OREM, Utah – Holton Hunsaker scored 28 points; Zach Nelson added 21 and Utah Valley State escaped an Idaho upset, winning 89-88 Saturday night.
Idaho (10-16, 4-8 Western Athletic Conference) led Utah Valley 53-45 at intermission but the Wolverines closed the gap and gained a 61-59 lead — the first of many lead changes to follow — five minutes into the second period.
Utah Valley (15-9, 9-2) led by two with 13 seconds remaining when Idaho's Sekou Wiggs missed the back side 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 nabbed that rebound but Conner Hill's 3 try missed at the buzzer. The Wolverines shot 60 percent in escaping with the win.
Stephen Madison scored a career-high 42 points for the Vandals, hitting 16 of 21 from the field. Idaho shot 56 percent in its losing effort.