The Vandals couldn’t quite pull off a surprise in the Big Sky Tournament, falling to Montana State 75-71 in the first round.
Idaho started strong and managed to take advantage of a Bobcat scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes into the first half, and freshmen Cameron Tyson and Jared Rodriguez elevated the Vandals to a 10-0 lead.
Tyson carried much of the offensive load for most of the first half, scoring 15 points on 4-7 shooting from 3-point range. No other Vandal had more than four points at the break, allowing Montana State to slowly climb back into the game and eventually take a 32-30 lead.