When the final horn sounded Wednesday night inside Idaho Central Arena, the Idaho Vandals (21-14, 9-9) gathered near midcourt as the magnitude of the moment began to settle in.
For the first time in more than three decades, Idaho men’s basketball is going dancing.
Behind a dominant rebounding performance and another balanced offensive effort, the seventh-seeded Vandals defeated the fourth-seeded Montana Grizzlies (18-16, 10-8) 77-66 in the Big Sky Conference championship game Wednesday night, securing the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1990.
The victory capped an improbable five-day run through the conference tournament for Idaho, which had an up-and-down regular season and entered the tournament with a worse seed than it had last season. The Vandals rattled off four consecutive wins in Boise, including victories over two top-three seeds, to capture the program’s fifth conference championship and the Big Sky’s automatic bid to March Madness.
For a team that spent much of the winter searching for consistency, the Vandals found their rhythm at the perfect time.
“It’s taken a lot of resilience and a lot of trust,” said Idaho head coach Alex Pribble in the postgame press conference after the semifinals. “When you feel like you’re doing the right things, but the outcomes aren’t there, it takes belief to stay the course. This group trusted the process, and it came together at the right time.”
The Vandals opened the game with the same physical edge that carried them through the first three rounds of the tournament. Emphasizing rebounding and interior scoring from the opening tip, Idaho surged to an early 18-8 advantage behind an 11-0 run that energized the Vandal-heavy crowd.
Isaiah Brickner ignited the early momentum with a highlight-reel putback dunk off a missed three-pointer by Kolton Mitchell coming out of the first media timeout, a sequence that set the tone for Idaho’s relentless effort on the offensive glass.
Montana responded midway through the first half. After a flagrant foul by Biko Johnson, the Grizzlies seized the momentum, stringing together a 17-4 run to erase the deficit and eventually take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
Despite the setback, Idaho remained within striking distance thanks to its work inside. The Vandals dominated the paint throughout the opening period, outscoring the Grizzlies 20-8 down low, even as their perimeter shooting struggled. Idaho went just 2-12 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The entire game was a battle of momentum swings. The teams traded the lead 10 times before the first media timeout in the second half. Then, Idaho began to pull away as Brickner continued to attack the rim, and Brody Rowbury provided a crucial lift inside with physical post play and timely perimeter shooting.
Despite not being known for his shooting ability, Rowbury knocked down two three-pointers during a pivotal second-half stretch, helping Idaho extend its lead to 53-43, matching the Vandals’ largest advantage of the night at the time.
The run proved especially important with forward Jackson Rasmussen limited by foul trouble. Rasmussen was limited for most of the first half with two early fouls, and then he picked up a third first-half foul. When the second half started, he knew he needed to be cautious on the defensive end, but a questionable call gave Rasmussen his fourth foul with 10:41 remaining, which sent him to the bench for the majority of the game’s finish.
Rowbury and Seth Joba responded by imposing their presence on the glass. Joba converted a second-chance putback that pushed Idaho’s lead to seven midway through the half, part of a stretch in which the Vandals repeatedly created extra possessions through offensive rebounds.
“Brody is a huge part of what we do defensively. Philosophically, he anchors our defense. He protects the rim, he protects the paint,” Pribble said. “Brody is an extremely mentally tough guy.”
That rebounding dominance ultimately became the defining statistical difference of the night.
Idaho finished with a commanding 42-28 advantage on the boards, including a 13-3 margin in offensive rebounds, allowing the Vandals to overcome a difficult shooting night from three-point range.
Even late in the game, the Vandals were still searching for consistency from deep. Idaho finished just 5-21 from beyond the arc, but its ability to generate second-chance opportunities and protect the basketball proved decisive.
The Vandals committed only eight turnovers in the game, continuing a trend that defined their tournament run after similarly disciplined performances in wins over Montana State and Eastern Washington.
With the lead hovering around double digits late in the second half, Mitchell, who led Idaho with 26 points against Eastern Washington, delivered one of the game’s signature moments.
The redshirt sophomore guard spun into a smooth turnaround jumper to maintain a 10-point advantage and quiet a brief Montana push.
Montana attempted one final surge when Te’Jon Sawyer converted a tough layup through contact after Mitchell missed two free throws with just over two minutes remaining, trimming the deficit to single digits.
But Idaho answered immediately. Moments later, Jack Payne launched a full-court baseball pass ahead to Brickner, who finished with an emphatic fast-break slam that pushed the lead back to 11 and effectively sealed the championship.
Brickner delivered a legendary performance in the title game, finishing with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Vandals.
“He was a huge spark for us. He did a great job attacking the rim,” Pribble said. “He’s a guy that when he attacks the rim and gets into the paint he causes defenses a lot of problems and he did a great job of that.”
Rowbury added 12 points, while Mitchell contributed 11 points despite battling lingering effects of a back injury that sidelined him late in the regular season. Trevon Blassingame scored 10 points and Payne chipped in nine.
For Montana, Sawyer and Money Williams each scored 19 points to lead the Grizzlies, while Brooklyn Hicks added 11. However, Idaho’s defense limited the rest of Montana’s roster, holding the Grizzlies to just 24 percent shooting from three-point range.
The defensive effort marked one of Idaho’s strongest performances of the season. Montana did not reach 50 points until fewer than five minutes remained in the game, a testament to the Vandals’ disciplined defensive rotations and physical interior presence.
The victory was particularly meaningful for Idaho after the Grizzlies swept the Vandals during the regular season, winning both meetings in tightly contested games.
When it mattered most, however, Idaho flipped the script. The Vandals entered the tournament as an underdog after finishing seventh in the Big Sky standings, but their postseason surge showcased the version of the team that head coach Alex Pribble believed existed all along.
“It feels like a championship group,” Pribble said. “It feels like a winning group, and I’ve felt that way all year, and so during some of the ups and downs, we just had to trust the process and stay with what we were doing, and it clicked for us at the right time.”
Resilience, rebounding and timely scoring carried Idaho through four games in five days, culminating in a championship performance that will send the Vandals back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990.
And now, after decades of waiting, Idaho will once again hear its name called this Selection Sunday.
“It honestly didn’t really feel real, and I feel like it still hasn’t really caught up to me right now,” Mitchell said. “Just a sense of pride for our team and for this program and for the community of Moscow.”