I think what makes us different this year compared to last year is we can really pound the basketball inside and kind of have that inside, outside presence.”
One of the team’s weaknesses in 2024 was its inability to physically dominate in the post. While most of the team’s key returners are in the backcourt, the newcomers in the frontcourt have transformed this team into a scoring juggernaut.
Brody Rowbury scored 13 points with six rebounds and Seth Joba had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a block. Pribble said the two statistics that the team emphasizes the most are rebounds and points in the paint.
“They’re physical, and I think that’s the word I’d use to describe our front court this year,” Pribble said. “We have a physical front line, and I think even our guards play the game with some physicality this year.”
After their electric start, the Vandals built a 16-point lead in the second half. However, the Cougars had a resilient comeback effort, cutting the lead to two with under a minute remaining. They allowed 34 WSU free throw attempts compared to their 19.
“Down the stretch, we fouled way too much,” Pribble said. “I’m glad we had that cushion to kind of hang on to. We have to close out games better than we did. We have to be a little more disciplined than we were, but yeah, good learning experience for us.”
The Vandals stuck to their game plan and pulled off the road victory, igniting the second Idaho postgame locker room celebration of the day. Pribble emphasized in the postgame press conference that, while he is proud of his team for picking up the win, this is only the beginning.
“This isn’t the end result, right?” Pribble said. “We’re kind of trying to climb up a mountain here, and this is a point that we’re going to make note of and celebrate, but we still got a long ways to go.”
The team’s next game will be at home in the ICCU Arena for a 6 p.m. tip-off against Whitman College.
Liam Bradford can be reached at [email protected].