It looked promising near the end, but the Idaho men's basketball team couldn't complete what would have been another eye-opening WAC win Thursday night. Instead, the short-handed Vandals lost 74-71 at New Mexico State.

Keep reading for more.

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For more on how the Vandals fell to 8-9 overall, 2-2 in the WAC, here's a recap from ESPN.com and one from the Idaho media relations department. Idaho led by five, 69-64, with under 31/2 minutes left. But as has been a problem in a handful of nonconference games, the club couldn't hold on to a late cushion.

How'd it happen? Well, Kashif Watson missed the front end of 1-and-1 with 18 seconds left and the Aggies then buried 3 of 4 foul shots to seal their first home conference win of the season. In between, Brandon Wiley missed a shot and putback.

“We did a lot of good things tonight, but I’m very disappointed in losing this game because it is a game we should have won,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “This is a game we have to find a way to win if we’re going to compete for the WAC title. Our players played their hearts out, but we have to learn. If we get this close again, we have to finish it.”

It didn't help that starting center Marvin Jefferson didn't suit up after suffering a concussion. WIth Luis (Chevy) Augusto still out, the Vandals used Wiley and Luciano de Souza in the post. Neither is a true power forward, let alone a center.

Interestingly enough, Verlin started Trevor Morris over Watson, the team's second-leading scorer. Watson finished with just six points, while Morris had 11. Terrence Simmons led the Vandals with 15 points.

We'll have more Saturday, when UI travels to Louisiana Tech. Tipoff is noon PST.

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