Idaho State comes back to top Idaho, 70-68
POCATELLO, Idaho -- Kelvin Jones scored seven points in the final three minutes to lift Idaho State past Idaho, 70-68, in the Big Sky Conference regular season finale Saturday night.
Idaho State advances to the Big Sky Conference Tournament as the No. 10 seed and will play a first-round game Wednesday. Idaho is the No. 11 seed and will also play Wednesday.
Idaho State (11-18, 7-13) was down by nine points at intermission and trailed by 16 points, 51-35 after Jared Rodriguez scored at the basket for the Vandals with 16:17 left in the game. The Bengals ran off 10 straight points to cut the deficit to six and tied the game at 65-65 with 2:53 left when Jones hit two free throws. After trading baskets, Jones put Idaho State on top for good with two more free throws with just over a minute to play.
Idaho scored 45 first-half points to take a 11-point lead but managed to score just 23 second-half points.
Jones finished with 14 points and seven rebounds off the Idaho State bench and Balint Mocsan added another 13.
Trevon Allen scored 20 points to lead Idaho (5-26, 2-18). Rodriguez added 14.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Jon Stigliano
- Levon Zakarian
- Dan Nowakowski
2023-24 Big Sky Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Eastern Washington | 15-3 | - | 21-11 |
Montana | 12-6 | 3 | 24-12 |
Northern Colorado | 12-6 | 3 | 19-14 |
Weber State | 11-7 | 4 | 20-12 |
Montana State | 9-9 | 6 | 17-18 |
Portland State | 8-10 | 7 | 17-15 |
Northern Arizona | 7-11 | 8 | 14-19 |
Idaho State | 7-11 | 8 | 14-20 |
Idaho | 5-13 | 10 | 11-21 |
Sacramento State | 4-14 | 11 | 10-24 |