Charles Garcia (Los Angeles, Calif.) led all players with 23 points, plus he pulled down seven rebounds. Chris Gweth (Beaverton, Ore.) finished with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Cervante Burrell (Sacramento, Calif.) contributed 12 points and Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) added 11 points, eight rebounds, and two steals.
Seattle University scored 11 unanswered points midway through the first half to take a 17-8 lead. Down 29-17, Idaho received two three-pointers from Luciano De Souza and two long distance shots from Mac Hopson to come within four at 35-31 with 2:07 left before halftime. Despite committing 13 first half turnovers, the Vandals were down by only four points thanks to 7-of-12 shooting from behind the three-point line.
Idaho (10-10) scored eight unanswered points to pull ahead 51-50 five minutes into the second half, but two traditional three-point plays from Garcia allowed SeattleU to retake the lead at 57-54. Hopson hit a jumper with 10:45 remaining to give the Vandals the lead for good, extending the advantage to as much as seven points (72-65) with 5:36 left in the second half.
SeattleU fought back, cutting a five-point Idaho lead to one with a jumper by Gweth and two free throws from Burrell. Idaho made 8-of-10 free throws in the final 33 seconds of the game, but the Redhawks had a chance after Taylor Olson (Seattle, Wash.) hit a three-pointer to bring the home team within one at 86-85. After Steffan Johnson made one-of-two free throws, SeattleU had one final chance with 0.7 seconds left, but could not attempt a shot before time ran out.
Johnson hit four three-pointers to lead the Vandals with 18 points, while Luiz Toledo shot 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line for 16 points. Kashif Watson contributed 14 points, and Marvin Jefferson went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe for 13 points along with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Hopson scored nine points and dished out a game-high 11 assists.
For the game, Idaho shot 58.3 percent from the field (28-of-48) and 74.2 percent from the free throw line (23-of-31). Meanwhile, Seattle University hit 42.5 percent of its field goal attempts (31-of-73), including 4-of-18 from behind the three-point arc, and 73.1 percent from the free throw line (19-of-26). The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 39-31, including 21 offensive boards for SeattleU.
Seattle University (9-13) will look to get back on the winning track Monday, Feb. 1, against Eastern Washington (6-16) beginning at 7:10 p.m. at KeyArena. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr., will broadcast the action from courtside on 710 ESPN Seattle starting with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m.