For the first few minutes of Thursday night’s game, the Idaho Vandals men’s basketball team (21-15) looked right at home on college basketball’s biggest stage.
Then, the margin for error disappeared.
Facing one of the nation’s most disciplined and physical teams, Idaho saw its long-awaited return to the NCAA tournament come to an end with a 78-47 loss to second-seeded Houston (29-6) in the Round of 64 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
The defeat closes the book on a season that saw the Vandals win 21 games, capture the Big Sky Conference championship and reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990.
“You get paired up with a team like Houston, I think a lot of teams would have kind of backed away,” Idaho head coach Alex Pribble said. “I don’t think our guys did at all. I think they fought for 40 minutes, they gave everything they had, they emptied the tanks.”
The Vandals jumped out to a 10-7 lead at the first media timeout, fueled by a pair of early three-pointers from guards Kolton Mitchell and Biko Johnson. For a brief stretch, Idaho matched Houston’s physicality and tempo, moving the ball effectively and finding clean looks from beyond the arc.
But against a team like Houston, those windows do not stay open for long.
After Idaho’s early surge, the Cougars flipped the momentum with a 26-5 run, turning a three-point deficit into a commanding double-digit lead. Houston shot 9-12 from the field during that stretch, while Idaho’s offense went cold for nearly 10 minutes. A Jack Payne three-pointer off the glass was the Vandals’ only field goal during that span.
From that point on, the uphill battle became too steep.
“You have to credit them,” Pribble said. “That’s a heck of a ball club. The identity, the toughness that they play with is special.”
Houston’s defense, ranked among the best in the nation, made it difficult for Idaho to find any offensive rhythm.
The Vandals shot just 28.6% from the field and 20% from three-point range, missing 24 attempts from beyond the arc. Against the Cougars’ physical perimeter defense and disciplined rotations, open looks were scarce, and the few that came rarely fell.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot the ball very well,” Pribble said. “And if they shoot the ball the way they did tonight, they’re going to be hard to stop in this tournament.”
The Cougars shot 50% from the field and 53.3% from three-point range, placing five players in double figures. Freshman guard Kingston Flemings led the way with 18 points, while senior Emanuel Sharp added 16 on 6-7 shooting. Joseph Tugler finished with 13 points, Milos Uzan had 12 and Mercy Miller contributed 10 off the bench.
Houston’s physical advantage also showed on the glass.
The Cougars outrebounded Idaho 47-32, highlighted by a career-high 18 rebounds from Chris Cenac Jr. They also outscored the Vandals 36-16 in the paint, limiting second-chance opportunities that had been a key part of Idaho’s success during its Big Sky Tournament run.
Mitchell led the Vandals with 14 points, using his ball-handling ability to create space and generate some of Idaho’s only clean looks of the night. The sophomore guard has been a key contributor for Idaho throughout its March run despite playing through two broken ribs.
“The atmosphere was great,” Mitchell said. “It was sweet to be able to play in an arena like this.”
Trevon Blassingame added eight points off the bench, while Johnson finished with eight points and six rebounds. Late in the first half, Johnson reached a milestone moment, knocking down a three-pointer to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career.
Houston’s execution left little room for error, and the Vandals were unable to overcome the combination of elite defense and efficient offense.
“Credit Coach Sampson and his guys,” Pribble said. “They did a great job tonight; they made us pay for every mistake.”
By halftime, the Cougars had extended their lead to 48-24, and they continued to build on that advantage throughout the second half to secure a second-round matchup with tenth-seeded Texas A&M.
For Idaho, the loss marks the end of one of the most memorable seasons in recent program history.
After entering the Big Sky Tournament as the seventh seed, the Vandals won four games in five days to claim their first conference title in nearly four decades. Along the way, they knocked off three higher-seeded opponents and reestablished a standard of success for the program.
“The biggest thing is just the culture,” Mitchell said. “I think our foundation and our culture has been built. We have a championship culture now at Idaho, and the expectation is the expectation: we expect to win championships now.”
That expectation is a significant shift for a program that has steadily climbed under Pribble’s leadership, improving its win total in each of the past three seasons.
While Thursday’s result did not go Idaho’s way, the experience of competing on the NCAA tTournament stage signals a new chapter for the Vandals.