Idaho stuns Nevada

The Idaho Vandals opened Western Athletic Conference play by stunning the preseason conference favorite Nevada Wolf Pack 78-73 Saturday night.

Mac Hopson and Luciano de Souza each scored 16 points to lead the Vandals to their first win in a WAC opener in school history. The victory also snapped a nine game losing streak to Nevada and dealt the Pack only their second WAC regular season home game loss in the last 22 tries.

Nevada was led by Brandon Fields’ 19 points and sophomore Malik Cooke, who for the second consecutive game recorded a career high, with 17 points.

Nevada coach Mark Fox placed blame on himself afterward stating, “I’m extremely disappointed in the job I’ve done with this team,” citing the lack of determination and execution as areas his team will need to work on.

The Vandals shot a blistering 52 percent from the field to Nevada’s 39.7 percent. They also shot a very productive 7-of-11 from 3-point range to a shoddy 6-of-23 for the Pack.

“For a young basketball team that we have, that’s about as good as we can play,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said.

Nevada’s quest for its sixth consecutive WAC regular season title now takes to the road with games at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech before returning to Reno to face defending WAC tournament champion Boise State on Jan. 15.