SACRAMENTO - Idaho's Divant'e Moffitt's bucket with four seconds left forced overtime, and Isaac Jones scored 10 points in the extra session to lift the Vandals to an 82-76 win over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon.
In a game where neither team led by eight points the entire way, the Hornets'
Austin Patterson drilled a 3-ball with 11 second left in regulation to give the Hornets a 68-66 lead. That capped a 12-4 Hornet run over a 4:24 span, and gave Sacramento State its first lead since the 13:50 mark of the second half.
However, Idaho has two of the Big Sky Conference's top three scorers, and both produced in a major way this afternoon. That included Moffitt who drove hard to the rim and hit an off-balance layup to tie things at 68-68 with four seconds left. That was two of Moffitt's game-high 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting. He entered the game third in the league at 18.8 ppg.
Zach Chappell's off-balance, contested 18-footer at the buzzer missed, and both teams went to overtime for the second time this year. In the extra session, the Big Sky's second leading scorer (Isaac Jones) registered 10 of his team's 14 points, as he went 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line. Jones, who entered averaging 19.8 ppg, finished with 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
The Vandals never trailed in OT, as Jones scored on five straight possessions to open the session and dropped in Idaho's first 10 points. The Hornets were outscored in the extra session, 14-8, as Idaho was 5-for-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.
The loss dropped Sacramento State to 12-12 overall and 5-6 in the Big Sky. Both games during the series went to overtime as the Hornets beat Idaho in Moscow, 85-83, on Jan. 5. The Vandals (9-16, 3-9) have now played in seven straight games decided by eight points or less. Today was the third time the Hornets played an extra session, as they are now 1-2 in overtime contests.
Idaho finished shooting 64% (33-52) from the field, 50% (6-12) from the 3-point line and 83% (10-12) from the charity stripe. That included 63% from the floor in the second half, and 83% in overtime. Sacramento State, which led at halftime by three points (32-29), finished 52% (31-60) from the field, 33% (7-21) from three, and 58% (7-12) from charity.
The Hornets held a 28-22 advantage on the glass, and used 11 offensive rebounds to score 13 second chance points. Sacramento State also had 20 assists on its 31 made buckets, and just nine turnovers.
The Hornets were led by
Cameron Wilbon's 16 points and four rebounds. He was joined in double figures by
Callum McRae and
Austin Patterson. McRae had 14 points, four assists and a game-high eight rebounds. Patterson picked up two quick fouls in the first three minutes of the game and did not register a stat in the first half. Still, he finished with 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-6 3FG), and made the biggest shot of the game for the Hornets late in regulation.
All nine Hornets that played in today's game cracked the scoring column. That included
Akol Mawein (9 pts, 6 reb),
Quadry Adams (7 pts, 4 reb),
Gianni Hunt (6 pts, 6 ast),
Zach Chappell (4 pts, 5 ast),
Hunter Marks (4 pts) and
Kiir Kiir Chol Deng (3 pts, 2 reb).
For Idaho, Moffitt (30) and Jones (25) scored 55 of the team's 82 points.
Today marked the end of a season-long four game homestand, as the Hornets have just seven regular season games remaining on the schedule. Five of those will come on the road.
The Hornets are back next week for a pair of road games on Thursday at Northern Arizona, and Saturday at Northern Colorado. Thursday's game will begin at 5 p.m. PT.
