MOSCOW, Idaho -(Fresno State) In arguably the best performance of the year on the road in the WAC, the Bulldogs pushed Idaho to the limit in a 69-66 loss at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Bulldogs showed their best offensive patience of the season during the first half, taking an early 7-0 lead that they pushed to a 13 point margin, 22-9 on a Greg Smith dunk with 10:49 left.
Freshman Bracken Funk scored six early points and Garrett Johnson had seven points. Fresno State shot over 57 percent from the floor in the half and made five steals with a tough defensive performance. Fresno State withstood a late first half rally by the Vandals but led 34-30 after 20 minutes.
Idaho took its first lead with 13:02 left after scoring four straight points and led 49-46.
Fresno State battled back to retake the lead with 7:10 remaining after Ned Golubovic drained a three point basket and Jonathan Wills converted a steal into a dunk which gave the Dogs a 55-54 margin.
Idaho answered that with six straight points before Golubovic stopped the run with his second three- pointer of the game. Fresno State tied the game 62-62 on a Smith dunk and two free throws by Golubovic.
After Idaho made a free throw to regain the lead 63-62, Garrett Johnson followed his own missed shot for a putback off the glass with 1:12 remaining to give the Dogs a 1-point lead.
The Vandals converted two free throws for a 65-64 lead with 33 seconds left.
Trailing by one, Wills missed a runner in the lane with 17 seconds to go and the Dogs were forced to foul. The Vandals hit their free throws to take a 67-64 lead and the Dogs could not recover. In all, Idaho made 16 of 20 free throw attempts.
Golubovic led the Bulldogs with 14 points, making 5 of 9 of his field goal attempts.
Smith had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Dogs, while Garrett Johnson scored 11 points. Funk and Wills each had eight points to lead a balanced scoring summary.
TXT 24
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