The Idaho Vandals were facing elimination, fighting against the #2 seed Montana Grizzlies. They were down by 14, and with seconds left in the first half, it was make-or-break time for the Vandals. Boise native redshirt sophomore Jack Payne put on a show in the first half.
Putting up 13 of his 18 points in the first 20 minutes, including the half’s final points. The ball found Payne’s hands way beyond the three-point line. He rose and let the ball go as the buzzer sounded, and the ball flew and swished through the net to cut the deficit to 11.
The ounce of momentum gained by the Vandals quickly washed away when the teams came out for the second half. Montana outscored Idaho 39-27 in the final frame and rolled to a 78-55 victory to advance to their second straight championship. The Vandals end their season with a 14-19 (8-11 record).
“I’m extremely grateful for our seniors who believed in the vision of what Idaho basketball could be from where Idaho basketball was,” Head Coach Alex Pribble said. “Nobody’s content; we’re disappointed in the performance tonight. We didn’t play our best basketball.”
“In a semifinal game in the conference tournament, you have to perform better if you can stay in a game like that. So we were disappointed with the result tonight but incredibly proud of this group and the progress that we’ve made over the last two years,” Pribble said.
A key to the progress is senior forward Julius Mims, who showed what he was made of from his first step into the ICCU Arena.
Mims ends his two-year Vandal career with 616 points and 418 rebounds, demonstrating he was a force for the Vandals. In his final game in a Vandal uniform, he finished with six points and seven rebounds, bringing his collegiate career total to 1,388 points and 847 rebounds.
Mims reflected on his last two years of being an Idaho Vandal.
“It’s been a huge blessing,” Mims said. “I remember my first day on campus; everybody was so welcoming. Coach Pribble went on a limb believing in me, which gave me the utmost confidence that I would be the best player I could be. I look back on these years with a huge smile on my face ear to ear because I would never give these years back.”
Last night, elation and excitement were in the air throughout the Vandal team and fanbase as they had finally reached a Big Sky tournament semifinal for the first time since 2017. The Vandals quickly had to shift their focus to the 23-9 (15-3) Montana Grizzlies as they tried to advance to their first championship since 1993.
The Montana Grizzlies had other plans. They got off to a hot start and jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Payne and sophomore guard Kristian Gonzalez got the Vandals level with a 5-0 run.
From the start, the Vandals’ game plan was to pack the paint and make Montana beat them on the perimeter, and that is what they did. Senior guards Austin Patterson and Kai Johnson were huge for the Grizzlies.
The pair of them took the top off the Vandals, and between them, they combined for 33 points and eight three-pointers. Patterson scored 20 points and was an electric 5/10 from beyond the arc, three of which were in the first half. Johnson, with 13 points and 3/5 from three, was huge in putting the Vandals away in the second half.
In the second half, the Grizzlies started on a 10-0 run and outmatched the Vandals on both ends of the floor. The three-ball continued to drop as they hit seven of their 14 in the second half. Behind the three-ball, Montana pulled away and sent the Vandals packing.
The Vandals, unlike their game against Portland State, struggled to shoot the ball. They finished the game 17/55 from the field, a lowly 5/26 from beyond the arc and 16/20 from the free-throw line.
The Griz, on the other hand, were lights out, shooting at a clip of 45% from the field and knocking down 14 three-pointers. The Griz offense was the engine behind their attack, and the 36 bench points sealed the Vandals’ fate.
Payne was the Vandals’ only spark offensively. He finished with 18 points and six rebounds on 6/12 shooting, 4/9 from beyond the arc and 2/3 from the line. The only other Vandal in double figures was redshirt freshman Kolton Mitchell. He finished with 12 points, 6 of his 12 coming from the line. Mitchell struggled the last two games and especially in this game where he went 3/13 from the field and 0/2 from three before going 6/7 from the line.
The Vandals, despite the loss, have a bright future. With one of the youngest rosters in the NCAA and four of five starters expected back, the sky is the limit for this team. This is a learning experience that will help the Vandals get to the next step in their program.
“Our young guys had a tough time at certain stretches tonight, and they need to learn from this and be ready to go again next year,” Pribble said.