Geiger leads Vandals in CIT opener

MOSCOW - Deremy Geiger scored a team-high 22 points as the Idaho Vandals edged the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 86-83 in the opening round of the College Insider.com Tournament on Wednesday night at the Cowan Spectrum.

Idaho (19-13) will travel to Utah State (18-15) on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the second round.

UC Santa Barbara finishes 20-11.

Stephen Madison scored 10 of his 20 points in the first half for Idaho, which led 43-30 at intermission. Kyle Barone and Djim Bandoumel had seven points each at halftime.

James Nunnally cut the deficit to 73-71 on a 3-pointer with 5:23 remaining as the Gauchos erased a 13-point deficit with a 17-5 run midway through the second half.

Kyle Barone's free throw with 2:52 remaining put Idaho back up 77-72.

Orlando Johnson pulled Santa Barbara within one point on a pair of free throws, but a layup by Vandal post Kyle Barone gave the Vandals a 79-76 lead.

Madison hit a jumper with 50 seconds left to extend to 81-78. Johnson's layup pulled the Gauchos within an 81-80 deficit with 31 seconds left.

Nunnally missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and was forced to foul. Landon Tatum made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to five points, but a 3-pointer by T.J. Taylor with one second remaining pulled the Gauchos to within 85-83.

UC Santa Barbara outrebounded Idaho 34-27, but turned the ball over nine times.

Nunnally had 25 points and four assists for UC Santa Barbara, which finishes 20-11.