Idaho (11-20, 5-13) enters the Big Sky Conference Tournament against Sacramento State (8-23, 4-14) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
“We wanted to bring in younger guys that were going to be bought in (and) that were going to be about the right stuff,” Head Coach Alex Pribble said during Wednesday’s press conference. “What that’s led to is 11 wins, which is the most in five years, a win over Idaho State for the first time in five years and now that third hurdle we’d like to get over is winning a game in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.”
Sacramento State was the only team to be swept by the Vandals during the regular season, but the two teams have looked different lately. UI has given up 40-plus points in the first 20 minutes of their past five games. Meanwhile, Sacramento State beat Montana State and Portland State, then took Eastern Washington down to the wire in its final regular season game.
“Since their (Sacramento State) 10-seed has been set, it’s like ‘no pressure,’ and they’ve gone out and played really good basketball,” Pribble said. “Over the past five games, they’re the third-best defense in the conference. That’s really where their change has been made.”
Defense may have only recently become a staple for the Hornets, but it’s been Idaho’s mantra all year.
Sacramento enters Saturday with the third best defense in the league, allowing 70.5 points per game. Idaho is right behind, giving up 71.2 ppg.
The offense is a different story. Like their seeding, the Vandals’ 67.9 ppg are ninth in the Big Sky, while the Hornets’ 66.6 ppg are tenth.
“They (the Hornets) have been shooting the ball at a much higher rate,” Pribble said. “They set a record with 18 threes their last time out.”
The Hornets’ previous record was 17 threes, set on Feb. 21, 2004.
Junior guard Zee Hamoda hit two of those threes against Eastern Washington and led his teams in points with 18. He was also the only Hornet to receive conference honors as he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Sky.
The Vandals also only had one player receive honors. Junior forward Juice Mims made the All-Defensive Team after finishing fifth in the Big Sky in rebounding (7.2 per game) and second in blocks (1.5 per game).
Offense from Hamoda and defense from Mims are sure to be prevalent as both teams look to move on in the Big Sky Championships and face EWU at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 10.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on X @jamesaldrich25