Wolverines slip past Vandals

OREM, Utah – Holton Hunsaker scored 28 points, Zach Nelson added 21 and Utah Valley weathered Stephen Madison’s career-high 42 points for Idaho, to escape a Vandal upset and win 89-88 Saturday night.

Idaho (10-16, 4-8 Western Athletic Conference) led Utah Valley 53-45 at the half but the Wolverines, who shot 60 percent, closed the gap and gained a 61-59 lead – the first of many lead changes to follow – five minutes into the second half.

Utah Valley (15-9, 9-2) led by two with 13 seconds left when Idaho’s Sekou Wiggs missed the second of two free throws.

The Vandals, trailing by one, grabbed the rebound from Wiggs’ missed free throw but couldn’t land the ensuing jumper. Idaho rebounded the missed basket but Conner Hill’s 3-point attempt missed at the buzzer.

Madison hit 16 of 21 from the field as Idaho shot 56 percent in its losing effort.

“Stephen played a whale of a game, it would have been nice to get a win,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “Stephen has put in a lot of time and effort to make Idaho the spot that it is. He’s worked hard on his basketball game and he’s going to graduate this spring. He’s done everything he’s supposed to do as a student-athlete and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

The Vandals return home for their final two home games of the season, hosting CSU Northridge in a non-conference contest on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before taking on Grand Canyon on Saturday at 1 p.m.