Vandals rally, knock off Utah State

MOSCOW - Stephen Madison hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to help Idaho beat Utah State 57-54 on Saturday night in Western Athletic Conference men's basketball at the Cowan Spectrum.

Preston Medlin had a chance to tie the game with five seconds remaining, but missed short and the Aggies (10-10, 2-3 WAC) were forced to foul to end the game.

Madison's 3-point shot was part of a 10-1 run with just under four minutes remaining to help Idaho (10-9, 3-2) erase a nine-point deficit.

Idaho trailed for nearly the entire game. Madison was 2 of 9 from the field and 0 for 3 from long range in the first half, but when junior Kyle Barone found him alone in the corner with 26 seconds left and the Vandals trailing by one, Madison calmly stepped up and drained the 3 to give the Vandals their first lead since 12-11 at the 13:52 mark of the first half.

Djim Bandoumel came off the bench and led Idaho with 16 points and Deremy Geiger added 12 points. Bandoumel scored 11 points in the second half to help the Vandals in the win. Idaho's bench scored 25 points.

Idaho forced 16 Aggie turnovers and had eight steals. Idaho plays host to San Jose State on Thursday.

UTAH ST. (10-10)

Pane 3-11 0-0 6, Berger 3-7 3-4 10, Medlin 7-13 2-2 17, Grim 4-4 1-2 9, Reed 2-3 1-2 5, Clifford 2-3 2-2 6, Farris 0-1 0-0 0, Bruneel 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 21-43 10-14 54.

IDAHO (10-9)

Tatum 1-3 0-0 3, Barone 3-9 2-3 8, Madison 3-10 0-0 7, Geiger 5-12 0-0 12, Kammerer 1-3 0-0 2, Habeeb 0-0 5-6 5, Hill 0-2 2-2 2, McChristian 0-0 0-0 0, Bandoumel 6-9 4-9 16, Borton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-49 13-20 57.

Halftime_Utah St. 29-25. 3-Point Goals_Utah St. 2-13 (Berger 1-3, Medlin 1-7, Bruneel 0-1, Pane 0-2), Idaho 4-13 (Geiger 2-6, Tatum 1-2, Madison 1-4, Hill 0-1). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Utah St. 33 (Medlin 7), Idaho 26 (Barone 7). Assists_Utah St. 7 (Medlin 3), Idaho 10 (Tatum 4). Total Fouls_Utah St. 17, Idaho 14. A_2,359.