Idaho garners an OT victory on senior day

MOSCOW — Fans got an extra five minutes of basketball — and an extra dose of excitement — as the Idaho men’s basketball team survived a slow start offensively en route to an 81-79 win over Weber State on senior day at ICCU Arena.

“Tonight, I just knew we were going to win. It was a little tough at times, but we pulled it out and that I’m proud of,” Idaho forward Julius Mims said.

Mims, one of three Vandal seniors recognized pregame, came up with several key defensive stops in the paint to spark a 17-4 run in the later stages of the second half of the win that gave Idaho (13-17, 8-9 Big Sky) a lead down the stretch.

“It was winning time and we knew what we needed to do,” Mims said. “The boys believed and we got it done.”

Weber State (11-20, 5-12) had its own 7-0 run to cut the deficit to one point with four minutes remaining, and eventually, the Wildcats fought back to tie it with 19.2 seconds left by way of two free throws from Blaise Threatt to force overtime, coming as part of his game-leading 32-point performance.

Threatt added nine assists and six rebounds to his performance and his only miss of 13 attempts at the free-throw line was an intentional miss at the end of overtime in hopes of his team getting a rebound down two points with 5 seconds left.

It was a scramble for the ball on the floor and the Wildcats couldn’t recover as time expired in OT.

Although Threatt had the best individual scoring performance, Idaho’s Kolton Mitchell secured the Vandal win with two clutch plays in overtime.

First, he made a four-point play after he was fouled on a 3-pointer for the first points of the extra period. Then, his offensive rebound and pass out to Tyler Mrus for the go-ahead 3 with 1:23 remaining served as the catalyst of the Vandal win.

“He’s got deep inner confidence. When the game is on the line, he wants the ball in his hands. For a redshirt freshman, that’s pretty special,” Idaho coach Alex Pribble said.

Mrus finished with a team-leading 22 points in 43 minutes on the court, with all of his attempts from the floor coming from 3-point land, where he finished 6-of-13 shooting. He had three teammates join him in double-digit scoring as Kristian Gonzalez and Mitchell both finished with 18 and Jack Payne scored 11.

Mims scored six points in his final home game and ended the night with a season-high 13 rebounds and two blocks, including an emphatic block off the backboard with just over seven minutes to go that led to a Gonzalez 3-pointer on the other end to give Idaho a seven-point lead.

“Desipte the injuries, despite the adversity he’s faced this entire year, he comes out and plays 38 minutes of basketball,” Pribble said. “Julius and his teammates embraced the ‘hard’ tonight. You don’t have to win clean, this is March basketball, you just got to find a way to win.”

Alongside their star forward, the Vandals recognized two other seniors before tipoff: guard Jack Hatten of Bakersfield, Calif., and Kyson Rose of Kennewick, Wash. Rose played three minutes in the game without recording a stat other than one field goal attempt and Hatten did not see the floor.

Things started slowly for both teams, Weber State shooting 32.3% from the floor and 21.4% from deep in the first half and Idaho not doing much better shooting just 37% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.

After the break, both teams improved their efficiency from the field with Idaho having a clear shift in offensive philosophy. After taking 12 3-pointers in the first half, 22 of their 28 attempts from the floor in the second half came from long range.

“The type of basketball we play is four around one with Julius rolling to the rim. His gravity opened up the 3-point line (for our guys),” Pribble said.

The win brings the Vandals to 13-17 on the season heading into their final regular season game against Montana State on Monday. They are tied for their most wins in a season since 2014-15 under coach Don Verlin.

They also improved their record to 10-0 in games this season when they reach the 80-point mark.

“I’m just truly blessed to be able to come here and experience this,” Mims said. “I remember the first time I got here, they treated me like family right away.”

WEBER ST. (11-20)

Burris 3-8 0-0 7, Cutler 1-1 0-0 2, Hennig 7-14 1-2 17, Threatt 10-20 12-13 32, Vartiainen 2-8 0-0 5, Tew 5-8 1-3 11, N.Sarenac 2-8 0-0 5, Moore 0-3 0-0 0, M.Sarenac 0-1 0-0 0, Vucinic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-71 14-18 79.

IDAHO (13-17)

Mims 3-3 0-3 6, Mrus 6-13 4-4 22, Gonzalez 5-10 5-5 18, Mitchell 5-13 4-4 18, Payne 4-11 1-2 11, Brickner 3-5 0-0 6, Linhardt 0-6 0-0 0, Yearout 0-1 0-0 0, Rose 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 14-18 81.

Halftime — Idaho 29-27. 3-Point Goals — Weber St. 5-27 (Hennig 2-6, Burris 1-4, Vartiainen 1-6, N.Sarenac 1-7, M.Sarenac 0-1, Threatt 0-1, Moore 0-2), Idaho 15-38 (Mrus 6-13, Mitchell 4-8, Gonzalez 3-7, Payne 2-7, Brickner 0-1, Linhardt 0-1, Rose 0-1). Rebounds — Weber St. 38 (Burris 9), Idaho 34 (Mims 13). Assists — Weber St. 15 (Threatt 9), Idaho 15 (Mitchell 5). Total Fouls — Weber St. 15, Idaho 15. A — 2,262 (4,200).