Idaho lost their last matchup on Wednesday against Denver 67-65, falling to 3-4 on the season.
Idaho shot well from behind the arc shooting 6/12 in the first half but struggled from three in the final 20 minutes of play, going 5/15 in the second half.
The game saw both teams hold double-digit leads in respective halves, with Denver leading by as much as 13 early in the first, and Idaho leading by 12 early in the second half.
After Idaho went down big in the first half, the team was able to gain momentum going into halftime thanks to 11 straight points scored by sophomore guard Trevon Blassingame, going from down 28-23 to up 34-31 in a span of five minutes. Blassingame finished the game with 14 points on the night.
Idaho was led by senior guard D’Angelo Minnis, who had 15 points, seven assists, and three rebounds, tying his season high in points and setting a season high in assists. He was one of four players who tallied double digits.
The Vandals bench proved to help be sparkplugs for the team, scoring 19 of the 65 points scored, but lost the battle in the department, which lead to Denver outscoring them by six in second chance points.
The rebounding stat was close, with Denver edging out Idaho 42-38, but the eyepopper was their 12 offensive rebounds.
The biggest problem for Idaho was fouls and free throws. Idaho made more shots on the day, but Minnis was the only one who visited the foul line, going 0-1. Denver went to the charity stripe 15 times and hit 12.
As the game winded down, Denver slowly chipped away at the Vandals lead that was as big as 12 in the second. Denver was led by Isaiah Addo-Ankrah, Touko Tainamo, and Tommy Brunner, in which they brought it a two-point Denver lead with 59 seconds remaining. Idaho, looking to take a late one-point lead, kicked it to Quinn Decker who hit a three pointer with 38 seconds left.
With six seconds left, Isaiah Addo-Ankrah drilled his sixth three of the game to win it 67-65.
Idaho looks to bounce back after their tough loss this Saturday, Dec. 2 when they face off against Cal Poly in the ICCU Arena at 2 p.m.
Bryce Norwood can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu